Sometimes creative thinking can turn life upside down. It can turn something we do not want to do at all into something we look forward to doing. It can turn a boring routine into an exciting game. Doesn't that sound like fun? Are you anxious to fi nish in time or get good grades when you do your assignments? What if you did the assignments just because you wanted to? What would it take for you to get to that level of motivation? Th at is the type of questions some researchers asked themselves. Th ey wanted to test their idea that "something as simple as having fun is the easiest way to change people's behavior for the better."↵
To test their idea, the researchers started with a few interesting projects. For instance,↵
they asked, "Can we get more people to choose the stairs by making it fun to do so?" Th en they transformed the stairs at a subway station into "Piano Stairs," which made beautiful sounds when people stepped on them. Th e result was that 66% more people than usual chose the stairs over the escalators.↵
Th en they focused on trash and asked, "Can we get more people to throw their trash in trash bins by making it fun to do so?" By adding a sound eff ect to a bin, they made the experience fun. As a result, people deposited 230% more trash in the "World's Deepest Trash Bin" than in a regular one nearby. Th ere were no threats or penalties. Th e researchers proved that fun is a great motivator in situations where nothing else seems to work.↵
Fun Th eory has been tried by ordinary people as well. For example, someone in the U.S. wondered if he could make obeying the speed limit more fun. So, he came up with a game-like system where people earned points for staying under the limit. It recorded people who obeyed the law with a camera and then automatically gave them a free lottery ticket when they earned enough points. Th at simple idea-providing a reward for doing the right thing-resulted in a big decrease in the average speed. Do these examples expand your sense of the power of fun? Th en let us go back to our original question, "What would it take for you to be motivated, not forced, to do your school assignments?" Th ink about it creatively and then add some fun to your day!