8 ms·

This was on HN once before - when it was, I signed up, because I struggle with prioritizing things that I need to do in my personal life over my professional li

This was on HN once before - when it was, I signed up, because I struggle with prioritizing things that I need to do in my personal life over my professional life. (Hair cut, clean car, dentist, what have you.) I figured I didn't have anything to lose, really. Manasvini, who emails me regularly from the service, has been nothing but wonderful. Every email I've gotten has been encouraging and positive, and it honestly helps keep me accountable. I really can't thank Manasvini enough for that. Never once has there been any scolding, nagging, or negativity - just gracious reminders and a good attitude. (Manasvini, if you're reading this - thanks for putting up with me, and always being helpful getting me back on track, even when I manage to completely derail myself.)

nodesocket 8y ago
Do you feel that adding tasks and managing bossasaservice.life becomes more of a distraction and effort than not having it though?
- rhencke 8y ago
  Not really - keep in mind interacting with Boss as a Service is a normal human conversation. In that way, it's very fluid and natural. You tell them what you want to work on, they help keep you accountable via reaching out, you report back when you finish it. If you needed to re-prioritize anything, it'd be as simple as saying, 'Hey, I'd like to work on A instead of B' or 'I'm going on vacation for a week' or whatever else you might need to say. This isn't really a web task/todo list service - think of it more like someone helping keep you accountable to tasks where you'd find it helpful for someone to do so, if that makes sense.
  - gcb0 8y ago
    so you email manasvini every meanial task like hair cut, car wash, etc and he emails you a reminder if you miss the regular intervals? sounds much more work than a task list...
    - techstrategist 8y ago
      I imagine they focus on the tasks that they typically procrastinate.
    - adarshr 8y ago
      In their website's footer, there is a link to Manasvini Krishna's Twitter handle - https://twitter.com/Manasvinik https://twitter.com/Manasvinik who is a woman.
      - gcb0 8y ago
        not really relevant. just said the name because the comment I was commenting on start with it. Still unsure how the commenter sees getting call about hair cut schedule help him with task overhead. The comment make it look like that person is their mother, who knows everything about their life and can comment on. When in reality we know they only know what you email them about. And after a while emailing people is as much (if not more) of a chore than using a simple list.
Sinbe 8y ago
So this service the same as life coaching, but remotely through emails?
- armed10 8y ago
  Yes
your-nanny 8y ago
If I had a service to promote on HN, pretty sure I'd make sure to have a couple of HN commenters to rah rah the product. Sorry if I sound cynical, but will youvouch that you are not being compensated in any way by this company? Thanks.
hrdwdmrbl 8y ago
So it sounds like I can use this as mom-as-a-service, yes?
- type-2 8y ago
  I have an Idea. Maas (Mom as a service)
  - phkahler 8y ago
    I don't think it's legal in most places for me to rent your mom.
    - FiveSquared 8y ago
      But it’s apparently okay to talk Sh!t about your mom in CSGO?
    - mrwilhelm 8y ago
      What about MomAI?
  - globuous 8y ago
    So like daycare ? :D
bravura 8y ago
Is your difficulty simply following through on tasks? Do you also have difficulty finding enough time, and prioritizing your backlog of todo items? How does the service help in this case?
- armed10 8y ago
  (I'm a customer of B.A.A.S.) It helps with the follow through, because you'll let someone besides yourself down if you don't. Besides that, they help you plan and keep things sustainable. When you send goals that are poorly defined, they help you convert them into actionable ones. Ultimately, you decide priority on these matters, but it helps to have that second mind that actively thinks with you.
  - blake_himself 8y ago
    > baas Unironically, the origin of the word 'boss'.
leoalves 8y ago
Do you think you are acomplishing more because of this service? I think they should start with a lower fee and charge x more every time the user fails to complete a task, on time. People need incentive to finish something. Not sure if someone emailing you is enough
- nitrogen 8y ago
  Unfortunately that also sounds like an even stronger incentive to cancel the service. But I guess everyone is motivated differently.
- dwd 8y ago
  Sounds like good motivation to do shit work just to get it done on time. Inversely, offering rewards can be just as counterproductive. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/27/opinion/sunday/science-rewards-behavior.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/27/opinion/sunday/science-re... If it helps you maintain intrinsic motivation then it may be of benefit. Maybe depending on the person a gentle reminder or a wakeup call works best, but the motivation shouldn't be focussed on getting a pat on the back or to avoid someone yelling at you.
  - thaumasiotes 8y ago
    > Sounds like good motivation to do shit work just to get it done on time. You say this like it's obviously a bad idea. Why? The more work you do, the better it will be, even if you're not trying for any particular quality level. Most people have much more of a problem with the amount of the work they do than with the quality. I read of an experiment conducted on a college pottery class. Half of the class was told they would be graded on the quality of the pots they produced. The other half was told their grade would be determined by gathering all the pots they turned in, smashing them, and weighing the pile of shards. The heavier the pile, the better the grade. The grade-by-weight group turned in higher-quality pots.
    - louhike 8y ago
      > You say this like it's obviously a bad idea. Why? I think the article he cites answers this question.
rusticpenn 8y ago
Never realised that my wife is also providing this service for me ...
- TomMarius 8y ago
  My girlfriend says she feels like my mother, careful with that
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
  - roadbeats 8y ago
    "We're a generation of men raised by women. I'm wondering if another woman is really the answer we need." - Tyler Durden
    - jonathanstrange 8y ago
      At the risk of sounding a bit picky, I've got to say that's a weird quote, though. Which generation of men has not been raised by women?
      - dbspin 8y ago
        The book (and film) is specifically talking about absent fathers. The next line is "Our fathers were our models for God. If our fathers bailed, what does that tell you about God?" It's pretty much the theme of the film: Masculinity as a desperate absence and conversely a desperate danger, in all it's facets from the comedic ("In death a member of Project Mayhem has a name") to the bathetic ("remaining men together") to the deeply sinister and violent. In a time when it is culturally deracinated and absent from so many men's childhoods.
        deleted 8y ago
        [deleted]
      - 8y ago
blablabla123 8y ago
Just use a project management software! Like Redmine, it has tickets, Gantt charts and even a calendar feed I think. Works like a charm for exactly that stuff. I mean managing this is so trivial with that kind of software.
- jvgrootveld 8y ago
  Personally I think Redmine is a bit too much for managing personal life. For capturing and managing tasks I use OmniFocus. But I think the problem is not the capturing but the doing. With BaaS a real person helps you to achieve your tasks.
  - isostatic 8y ago
    We send ourselves an email with a todo list, when an action is added, it's "reply all" and add it to the bottom. When one is done it's removed.
  - blablabla123 8y ago
    I mean just from a standpoint of free will and society, not so much from technological: seriously, this is the opposite of what a person should want. When you look at the historical development people got increasingly self-determined over the centuries. This completely makes no sense at all, this is reverse and you even pay for this. I mean this BaaS probably "manages" 100s of people and is doing nothing else than clicking through a similar software for you.
- cimmanom 8y ago
  Keeping track of and prioritizing the things you need to do is a very different challenge from motivating yourself to actually get off your ass and do them.
  - dorchadas 8y ago
    Ain't that the truth! I've got an easy list of all the projects and stuff I want/need to do, and can easily prioritize and reprioritize that (and often procrastinate by doing just that). But when it comes to actually sitting down and doing it...well, that's where I struggle.

nodesocket 8y ago

Do you feel that adding tasks and managing bossasaservice.life becomes more of a distraction and effort than not having it though?

rhencke 8y ago
Not really - keep in mind interacting with Boss as a Service is a normal human conversation. In that way, it's very fluid and natural. You tell them what you want to work on, they help keep you accountable via reaching out, you report back when you finish it. If you needed to re-prioritize anything, it'd be as simple as saying, 'Hey, I'd like to work on A instead of B' or 'I'm going on vacation for a week' or whatever else you might need to say. This isn't really a web task/todo list service - think of it more like someone helping keep you accountable to tasks where you'd find it helpful for someone to do so, if that makes sense.
- gcb0 8y ago
  so you email manasvini every meanial task like hair cut, car wash, etc and he emails you a reminder if you miss the regular intervals? sounds much more work than a task list...
  - techstrategist 8y ago
    I imagine they focus on the tasks that they typically procrastinate.
  - adarshr 8y ago
    In their website's footer, there is a link to Manasvini Krishna's Twitter handle - https://twitter.com/Manasvinik https://twitter.com/Manasvinik who is a woman.
    - gcb0 8y ago
      not really relevant. just said the name because the comment I was commenting on start with it. Still unsure how the commenter sees getting call about hair cut schedule help him with task overhead. The comment make it look like that person is their mother, who knows everything about their life and can comment on. When in reality we know they only know what you email them about. And after a while emailing people is as much (if not more) of a chore than using a simple list.

Sinbe 8y ago

So this service the same as life coaching, but remotely through emails?

armed10 8y ago
Yes

your-nanny 8y ago

If I had a service to promote on HN, pretty sure I'd make sure to have a couple of HN commenters to rah rah the product. Sorry if I sound cynical, but will youvouch that you are not being compensated in any way by this company? Thanks.

hrdwdmrbl 8y ago

So it sounds like I can use this as mom-as-a-service, yes?

type-2 8y ago
I have an Idea. Maas (Mom as a service)
- phkahler 8y ago
  I don't think it's legal in most places for me to rent your mom.
  - FiveSquared 8y ago
    But it’s apparently okay to talk Sh!t about your mom in CSGO?
  - mrwilhelm 8y ago
    What about MomAI?
- globuous 8y ago
  So like daycare ? :D

bravura 8y ago

Is your difficulty simply following through on tasks? Do you also have difficulty finding enough time, and prioritizing your backlog of todo items? How does the service help in this case?

armed10 8y ago
(I'm a customer of B.A.A.S.) It helps with the follow through, because you'll let someone besides yourself down if you don't. Besides that, they help you plan and keep things sustainable. When you send goals that are poorly defined, they help you convert them into actionable ones. Ultimately, you decide priority on these matters, but it helps to have that second mind that actively thinks with you.
- blake_himself 8y ago
  > baas Unironically, the origin of the word 'boss'.

leoalves 8y ago

Do you think you are acomplishing more because of this service? I think they should start with a lower fee and charge x more every time the user fails to complete a task, on time. People need incentive to finish something. Not sure if someone emailing you is enough

nitrogen 8y ago
Unfortunately that also sounds like an even stronger incentive to cancel the service. But I guess everyone is motivated differently.
dwd 8y ago
Sounds like good motivation to do shit work just to get it done on time. Inversely, offering rewards can be just as counterproductive. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/27/opinion/sunday/science-rewards-behavior.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/27/opinion/sunday/science-re... If it helps you maintain intrinsic motivation then it may be of benefit. Maybe depending on the person a gentle reminder or a wakeup call works best, but the motivation shouldn't be focussed on getting a pat on the back or to avoid someone yelling at you.
- thaumasiotes 8y ago
  > Sounds like good motivation to do shit work just to get it done on time. You say this like it's obviously a bad idea. Why? The more work you do, the better it will be, even if you're not trying for any particular quality level. Most people have much more of a problem with the amount of the work they do than with the quality. I read of an experiment conducted on a college pottery class. Half of the class was told they would be graded on the quality of the pots they produced. The other half was told their grade would be determined by gathering all the pots they turned in, smashing them, and weighing the pile of shards. The heavier the pile, the better the grade. The grade-by-weight group turned in higher-quality pots.
  - louhike 8y ago
    > You say this like it's obviously a bad idea. Why? I think the article he cites answers this question.

rusticpenn 8y ago

Never realised that my wife is also providing this service for me ...

TomMarius 8y ago
My girlfriend says she feels like my mother, careful with that
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- roadbeats 8y ago
  "We're a generation of men raised by women. I'm wondering if another woman is really the answer we need." - Tyler Durden
  - jonathanstrange 8y ago
    At the risk of sounding a bit picky, I've got to say that's a weird quote, though. Which generation of men has not been raised by women?
    - dbspin 8y ago
      The book (and film) is specifically talking about absent fathers. The next line is "Our fathers were our models for God. If our fathers bailed, what does that tell you about God?" It's pretty much the theme of the film: Masculinity as a desperate absence and conversely a desperate danger, in all it's facets from the comedic ("In death a member of Project Mayhem has a name") to the bathetic ("remaining men together") to the deeply sinister and violent. In a time when it is culturally deracinated and absent from so many men's childhoods.
      - deleted 8y ago
        [deleted]
    - 8y ago

blablabla123 8y ago

Just use a project management software! Like Redmine, it has tickets, Gantt charts and even a calendar feed I think. Works like a charm for exactly that stuff. I mean managing this is so trivial with that kind of software.

jvgrootveld 8y ago
Personally I think Redmine is a bit too much for managing personal life. For capturing and managing tasks I use OmniFocus. But I think the problem is not the capturing but the doing. With BaaS a real person helps you to achieve your tasks.
- isostatic 8y ago
  We send ourselves an email with a todo list, when an action is added, it's "reply all" and add it to the bottom. When one is done it's removed.
- blablabla123 8y ago
  I mean just from a standpoint of free will and society, not so much from technological: seriously, this is the opposite of what a person should want. When you look at the historical development people got increasingly self-determined over the centuries. This completely makes no sense at all, this is reverse and you even pay for this. I mean this BaaS probably "manages" 100s of people and is doing nothing else than clicking through a similar software for you.
cimmanom 8y ago
Keeping track of and prioritizing the things you need to do is a very different challenge from motivating yourself to actually get off your ass and do them.
- dorchadas 8y ago
  Ain't that the truth! I've got an easy list of all the projects and stuff I want/need to do, and can easily prioritize and reprioritize that (and often procrastinate by doing just that). But when it comes to actually sitting down and doing it...well, that's where I struggle.