Tag Archive
1000 Days of User-Visible Improvements
A version of this article appeared on the Beeminder Blog. This is the rest of the story, about how Beeminder bet $1000 on bettering Beeminder every day, then failed and had to actually cough up the $1000 to a lucky user. But only after making 1000 improvements in 1000 days... »
Email Snooze and Gmail Zero
Two years ago, when I still had a day job and Beeminder was just a side project, I wrote about my epic struggle with email: My email is dysfunctional. I keep things in my inbox because I can’t afford for them to go out... »
Flexible Self-Control
The problem of self-control may be a ridiculous first world problem but it's the granddaddy of first world problems and I want to solve it. We live amidst a deluge of opportunities for instant gratification, especially in the form of food and entertainment, and most of us don't handle it well. The general problem, known as akrasia, is this: you understand your own best interests when you consider them dispassionately, but in the moment your decision-making is distorted. The best time for, say, a workout is always "tomorrow".... »
How To Do What You Want: Akrasia and Self-Binding
UPDATE: A revised version of this article now appears at blog.beeminder.com/akrasia. Preface: I love dog food, metaphorically speaking, of course. This article is about forcing oneself to do what one wants to do and I, among other things, want a new Messy Matters article to go out no less often than the... »
