I had a backlog of shredding to do, so I created a goal to shred 1 bag a day. It seemed like a mountain of paper and I didn’t know how long it would take to complete. 10 days later, I’m done. Woohoo! Now what? Perhaps I didn’t create the goal the way I should have, but I don’t know how to tell Beeminder that I succeeded. Do I delete the whole thing? Try to archive it? I don’t want it to act as though I derailed, when in fact I accomplished what I set out to do. Any suggestions? Many thanks!
Yeah this can be kind of strange sometimes.
If you know exactly how much work there is to do at the beginning, you can create it as a Whittle Down goal (e.g. starting at 10 with a rate of -1 going towards 0). But if you don’t know in advance, you have to make it a Do More goal (which it sounds like you did). So when you get to the end of the project, you hit Archive and enter a big fake data point so you don’t derail in the meantime. Alternatively you could email support and ask them to Archive it instantly.
1 Like
Many thanks!
Much sadness.
Any solution that involves fake data is wrong, and I say that without being QS-obsessive. It’s like getting the affordances wrong in physical design; e.g. doors with pull-handles shouldn’t be push-to-open.
This example is tied to the whole world of how Beeminder (currently) fails to celebrate success. Seems closely related to the uncle button, in functionality if not intent.
Happily, @rebeccayoung wasn’t shy about emailing support. 
Also, sometimes it’s nice to leave a completed goal in your trophy case for a while. Now, there’s a #UVI idea to replace back-burnering! Like feature-my-goal, but personal.
5 Likes
I so agree about your trophy case idea. This shredding backlog was getting worse and worse for months, was a daily source of guilt, and certainly wasn’t good feng shui for my home office. I am thrilled that it is done! I couldn’t bear the thought of entering fake data when I legitimately succeeded. And it would be lovely to have it pop up in some way as a reminder that I can clear even long-term, onerous backlogs, and it doesn’t have to take forever.
6 Likes