Draw 50: The Productivity Game

It’s Saturday morning, the house is a mess and you stare blindly through sleepy eyes at your spouse. You know there are a million things to do and all you want to do is go back to bed. But you realize that the Nelsons are coming over at noon, and Mrs. Nelson has a white glove.

What can you do to motivate yourself… and your spouse… to get up and get going? You know that if you mention work this early to your spouse that fireworks will erupt. You look at the clock… time is ticking away… it’s almost 8:30. What do you do? The last time Mrs. Nelson came over you were really embarrassed when she wrote, “dust me” on your TV screen with her finger.

Maybe you can buy breakfast out and hope the coffee will motivate you to greater productivity. But then you remember the trap of the Saturday morning sales at the Mall. The last time you took your spouse out on a Saturday morning it cost you three hours and $100. No, it would have to be breakfast at home today.

You crawl out of bed and into the kitchen. You move the pile of dishes enough to rinse out the coffee pot. Soon the aroma of your full strength Columbian full roast is brewing. The mess is overwhelming and just the hint of Mrs. Nelson seeing your dirty dishes is enough to send a surge of apprehension through your body.

You must do something and do it quickly. It’s getting close to 9 am.

All of a sudden a familiar ding rings out from your computer. It’s a new Success-Connect e-mail newsletter and something catches your eye on the front page… its an article about a 50 minute productivity game. Hmmm… a game might be fun. You know that your spouse likes games, even on a sleepy Saturday morning.

You sit down and download the business card template… soon the game cards are churning out of your printer. You break them apart and divide them up. You quickly read the instructions and put some toast in the toaster. You pour your spouse a steaming cup of coffee, butter the toast, and grab the cards. This will be breakfast in bed with a twist.

Your spouse sits up and you give them the toast and coffee. Then you lay out the game cards on a tray and put a 10 dollar bill at the top of the card arrangement. The instructions are simple… pick a card… any card… and do what it says for 50 minutes. If you complete the task you get the 10 dollars to spend at the mall as soon as Mrs. Nelson leaves.

Your spouse looks you in the eye and says… “Add another 10 dollars and I’m in.” You reluctantly add the additional $10 and your spouse grabs a card with some apprehension. The card is slowly turned over and it is revealed that for $20 they will have to vacuum and dust the whole house for the next 50 minutes.

Now it’s your turn… you put another $20 at the top of the cards and you grab one. Arrghh it’s the dreaded clean the kitchen card. But you think of the new book you’ve been wanting and the job seems much easier. You grab your timer with alarm, set it for 50 minutes, kiss your spouse and click GO!

Soon the vacuum is whirring, the dishes are flying, and visions of shopping at the mall are dancing in your head. “Hmmm,” you think to yourself… one more round and I can buy the book and get the CD too. At the end of the 50 minutes you both take a 10 minute break and play a second round for another $20. This time you pick the clean the bathroom card. You reset the timer and click go again.

Cleaning the bathroom has never been so easy and the thought of the new Diana Krall album drives you faster. Soon the sink and toilet are spotless and now you even have time to scrub the tub. Your spouse picked the clean the clutter card and is busy filing items and tossing junk mail.

Soon the buzzer is going off again and your house is presentable. Even Mrs. Nelson would be proud. A little while later you hear the bell ring… “The Nelson’s are here,” as you put the second $20 bill in your pocket. The game was fun, made your dreaded tasks enjoyable, and gave you something to work for.

Your spouse gives you a hug for being so smart as the door opens… “Well, hello Mrs. Nelson”…

You can download the basic Draw 50 productivity game here. You’ll need some Avery business card sheets, and Microsoft Word to print them out. You can easily modify the template to fit your unique tasks.

Here are the simple instructions

1. Download the template
2. Modify as necessary in MS Word
3. Print out the cards on Avery business card stock
4. Break the cards apart.
5. Choose the cards that are applicable & turn them upside down
6. Shuffle the cards extensively and lay them upside down on a tray
7. Put the reward at the top of the tray (money, note, or other item)
8. Set the timer for 50 minutes, grab a card, and GO!
9. After 50 minutes collect your reward and smile for a job well done!

You might be interested in our other MS word templates such as…

Five Minute Organizer
Five Minute Flowchart
Five Minute Outliner
Five Minute Motivators
Instant Garage Sale

Enjoy and have fun!