My friend Crystal Moody, who happens to have designed my lovely Procrastination Coach logo and site, just tweeted me a great article.  It’s called Games and Your Brain: How to Use Gamification to Stop Procrastinating.  You can read it here: blog.bufferapp.com/brain-playing-games-why-our-brains-are-so-attracted-to-playing-games-the-science-of-gamification?utm_content=buffere81f1&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

I think you’ll find the article interesting and motivating.  It explores why gaming has become so prominent in our culture.  The article also explains how endorphins and dopamine are involved in our experiences of motivation, pleasure, and productivity.  Reading the Gamification article reminded me of a blog post draft I had jotted down while in a good mood a while back.  And so, today's post is about the life lessons I’ve learned through playing the infamous on-line Scrabble game Words With Friends.  These gaming secrets of mine keep my scores high and my game on.  I find they are also great tips on just playing the game of life too.  I hope you enjoy them.

13 Tips for Excelling at Words With Friends and in Life

1. Keep your eyes open
2. Scan for opportunity
3. Look where you haven’t looked before
4. Don’t assume you have no good tiles to play
5. Try tiles in new combinations, even when you doubt the combinations exist
6. Go for the highest point play
7. But be satisfied with the best value play you can muster
8. Enjoy the interaction and surprise and intellectual charge
9. Have fun
10. Don’t spend too much time on any one play because that is no fun for you
11. Play with a lot of people and learn from the nuances in the way each player plays
12. Don’t quit until it’s really over
13. Appreciate the opportunity to play

Have a great day.