4 ms·

Streak Redemption

2 points by fagnerbrack 3y ago

gryfft 3y ago
I've gone biking for 30 minutes every day for the last 23 weeks as of this morning. I believe the psychological power of keeping my streak alive is a big part of how I've managed to lose 60 pounds in that timeframe. Next week I'm traveling to see my dad for the first time since he beat cancer. It's looking like I won't be able to have access to a bike all week. The prospect of how to feel about breaking the streak has been rattling around in the back of my head. I like the thoughts in this fine article; it would be nice to be able to feel like I've "closed the gap" even after the fact. Maybe I'll let myself "backfill a day" once a week with an hour long ride or something. I like the idea of protecting the sensation of progress for the part of myself that clings so hard to it.
- cranky908canuck 3y ago
  This sounds like you aren't reliant on an external arbiter for your streak calculation, it's just between you and the calendar with crossed-off dates. That being the case, you can implement your own algorithm and go with it. I'm interpreting what you have said as that you won't (and do not want to) rationalize your way to the answer you like. Same as how I calculate my "benchmark" weight: there's a bit of latitude in saying "oh, that's an outlier", but the process (essentially a moving average) is immune to most things short of outright fabrication, and I can't self-deceive about that.
cranky908canuck 3y ago
An additional flaw with Duolingo's streak process (but I'm sure common since they've at least thought about skip-one-day) not mentioned in the article is that there's no way to preserve even part of a streak if you miss a week, even if you know in advance and it's either necessary (business trip) or part of the process (camping out of internet coverage - yep, still a thing). There's also no way to ask them for this (no "feedback/feature requests" area). This happened to me recently, and I was a few days late getting back on the wagon since I knew that my months old streak was just as dead either way. What would help is some kind of 'streak hibernate', with whatever trickery is needed to make it something you don't just leave on all the time (perhaps: you lose a day for every inactive day plus an additional day on the invocation). Or, just don't care much about the streak at all (which would seem to diminish the motivational value).

2 points by fagnerbrack 3y ago

I've gone biking for 30 minutes every day for the last 23 weeks as of this morning. I believe the psychological power of keeping my streak alive is a big part of how I've managed to lose 60 pounds in that timeframe. Next week I'm traveling to see my dad for the first time since he beat cancer. It's looking like I won't be able to have access to a bike all week. The prospect of how to feel about breaking the streak has been rattling around in the back of my head. I like the thoughts in this fine article; it would be nice to be able to feel like I've "closed the gap" even after the fact. Maybe I'll let myself "backfill a day" once a week with an hour long ride or something. I like the idea of protecting the sensation of progress for the part of myself that clings so hard to it.

cranky908canuck 3y ago
This sounds like you aren't reliant on an external arbiter for your streak calculation, it's just between you and the calendar with crossed-off dates. That being the case, you can implement your own algorithm and go with it. I'm interpreting what you have said as that you won't (and do not want to) rationalize your way to the answer you like. Same as how I calculate my "benchmark" weight: there's a bit of latitude in saying "oh, that's an outlier", but the process (essentially a moving average) is immune to most things short of outright fabrication, and I can't self-deceive about that.

cranky908canuck 3y ago

An additional flaw with Duolingo's streak process (but I'm sure common since they've at least thought about skip-one-day) not mentioned in the article is that there's no way to preserve even part of a streak if you miss a week, even if you know in advance and it's either necessary (business trip) or part of the process (camping out of internet coverage - yep, still a thing). There's also no way to ask them for this (no "feedback/feature requests" area). This happened to me recently, and I was a few days late getting back on the wagon since I knew that my months old streak was just as dead either way. What would help is some kind of 'streak hibernate', with whatever trickery is needed to make it something you don't just leave on all the time (perhaps: you lose a day for every inactive day plus an additional day on the invocation). Or, just don't care much about the streak at all (which would seem to diminish the motivational value).