How to Make Applying for a Passport Easy and Fun

Summary

Victoria Ichizlibartels describes how applying the principles of Self-Gamification, a playful self-help approach combining anthropology, kaizen, and gamification, can transform the usually tedious process of applying for a passport into an enjoyable and rewarding experience.

Abstract

Victoria Ichizlibartels, a writer, coach, and consultant, shares her experience of turning the mundane task of applying for passports into a fun game through a method she calls Self-Gamification. This approach, which integrates elements of anthropology, kaizen, and gamification, involves breaking down the project into small, manageable tasks, each earning a point upon completion. By focusing on one task at a time, such as researching passport rules or preparing documents, the process becomes less daunting and more enjoyable. Victoria's method not only made the passport application process for herself and her children more manageable but also helped her look forward to administrative tasks. She emphasizes the importance of consistency, simplicity, and the joy of visible progress in transforming necessary but often disliked activities into games that can be fun and fulfilling.

Opinions

Victoria believes that even tasks as mundane as applying for a passport can be made enjoyable by turning them into games.
She values the kaizen philosophy of continuous improvement, which she applies by taking small steps each day towards her goals.
The author finds personal satisfaction and a sense of achievement in earning points for completing tasks, which motivates her to continue.
Victoria has successfully applied her Self-Gamification approach to various administrative activities beyond passport applications, such as registering her children for events or paying bills.
She notes that by approaching tasks without negative evaluation or complaint, they often reveal themselves to be straightforward and manageable.
The process of Self-Gamification has led Victoria to experience less frustration and more fun in her daily tasks, contributing to an overall increase in her quality of life.

How to Make Applying for a Passport Easy and Fun

One of the best gifts of turning our lives into games is the possibility of an activity I thought was tedious (and that there was no way I would like it) becoming fun.

A memorable project that I initially thought of as unwanted, was applying for new passports. In the past four years of Self-Gamification, I have had to do so three times: the renewal of my son’s and my own passports, and obtaining the first one for my daughter.

Fortunately, I turned the project into a game with the first one, for my son. It was also after I had discovered kaizen, so I didn’t spend five minutes on the project, but did just one little thing towards it each day. On the first day, I searched for links that provided the rules on getting a new passport. On the next day, I read through the rules and made notes about which documents I needed to prepare. On the following day, I prepared one document or filled in the first page (or part) of the form. And so on. Each time I gave myself a point.

On one of the days of preparing the documents, I discovered myself taking on this project before the others. It became so straightforward to do just one step of it at a time (and fun to earn the point), that I started looking forward to attending to it. By the time I applied for the third passport and went to the German embassy to give them the documents, I even found myself enjoying the conversation with the official there. We discovered that we both used to live in Bonn and enjoyed each other’s company through the process of filling in more of the documents, copying, and other parts of the standard procedure.

Through all that, I discovered that my little perseverance game not only helped me make time for and progress with the projects I liked but couldn’t find the time for previously, but it also ignited fun for the tasks I thought I didn’t like.

We all have many similar tasks to accomplish regularly. These are perfect candidates for being turned into games.

The main result when I turn these, as I call them, administrative activities, into games is being able to bypass my traditional annoyance with them. These activities include registering my children for one or other event or activity (like dancing or swimming), paying for these and other bills, communicating with doctors, accompanying my children and mother to health checks, organizing meetings with friends, and setting meeting dates for the local writers’ club on Facebook. Turning these into games helped me to become less and less upset at having to do all of them, and I hardly ever sigh about these things anymore.

Even if thoughts pop into my head like “Oh, there is always something to do,” there is the knowledge, “I only need to spend a few minutes on it and a step toward the goal is done. And I get the point.”

Besides which, I discovered that I even look forward to doing these tasks because if I just follow the instructions provided (without evaluating and complaining about them), they are often straightforward to do. So the points are earned easily. Yes, the most significant results here are the removal of drama, fun factor in doing something simple and straightforward, and pleasure at witnessing visible progress in those necessary things (without having to put much effort in).

Victoria is a writer, coach, and consultant with a background in semiconductor physics, electronic engineering (with a Ph.D.), information technology, and business development. While being a non-gamer, Victoria came up with the term Self-Gamification, a gameful and playful self-help approach bringing anthropology, kaizen, and gamification-based methods together to increase the quality of life. She approaches all areas of her life this way. Due to the fun she has, while turning everything in her life into games, she intends never to stop designing and playing them.