I think that this scrambly feeling is one of the benefits for a lot of users (I’m lookin’ at you, @dreev 
), but for me, scrambling to prevent a negative consequence feels aversive and I’d like to limit it to only those goals for which I can’t break away from that (yet!). (I do like to scramble for fun, though, or when the consequences are trivial or silly, like a competition with someone, but that scramble feeling breaks apart from what makes me stay on track.)
I’m probably not going to wade into that thread, but whatever you want to call the mechanism that makes brushing my teeth before bed “the natural thing to do” to my brain is what I’m talking about when I say “habit”.
I’m not going to disagree with it not being for you; that’s totally your call! What makes the cue/trigger have to be an alarm, though? Depending on the goal and on what someone knows works for them, can’t it be a gently quiet post-it note or leaving your running shoes in the bathroom so you see them when you wake up or putting the tea where you usually keep the coffee?
I’ll probably always be an edge skater on a few things at a time, but for most, I’m a non-edge-skater in an edge-skater’s clothing… I just end up there when I fail to plan for what works best for me. (Luckily, Beeminder’s there to catch me even when I do that, though!)
Yeah, exactly. It’s my safety net and it provides whatever degree of motivation is required for the height of each goal’s wall to get over and get it done. For some goals, it’s enough to have a $5 pledge charge that would be triggered “at some point in the future if I don’t keep doing X enough” and for others, what’s needed is an $810 pledge charge that will trigger “in 15 minutes if I don’t answer 2 starred/flagged emails right now!”