Vicky Blogs: COVID-19 (& beyond)

You've probably heard the phrasing "thinking with you heart and not your head" when talking about someone who has made a decision that maybe doesn't seem to be the most logical.  This saying speaks to just one of the many ways that human decision making can fail to make much sense.  The fields of behavioral economics and behavior change psychology were developed to try and understand some of these decisions.  In my gamification class, the instructor started with behavioral econcomics and behaviorism.  Early psychology experiments such as Pavlov's dogs and Skinner's rat boxes aimed to showcase the effects of conditioning responses in relation to certain stimuli.  I've linked descriptions of these experiments if you want to read more about classical conditioning (Pavlov) or operant conditioning (Skinner) or are just unfamiliar with these experiments.  These two are examples of behaviorism, or influencing behavior through the use of a stimulus.  The bas...

I am still not sure that I know what to say.  Last week, I lost a friend.  One of my boyfriend's roommates.  Brendan.  I just teared up when I typed his name.  He was found dead in his room by his other roommates.  I can't even imagine how scarring that must have been for them....  He was 30 years young and could most often be found smiling, like he is in this picture. It wasn't COVID-19 directly that caused this, but I do believe that it played a large part.  This friend had been struggling with alcoholism, a crutch that many turn to when life gets tough.  He had been through some very challenging things in that past few years and I honestly don't blame him for feeling like he needed to lean on something.  He was trying to work on his addiction and was in rehab up until a few weeks ago.  The rehab center closed due to COVID and sent all of their patients home. This era of COVID is uncertain and unsettling for even the most ...

I read an article from Harvard Business Review  today that really resonated with me.  This article, which feels incredibly relevant during this unusually stressful time of COVID-19, was actually written in 2018.  The topic?  Neverending to-do lists and feelings of guilt or shame. If you're a type A person, like me, you have a running lists of things you want or need to get done in your head.  Some of these things have to do with work, some might be family or friend obligations, some might be about volunteer opportunities, and some probably have to do with taking care of yourself.  This article, aptly categorized under emotional intelligence, talks about how unfinished tasks can cause you to feel guilty or shameful. The author stated how guilt can sometimes play a complicated role in motivation, but shame almost always tends to demotivate.  He explicitly added that feeling guilty when you are away from work is not helpful.  Doing so will mak...

Like I've said before, I think that the concept of gamification (when done right) is really on to something.  As the title of this post says, who doesn't love to play?  Like a baby or a dog, play comes naturally to many, as a way to explore the world around us.  If you can turn a mundane activity into something exciting and engaging, I think it makes sense that people will have an easier time completing that activity.  Similarly, if you can weave some gamification into unpleasant or difficult things, such as working out and eating right, which people know  that they should be doing, it might makes those activities more approachable as well. There are, of course, many different types  of players in the world.  One experience that is extremely fun to one person might actually be demotivating for another.  The professor of my course gave us a laundry list of what experiences might be considered fun.  Some of these include: winning, problem ...

The beach near my family's NJ home, taken by a family friend's drone For those of you that haven't noticed, I've been a bit quiet this week on the interwebs.  I've made it to NJ to be with my family for some time.  There's been a lot of negativity in the news with everything going on these days and I've tried my best to balance being informed without overloading with negativity.  I feel that many people have been trying to do the same.... As I contemplate many things, I have found that the ocean and other bodies of water that I have visited over my life tend to be calming powers for me.  Now, don't get me wrong, I am still extremely stressed about the world, where I belong in it and how I'm going to get there from where I'm at..... but when I hear ocean waves or the dinging of a buoy on the bay, these things seem somewhat further away.  I went to the beach one day last weekend for the first time this summer and was able to keep my dista...

As I've mentioned in recent posts, I've started an online course on Gamification from UPenn.  This course covers the use of game elements and game design techniques in non-game contexts.  The concept of gamification can be traced back to the 1980s, when Mud , the precursor to W orld of Warcraft , first made it's appearance.  This was the first multiplayer online game where players could interact with other players in real-time.  Once this game gained popularity, research slowly began on video games and their potential for learning. I chose to learn about this topic because I think gamification can be a helpful tool for behavior change.   In fact, behavior change was one of the three main areas where gamification has been seen to add value according to my professor.  The areas are as follows: External to the firm: Marketing, Sales, Customer Engagement Internal to the firm: Human Resources, Productivity Engagement, Crowdsourcing Behavior Change...

Today is June 1st.  No, for real.  It's JUNE now.  I can't really belive it either.  The concept of time feels especially fluid so far in 2020.  I've even found myself not knowing what day of the week it is.  My last few posts have been all about mental health and acknowledging that everyone goes through rough patches of uncertainty.  Right now, we are all feeling the uncertainty of COVID-19 together and we each have our own individual ways that we need to deal with it. For me, I am looking at the next few months and trying to plan.  I've got daily items on a check list that I go through for my job searching.  I am still searching for more networking opportunities or people that I'd like to talk to about their own professional journeys into corporate wellness.  I'm keeping my mind active with online classes (I'm working on a Gamification class now with UPenn!).  I'm attempting to continue healing with physical therapy on my own...