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What Is Beeminder?

Beeminder is a service that helps you keep track of what you want to be doing, but maybe are having trouble actually following through. It takes data, either that you enter or that's automatically entered from dozens of different services (see Integrations), and it keeps track of data in a cool graph! The catch is that you set an amount you must do per day/week/month, and if that amount isn't met then you get charged money. That's the sting of Beeminder!

How it works

  1. Pick a goal and a rate. Decide what you want to track and how much of it you'll commit to — for example, "run 10 miles a week" or "spend no more than 30 minutes a day on social media."
  2. Beeminder draws your bright red line. Your commitment becomes a line on a graph. As long as your datapoints stay on the right side of it, you're on track.
  3. Feed it data. Enter datapoints by hand, or connect one of the many integrations to report your progress automatically.
  4. Stay on the line. The day you're at risk of crossing it is an eep day — you have to do something that day, or you'll derail.
  5. Derail and you pay. Going off your line triggers your pledge, and each derailment bumps the pledge up to keep the sting real.

Key concepts

Beeminder has its own vocabulary. Here are the essentials — see the official Glossary for the full list.

  • Bright red line — the line on your graph you commit to staying on the right side of. (You may still see this called the Yellow Brick Road in older posts; it's the same idea.)
  • Datapoint — a single number you (or an integration) report toward your goal.
  • Eep day — a day when you must enter data or do the thing, or you'll derail.
  • Derailing — going off your bright red line. This is what triggers your pledge.
  • Pledge / the sting — the money you put on the line. After a derailment it escalates up a schedule ($0 → $5 → $10 → $30 → …) so the commitment keeps its bite. See how the money works.
  • Akrasia — acting against your own better judgment. Beeminder is a commitment device designed to counter it; see The Beeminder Philosophy.
  • Akrasia horizon — changes you make to a goal only take effect after about a week, so you can't dodge the sting at the last minute.
  • Autodata — data sent to Beeminder automatically by an integration instead of entered by hand.

Learn more