Accountability mechanisms can be joyful (2024)

(liquidbrain.net)

32 points | by luu 2 days ago

3 comments

  • pugio 1 hour ago
    Great idea. Related: My wife and I have been sending each other video game achievement style images (with ChatGPT) to celebrate our little wins and keep us going in a busy household. I've also recently been planning goals for next year, and hit upon making my goal tracker look like the old Quest for Glory V character UI. Instant major (recurring) motivation boost.

    Takeaway: Try mining your own past for the easy things that bring you joy, and weave those in. Personal UIs are free now, so do the fun thing.

  • DonHopkins 13 minutes ago
    And when you start Rick Rolling and Nickelbacking each other, it's a strong signal that it's time to break up.
    • avinoth 0 minutes ago
      I'd say if it's both doing it, it's a strong signal for the opposite.
  • bluefirebrand 22 minutes ago
    This strikes me as pretty similar to gamification, honestly. You went to the gym this week 1/7

    I guess if it works, but man I think we need to do some work as a society and species to untangle how messed up we've become that we need a little jingle to motivate us to do good things for ourselves and make healthy choices.

    • dozerly 5 minutes ago
      I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. Humans have been well and truly figured out, and we’ve built an ecosystem for ourselves that is predatory to every single one of our desires and weaknesses. For many, the reward signal received when doing a good and healthy thing is a whisper compared to the fog horn of brain chemicals just perusing through social media gives you. Humans are desensitized, and I think things like this article are people re-hacking their reward mechanisms to try and take back control.