I have a goal to write 750 words every day. I actually do want to write every day, so my goal has a 0-day respite and I try not to carry a multi-day buffer. But if I write 800 words one day, then I’ll only hold myself responsible for writing 700 the next day.
Anyway, I could tell that I was about to derail yesterday, but I still had some time, so I wrote as much as I could so that at least today would be easier. But I logged in today to find that the full 750 words were due. Is that always how it’s worked? Does it have to work that way?
Hi! I’m by no means an expert, but have been using Beeminder for awhile. I had a zero-respite goal and changed it to 1 day just to give myself breathing room Here’s what I think is happening.
Because each new day, you’re committing to 750 words, if you wrote less than 750 words yesterday, that would only go towards partially covering yesterday. No buffer. If you wrote more, entering that would give you the leftovers as buffer. Buffer=leftovers after the goal is met for the day.
If you want, you could enter a zero yesterday (since anywhere between 0 and 749 words would have the same effect of derailing you) and enter those words for today, but I don’t think that’s a good idea. I really recommend adding in at least 1 day of respite.
The good news is, your words show up on your graph as counting toward total words written!
Another idea:
Based on what you’re describing (wanting to give yourself credit for extra words, but also wanting to write every day) I would keep all the buffer you think is reasonable.
You want to write every day, which is great! Does 1 word count as writing for the day? 10? 100? You could enter this in the fine print on the commitment tab, and whenever you get over that amount of buffer (749, 740, or 650, for example), use autoratchet [edit: just plain old ratchet if you don’t have the paid plan for autoratchet] to keep it below that limit. Maybe you’re already doing that!
Yep, that’s the correct way it’s intended to work: if you derail, then the full amount is due tomorrow, no buffer carried forward from partial completion. I don’t know if technically that’s necessary, but it makes a certain amount of sense to me as the way it works. Useful to know that it didn’t feel right to you, though – thanks for asking about it!