
Get things done by procrastinating - bjenik
http://doinstead.com/
======
codegeek
Interesting idea. Btw, the default placeholders for Contact name and email
address made me realize immediately that this site is using foundation for css
(even without looking at the source) :). I have been playing with the same.

Your landing page though is a little confusing. Ok so we can do more by
procrastinating and then immediately you have the pricing table. I have no
clue what it means. Yes you have a "how it works" section below but the
pricing table needs to be somewhere else in my opinion.

"When people have a big task to do they usually tend to start working on lots
of other smaller things."

Not sure if this can be generalized. When I procrastinate, i don't even do the
small tasks. Heck, I will keep looking at that little light bulb that needs to
be changed but I won't.

~~~
lingben
agree! this is one gigantic confused mess. I applaud the intention behind it
but time to go back to the drawing board or at least do a small focus group
and get feedback from real live people (excluding those who built this who are
obviously too close to it to realize it doesn't accomplish its stated goal).

also, if the service isn't available, wouldn't it be a perfect time to not
have the buttons and price points for purchase and instead use a video, prezi
or some other form of succinct and lucid presentation to explain what problem
you are trying to solve and HOW you're going about that?

~~~
bjenik
You are right - the website could be done better

I came up to this idea like two or three days ago and built this page. This is
more like a test ballon to figure out if there is any potential.

~~~
graeme
Your test balloon will be misleading.

I have lots of stuff to do, and feel like I'm not doing it as fast as I could.
I want to procrastinate less. I'm very much in the market for anything that
helps me be more efficient.

But I have no idea what your site does. I'm not saying that to be harsh.

What I'm saying is: your test balloon is in no way indicative of the
worthiness of your idea. You could very easily get a false negative, because
people who are interested can't figure it out and don't sign up.

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mcescalante
After staring at the page for about 5 minutes, I still have no idea what I
would possibly be paying for, nor what would happen to my deposit if I didn't
"finish" it on time.

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bjenik
Background story:

I'm currently working on a ToDo-App for the iPhone. The problem is, I'm not
really working on it. Instead, I created all social media accounts I could
potentially need for the app (if I hopefully finish it sometime). In addition
to this, I rebuilt my personal website, redid my résumé and a lot of other
stuff (like this side project). In fact I was quite productive - but not on
the task I should do.

To sum it up: Instead of working on a big task I got a lot of smaller ones
done. So to get something done you obviously just need something bigger to
procrastinate on. That's what this project is about.

Now I'm really interested in your opinions - do you think this could work?

(PS: English is not my first language - if there are any mistakes on the
website please tell me)

~~~
onion2k
I like the idea, and I actually think it could work. I wouldn't be very happy
paying a fee, but if I paid $100 that's returned to me if I succeed or lost if
I fail, without any other fees, I'd be quite tempted.

As a web service though there's no reason for me to use it. Your competition
is me giving $100 to a friend I trust. I'm not sure how you'd overcome that.

~~~
beobab
I think they pick the task for you. Leastways, that's what it seemed like from
the pitch...

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cliveowen
"When people have a big task to do they usually tend to start working on lots
of other smaller things."

I usually don't work on anything, even if the big task is actually small. If
you have be a procrastinator you might as well go all the way.

~~~
AlexDanger
This. If its a big task, I need to stay focussed and disiplined on not doing
the task. Doing small tasks would just distract me from not doing the big
task.

------
anonymoushn
I'm not sure what I would be paying for if I were to pay you.

~~~
scrabble
"Go plan a party. That'll be $50."

------
dictum
The idea is interesting, but I want to understand something: how do you get
sure that your customer has finished the task? Do you contact the person,
requesting proof that the work is done?

Handling big deposits that you'll have to refund later may bite you with
transaction fees and taxes. IANAL/IANAA, but you should look into the laws of
your country.

Many people (this depends on what country they live, etc.) are used to using
credit cards and not bank accounts on the web, so dealing with deposits may
not interest them. Your audience may be different.

As essentially a to-do app without a task list, your customers will primarily
be consumers, who may not be used to making $500 deposits.

Don't take my word as gospel, but while it's a good idea to have higher
prices, especially for professional and enterprise customers, I'm not sure
your example task for the Small plan, "getting your house cleaned", fits in
with the $100 deposit. Of course the real "price" is $9.99 and the $100
deposit is just a way of making the user commit to it, but when I read it, it
immediately stuck in my mind as _paying someone else $100 for me to clean my
own house_.

~~~
bjenik
Yes - the idea is to ask for a proof

I'm not really happy about having people to deposit money but without that
there is no other way to make them actually do the task (at least I did not
find one by now but I'm open to suggestions)

------
loki540
I think this is a really cool concept, but it seems to be a mish-mash of two
ideas: 1) incentivize users to do a bunch of other tasks by identifying an
even more daunting one. 2) help users tackle the biggest thing on their list
by adding extra motivation (a time-sensitive security deposit). Personally, I
like the latter more - I've tried similar things by adding pointification to
my todo list, assigning notably more points to tasks that are the most
important, but I think adding actual $$$ and a deadline would be even more
motivating. I think the product here needs a bit more clarification, but it's
a neat idea! I'd also think it's a good idea to drop the actual price of the
tasks, but keep the deposits large - I doubt someone would pay $50 for
motivation on a huge task, but they might pay $5 and risk $500.

~~~
bjenik
Thank you for your comment

the site actually is mostly about "idea 1" (by using 2) to make people
actually do the tasks) but I think switching more towards "idea 2" could
actually be more useful

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joshuak
Awesome, but too many words.

Deposit x dollars, for x days if you don't finish your task on time you don't
get your money back.

I don't even think you need to charge for it, since some people won't collect.
Some people could like about finishing their task, but so what that's there
problem.

------
Gravityloss
Oh come on, surely this is just a play on all the wacky web apps people do. (I
don't oppose those.)

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beobab
I certainly have experienced the situation that you are describing, where I
managed to do tons of D.I.Y. jobs around the house when I really didn't want
to call the insurance people because I was sure I'd missed the deadline,
but...

I'm not sure I understand why you are requiring a deposit. Is it just to ramp
up the "must do this"-ness of the task?

Scenario 1: Your customer wants a huge task so they can avoid it and do lots
of other little tasks. - Effective cost: $550 for big task.

Scenario 2: Your customer wants to get good at actually doing tasks. -
Effective cost $50 for big task.

Your deposit rewards actually getting tasks done. Is that what you're trying
to achieve?

~~~
bjenik
I came across this problem, too.

The problem is when there is no penalty for not doing the task there is no
incentive to do it at all.

The idea is that the big task could be done in some crazy last minute rush to
save the money - with having done a lot of other things before.

------
score
I see where your getting at. It's a bit like vow of now's _" zen mind
guaranteed or your money isn't refunded"_:
[http://vowofnow.com](http://vowofnow.com)

------
goshx
I'd pay for something that could really make me stop procrastinating.
Unfortunately, I still haven't found anything that works. Your idea won't work
with me either. Along the years I've been mastering my skills on "paying for
things I will never use", like a gym, for instance. My problem with
procrastination is that when I have a productive day, finishing big and hard
tasks, I feel like I awarded myself with procrastination credits so I become
useless for another extended period of time.

------
cgulovsen
At first I was thought it was similar to TaskRabbit where I could just
outsource all the work I don't want for a monthly subscription which I would
be okay with (not saying I would use it but it would help some people). Once I
realized they actually want me to do my own work I was totally turned off...

------
volaski
How does this go up on HN front page when no one understands what the hell
this thing does

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pla3rhat3r
Not sure anyone would buy into this since we all pretty much get PAID to
procrastinate and this is asking us to PAY to procrastinate. Maybe if you gave
away your product this would help increase signups? Wait, what!?!

------
ahallock
The copy is confusing. I still don't understand what the product does.

~~~
bjenik
Maybe the story behind it (
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6223651](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6223651)
) could help you. If not I can try to explain it differently

~~~
ahallock
Thanks. I understand the premise now, but I think the copy needs some work so
people will better understand what they're buying.

------
bjenik
I updated the "How does this work?" question on the page

I hope it is more understandable now. If not just ask.

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anactofgod
I'll check into this later.

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dpanah
This is a full proof idea. We should all do it...tomorrow.

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dpanah
Pro cras tin at ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

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dpanah
Please pay here; dot dot dot: WH.gov dot dot com. ;)

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dpanah
It's all full proof I tell ya.

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dpanah
Full proof I tell ya.

------
dpanah
It's full proof brothers and sisters and bothers and soysters.

------
dpanah
Please buy now.

------
dpanah
Damn full proof. Why don't you believe it?

