Putting Bounties on My Goals
26 comments
·March 4, 2025mcint
Looks like the blog migration is incomplete -- links still point to the former
https://andysblog.uk/why-blog-if-nobody-reads-it/
https://andysblog.uk/why-your-blog-post-didnt-go-viral/
Which now 404s, with message from Vercel, "Deployment not found", sfo trace ids.
Congratulations on migrating to a new domain -- hope Vercel serves you well. A little disappointing about the lack of easy redirecting so far.
https://web.archive.org/web/20250219111210/https://andysblog...
https://web.archive.org/web/20250214201735/https://andysblog...
Bearblog.dev no less.
mcint
Well, simple guesses at migration don't help either.
https://www.krayorn.com/posts/why-blog-if-nobody-reads-it/
https://www.krayorn.com/why-blog-if-nobody-reads-it/
Good luck with the personal blogging infrastructure, hobby horse of many a working developer. Good excuse to play with new systems.
erelong
I think the only issue is on some things, rewards can undermine intrinsic motivation... external rewards work for tasks where extrinsic motivation works well
Ethee
I think this mainly comes down to how good you are at systematic thinking. For example it's really hard to build a habit without some form of reward mechanism, but once that habit is built the reward comes from the consistency of keeping the habit. This type of reward oriented behavior is probably quite good for that initial difficulty most people have in building a habit, but once you have the system in place it becomes second nature to keep doing the task and as a consequence usually introduces some negative association with skipping it. Think the gym for example.
hedgedoops2
laptopdev
I was using the land mine method, but it didn't trigger reliably. Now I use SmartBomb™.
threeio
I did this for a year or two when my first kid was born... I assigned penalty dollars with actions that I knew weren't good for me... didn't run for a week (outside of travel) 10$ to the kids account... stopped for fast food as opposed to having a real meal, 10$.
It was surprisingly effective for what was a stressful time and in the end gave some real benefit to their compound interest long term... all because I was being lazy and grabbed a burger for lunch :)
ct0
How does this interact with Structured Procrastination? Im a huge fan and avid strut-castinator. This is an entirely different approach to accomplishing goals though, as I'm frugal and hate to waste money. https://www.structuredprocrastination.com/
HermanMartinus
Interestingly enough, this is how I tricked myself into quitting smoking.
I withdrew $100, and told my good friend that I’d give it to him if I used anything with nicotine in it. It worked pretty well since it turns that first cigarette into a $100 cigarette. Not worth it at all.
And I haven’t smoked in 7 years :)
triyambakam
Good job! But I would caution that you probably were just not addicted to nicotine. You may not have the genes for addiction, or it just was not yet activated.
al_borland
It can often be the habits and routines that are hard to stop than the physical addiction.
imtringued
Most people aren't addicted to nicotine. They are addicted to the burnt additives.
This is why vaping tends to work really well if you want to quit. It's just water and nicotine.
triyambakam
That's wildly untrue. Many people just end up addicted to vaping instead.
joshmit
Try the Forfeit App: https://www.forfeit.app
D-Coder
I put "Stab self with fork" on my to-do list.
Every other task gets done first.
kreas
This actually sounds like a great idea. I procrastinate a lot. I also play a lot of Raid Shadow Legends. I should totally gate those purchases behind hitting my goals.
Thanks for sharing.
lukew3
Kinda obvious this was written last minute haha. Basically rewriting this idea we've all heard many times. Good luck though!
tannerc
Much of blogging (and creation in any form) is often exactly that: an existing idea remixed or reconsidered from someone else’s perspective.
After-all, the telephone wasn’t all that an original idea for a long while before the idea finally reached a salient and effective point.
My take has always been: just because you and I have heard the concept before does not mean everyone has. And if one person finds it helpful to read in this way, that’s a nice thing to have provided the world. :)
redeux
You said it well. We all stand on the shoulders of those that came before us.
It is also possible that blogging is just not a good thing for this person to be doing right now, if they don't want to do it, it can be an informed conclusion of the brain. Setting up an authoritarian system to force blogging might just be that, an imposition, and not an aid to the life process.