Can Beeminder help me get out of bed each day?

[hmowilliams]

@phi

oh nice idea! But what about the web browser? I mean you wouldn’t block your web browser on your phone, would you? Can you add fake runs to Runkeeper via their website? Just as an example. Can these apps block individual web pages?

That’s a really good point. Personally, I depend on my Fitbit, because I can’t enter data manually. I wouldn’t trust myself with Runkeeper, haha.

The exception for me was when I had so. many. goals. that cheating was honestly more complicated than accurate logging. I don’t recommend that as a long-term solution, though

@phi

What exactly does Beeminder lock down when you enable weaselproof mode anyway?

Good question! Beeminder doesn’t exactly lock down anything when you weaselproof a goal, it just flags the goal for support. If someone calls not-legit on a derailment, we normally cancel the charge without questioning the reasoning. If a goal is weaselproofed though, we need some kind of proof (doctor’s note, screenshots of completed work, confirmation from family/friend, etc.) before cancelling the charge.

@phi

I now procrastinate using Netflix.

I don’t think I’ve heard anyone say this before, but I like the idea! I can relate to what you mean, since usually if I’m watching Netflix it’s for a specific show and often with someone else. Youtube or Reddit I just get completely lost in. I now have a timer that floats on my phone screen and tells me how long I’ve spent that day in a particular app. I don’t always do anything about that time, but it’s helpful to be aware of!

Speaking of that, random thought that’s semi-on-topic: I try to think of time in terms of a percentage of my day. Since there are 24 hours, fifteen minutes is roughly 1% of the day. Half an hour on Reddit (okay, okay, four hours) is a significant percentage of my day, which in turn becomes a significant percentage of my life. Sometimes that helps me put things into context.

@phi

After all it is just a glorified if statement but I wanna make sure it works reliably first before I release it into the wild

My programming skills are extremely minimal, but would it work to create a site that lets people combine IFTTT goals by using that site as the “that” statement? So, for example (I apologize in advance for how badly this is explained…):

Two input applets on IFTTT:
if TIME = 6:00 
then SITE_VAR1 = TRUE

if LOCATION = PARK
then SITE_VAR2 = TRUE

then on the site:
if (SITE_VAR1 === TRUE && SITE_VAR2 === TRUE) {
  SITE_VAR3 = TRUE
}

IFTTT again:
if SITE_VAR3 === TRUE then LOG TO BEEMINDER

And of course, the variables would reset at a certain time. That seems like a service that would be super useful, and not only for Beeminder. Combining IFTTT statements is especially important now that Stringify is shutting down

[phi]

@hmowilliams

What exactly does Beeminder lock down when you enable weaselproof mode anyway?

Good question! Beeminder doesn’t exactly lock down anything when you weaselproof a goal, it just flags the goal for support. If someone calls not-legit on a derailment, we normally cancel the charge without questioning the reasoning. If a goal is weaselproofed though, we need some kind of proof (doctor’s note, screenshots of completed work, confirmation from family/friend, etc.) before cancelling the charge.

I see. Fair enough and exactly as advertised. Though I feel like there’s a feature opportunity here for maybe an iron maiden mode that locks down settings within the akrasia horizon? I’m trying to think of a more bee-like name and am thinking of hornets but nothing witty comes to mind.
Or actually: Have a bumblebee mode (they seem to frolic through the day without a care in the world, don’t they?) for when things are not locked down (like right now) and have regular Beeminder come with settings being subject to the akrasia horizon. Something like that.

@hmowilliams

Speaking of that, random thought that’s semi-on-topic: I try to think of time in terms of a percentage of my day. Since there are 24 hours, fifteen minutes is roughly 1% of the day. Half an hour on Reddit (okay, okay, four hours) is a significant percentage of my day, which in turn becomes a significant percentage of my life. Sometimes that helps me put things into context.

Haha Oh I like this a lot! I’m a big advocate of putting things into context.

@hmowilliams

My programming skills are extremely minimal, but would it work to create a site that lets people combine IFTTT goals by using that site as the “that” statement?

You got it! That’s exactly what I had in mind
In fact I was also contemplating making a very simple language not unlike what you proposed in your example for even more flexibility but that will have to wait until people stop having birthdays all the time (I love cake but there is a too much of everything )