Stickk

What it does

Stickk is a goal-setting, habit-changing, procrastination-smashing app that helps you quit bad habits and build better ones. 

Developed by behavioural economists at Yale University, Stickk uses multiple motivation and accountability techniques to help you change your life in ten different categories: 

• Career
• Diet & Healthy Eating
• Education & Knowledge
• Exercise & Fitness
• Family & Relationships
• Green Initiatives
• Health & Lifestyle
• Money & Finance
• Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation
• Weight Loss

First, you set your goal. Then you work out and describe the actions you’re going to take to achieve it, and then make a commitment contract. 

What’s a commitment contract? It’s an agreement between Present You and Future You to Stickk to what you start. It’s a written contract that puts your goals, deadlines, and incentives into writing, which is a powerful start to making a significant change in your life. 

Once you’re all set up, Stickk will remind you to take the actions you’ve laid out, will ask you to fill out quick reports on your progress, and will have those reports signed off by your referee if you chose one. 

How it helps

Stickk’s secret sauce is a system called negative reinforcement. Unlike positive reinforcement, which promises you a reward at the end of your quest, negative reinforcement promises a punishment if you fail to meet your goals.

Simply put, you choose an amount of money to “bet on your success”. If you don’t reach your goals, you lose that money. You can choose to give it to a friend or charity (or even Stickk), but you’ll get the most out of negative reinforcement by committing to pay someone you don’t like, or an organisation that you disagree with. Example: “If I don’t lose 5kg in 2 months, the Nazi party gets my money.” 

Stickk also provides another powerful type of motivation: accountability. When you set your goals, you can also choose ‘referees’ and ‘spectators’. Referees verify that you’re actually making progress on your goals, and spectators are a cheerleading squad who won’t be angry if you fail, but they will be disappointed.
This combination of motivational tactics promises to help you set goals and Stickk to them. 

Conclusion

I’m more of a creature of habit than most – and many of those habits aren’t very healthy or productive. Stickk has already helped me to change a few of the worst ones (like constant snacking) and the thought of donating money to organisations that I vehemently oppose is an amazing motivator. So if, like me, positive reinforcement doesn’t work for you, give negative reinforcement a try.

What other users say

“First off, fantastic app overall – really helps me get things done. One thing I’d like to see changed is the option of setting the “end of commitment” date to the same day or the next day rather than two days after the commitment. Sometimes I want to get a particular task done by the end of the day with a reminder from Stickk that evening or the next day rather than two days afterward. Thanks for making this app/website!” – John

What the experts say

“A couple of months ago, however, I stumbled onto an online tool that has completely changed the way I look at goal setting. The site is stickK.com. And the service, which is completely free and relies on proven research from the field of behavioral economics, makes it three times more likely that you’ll achieve your goals while helping to stop and overcome procrastination.” – Heather Levin, Money Crashers