Beeminder, i.e., My Journey To Force Myself to Do Things I Don't Want to Do

I’ve decided to start using Beeminder to help me stay focused and on track to meet some of my tougher goals. Purportedly, this reminder system will help me stick to my goals over the long term with the added bonus of enacting a penalty if I fail to do so.

Here’s how it works – I commit to a quantifiable goal for a specific period of time and Beeminder outlines a yellow brick road to show me if I’m on track. If I fail to stay on track, I get charged $5 initially to unfreeze my goal and be allowed back on the yellow brick road. The fee continues to escalate if I cannot or will not stick to my goals over the long term.

I’ve decided to try it because I know something about myself – I respond better under pressure and when there is a penalty for ‘bad’ behavior. As much as I like to believe I’m a virtuous, disciplined, clean-living kind of person by design, a multitude of experiences have led me to deny this idealized version of myself. If left to my own devices (with no need to earn a living or socialize) I would pretty much spend my entire day watching television, eating pound cake, sleeping and, well, that’s pretty much it. On particularly vigorous days I may do a little Zumba (because it’s fun), make a phone call or two or surf the net, but that would be the extent of my endeavors. I have accomplished all that I have in life to this point through discipline, persistence, and forcing myself to do uncomfortable things (earning a living, working out consistently, going back to school for long periods of time, etc.). I did these things not so much because I wanted to be a better person, but because I found the alternatives (being poor, becoming overweight, being stuck in a low-paying job (i.e., not being able to save the world) so much more uncomfortable and intolerable. Do you know what I mean?

So while I’ve accomplished a fair amount in my life, I sense that my time here on earth here is ticking down. Not in a morbid, depressing kind of way. But in an inevitable, I’m 40 years old and perhaps half my life (and certainly a good number of working years) is most likely behind me. And also because I sense that sitting on the couch and eating pound cake is probably not going to get me where I want to be (though it sure would be fun...sigh).

In addition to my normal routine, there are some other areas which could use improvement. I’d like to post more entries to my blogs on a regular basis. I’d like to formally commit to my 3-4 day a week workout schedule. I’d like to save a regular amount of money each month (instead of giving in to the temptation that is DSW (a warehouse shoe store for those who have successfully resisted this temptation). I’d like to do concrete, manageable tasks that will improve my career, spirituality and lifestyle. And I’d like to feel like time is not slipping away from me as I dreamily contemplate what I could be doing if I wasn’t sitting on the couch (well, actually it’s an incredibly comfy recliner, but you get what I mean).

If you’re interested, here is some good reading material about Akrasia, aka our ability to continually procrastinate and put things off (even things that we want to do). Also, here is the Freakonomics podcast that got me interested in the first place. And here is a definition of commitment devices so that you too can share my joy in discovering that other people actually need things to force them to do things like perhaps you and I do.

And, because I believe in public shaming, here is a link to my workout chart. Journey with me as I consistently work out at least 3 days every week!

Hooray for the procrastinators!

Comments

[Daniel Reeves]

Sonya, holy cow, thank you so much! You are *exactly* the kind of person Beeminder was built for. (I know because Bethany Soule and I built it for ourselves and we're exactly like you. :))

I looked at your list of goals and I'm nervous that you don't know what you've gotten yourself into though! Beeminding that many things at once is really really hard. Maybe at least dial down the steepness of all but a handful of your yellow brick roads till you're sure what's reasonable to commit to? (Or maybe you thought of that and they're already mostly set conservatively.)

In any case, we're delighted by this post and your enthusiasm. We'd love to hear your thoughts as you travel these myriad roads.

Thanks again!
Danny of Beeminder

[Sonya Triggs-Wharton]

Yes, Dan, I am a classic overachiever. The really shameful part about all those darned goals I have on Beeminder is that I was doing at least half of them already! I am very accomplishment and goal-oriented, so I was already doing some of those goals, but not as well as I'd wanted to.

I would lose track of about half the items on my eternal to-do list. Particularly those items without a regular schedule. I kept thinking, well I'd like to publish at least 1-2 times per month, and, hmm, when was the last time I did that? Or, I know I should take my vitamins at least 5 days per week, but did I do that last week? And the part of my brain responsible for keeping track of those items would remind me of how overloaded it was and fail to return any actual useful information.

So Beeminder has turned out to be a godsend for me. It answers the questions - how am I doing on my goals? When was the last time I say, took my vitamin? And how many days can I slack off from my workout before it matters? It is now my brain substitute.

It's actually been somewhat of a lifesaver for me. I have been more productive in the last week or so than in the previous 6 months. Somehow Beeminder has succeeded where so many other products have failed.

So hats off to you for making such a great product. I'm looking forward to having an amazingly productive year with Beeminder 'minding' my goals for me :-)

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