s2e01: Just Start Typing
0.0 Sitrep
Well, I'm back. For now.
In the basement, standing at the standing desk, listening to It's Not Unusual to Shake It Off from Best of Bootie 2014 ("What's a mashup?" "A mashup is when you take two songs and mash them together to make an even richer explosion of musical expression.")
1.0 Just Start Typing
Okay, so here's what's in my head right now:
- what feels like an increasingly blunt instrument of streaks (implemented normally through badges/rewards) in behaviour modification apps (Did you move enough today? Stand? Walk? Drink enough water?) that feels like it subscribes to the Jerry Seinfeld "unbroken X" model of building a habit. To which: yes, but - it relies on sufficient mental capacity to bounce back from breaking the line of Xs, to break the streak. For some situations (e.g. managing my type 2 diabetes), just *doing the thing at all* is better than not doing it at all, and *the streak doesn't matter*. So, for specific goals where a required outcome is long-term management, asking: did you do this thing or not, rather than "you've done this thing so many times" might be better.
- Still thinking about The Watch and what it could be other than gnomic comments like "the wrist is interesting" or "notifications are the new interface" and talking to people who range from indifferent verging on the abusive (yet continue to wear it) to those who love it.
OK.
Let's see if I can write tomorrow.
Dan