
Show HN: Use Peer Pressure to Accomplish Your Goals - ErikVandeWater
http://www.peeraccomplish.com
======
ErikVandeWater
I noticed myself procrastinating and I wondered what I could do about it. So I
created this to make it easier/more fun to get stuff done.

The idea is that when we commit to something publicly, we are more likely to
stick with it. Humans evolved in groups, which demanded members' words be
consistent with their actions.

Note on Signup: If you'd like to try it without a Facebook account, you can
open up developer tools and unhide the hidden manual sign up div to sign up. I
hid this because accounts with fake names were making the site look
illegitimate, so please use something that looks reasonable, at least. :)
Also, this website is best used with people you know after you've gotten a
feel for it, IMHO.

~~~
paraknight
> The idea is that when we commit to something publicly, we are more likely to
> stick with it.

Didn't this turn out to be a myth (and indeed have the opposite intended
effect)? I can't find any definitive sources but here's the first result off
of Google:

[http://lifehacker.com/5921478/shhh-keeping-quiet-may-help-
yo...](http://lifehacker.com/5921478/shhh-keeping-quiet-may-help-you-achieve-
your-goals)

Do you have any sources that argue the opposite?

~~~
ErikVandeWater
This was a primary consideration in the design of the site. I should clarify
the difference between goals on this site and the goals in your article.

This site is designed for you to share your goals on a daily basis (what are
you going to get done today). The article is correct that long term goals,
like in the article are goals that you should mostly keep to yourself.

Essentially the reason why you should not share your long term goals with
others is that it lets you imagine how much better your life will be in the
future (and expectation of reward is effectively the same as the reward
itself).

However, short term goals aren't rewarding in the same way. If I tell you I'm
going to get up at 5:30am tomorrow, there isn't really an implicit reward or a
belief that my life will be substantially different for having done so (but if
someone told you they are going to lose 50 pounds in the next year, there
would be) . The site also doesn't enable rewards for creating a goal itself,
but only for accomplishing it.

Finally, sharing goals with others in real life is different from using this
site. In real life, your friend isn't going to call you out if you fail to
accomplish your goal a day/month/year from now. But you will be reminded of
your failure and others' knowledge of your failure on this site.

