Posted by: bk2nocal on: January 22, 2008
I am a chronic procrastinator. I constantly have things on my to-do list for weeks, sometimes months. I make every excuse in the book to NOT do those items. But, Web Worker Daily has found a tool that could hit us where it hurts (our pocketbooks) when we don’t finish our tasks. This post on Stickk gives you the low-down. Now, there is no reason you need an online program to be accountable, but it sure does help to have that intermediary who is tracking your progress.
The problem that I see with this is lack of internal motivation. If you are only willing to do things because there is a cash penalty or another person who is going to know about the failure, then you are not truly self-motivated. And I think developing a level of internal, self-motvation is what is necessary for us to achieve our goals in the long-term. Sure, this Stickk program can help you to achieve a goal in the short-term. But, then another goal will arise and the question is will you be able to accomplish that without Stickk, or will you need to go back to it to get the motivation?
In educational contexts there is some debate over rewards vs. punishments vs. internal motivation. The article, “Toward the ethical motivation of learning,” provides a good discussion of this. I think this extends beyond the educational realm and into our everyday lives. Although Stickk may be a short-term solution to a lack of motivation, in the end, we have to figure out a way of intrinsically motivating ourselves or we are setting ourselves up for long-term failure, disappointment or more lack of motivation.
