Here’s a slightly different idea I’ve been toying with: Trading time
The gist of it is this: You make a plan to get together with a friend, and agree to work for 3 hours on whatever project he wants.You also plan a later date and time at which he comes to you and you work together on anything you want. This could be a hobby project, a difficult study topic you can’t quite grasp, or something simple like painting a wall.
The idea is that nearly everything is easier if you do it with someone else, especially for people that tend to procrastinate. Some things are even more efficient per person, such as pair programming. But even if it’s not, doing something non-efficiently is still better than not doing it at all, and usually more fun with someone else. The way I think of it, this is an opportunity to get those things done you’ve been wanting to do all this time, but never get around to.
Ironically, I’ve been meaning to try this out, but haven’t gotten around to it yet :x
Obviously this doesn’t work for everything: it’s hard to do for writing a thesis for example, but plenty of things can be made to work with some creativity, especially if your partner is there in real life. It’s a different concept than what’s expressed in the blog post, which is more like working at the same time instead of working together on the same thing. I’m currently mainly interested in the former, although I wanted to share this idea here since the topics are similar.
Feel free to contact me to get to know eachother! My email is Nuntius.Marii@Gmail.com, and my skype id is m.qrius.
I think money might complicate things: You might want to get paid more for stuff you don’t find that interesting. With trading just time, it feels different. You’d just give the other person X hours of your time, and you get X hours back. It doesn’t matter to you what you do in the X hours you gave away. Perhaps getting money for it also makes it seem like work, instead of a fun, social thing. Then again, maybe it’s a distinction that’s only in my head, so if you can make it work, sure, go for it!
Also, paying money to your friends is probably bad, psychologically. There is a “social mode” with family and friends, and a “business mode” when dealing with money. They use different rules. For example the business mode is based on principle that everything can be replaced and traded; but the family and friends are supposed to be special. Trying to calculate whether the X hours I gave to my friend really have the same value as the X hours my friend gave to me seems like a certain way to ruin our friendship.
(I am not sure how much this is culture-depended.)
Dan Ariely’s research found that paying money will destroy social relationships, giving stuff does a little damage, and just doing stuff for ‘free’ is best. So, if you’re trying to keep the social bits, just go straight to ‘free.’
Both the idea expressed in the original post and the one expressed here fascinate me. I know I work better when I have someone else involved, counting on me, or waiting on me. I do wonder if it would work via Skype as well as in person, though. (I know few people locally with similar interests and skills to my own) If it does work online, I wonder if a beeminder-esque matching service for the purpose might be doable.
Tangentially, the thought kind of reminds me of hackerspaces/makerspaces.
[Edit: One thing I do not do well with, though, is someone “looking over my shoulder.” Working with someone works. Having someone waiting on my work works. (at least if it’s out of genuine interest to see the results) Having someone watching me work just annoys the hell out of me.]
Here’s a slightly different idea I’ve been toying with: Trading time
The gist of it is this: You make a plan to get together with a friend, and agree to work for 3 hours on whatever project he wants.You also plan a later date and time at which he comes to you and you work together on anything you want. This could be a hobby project, a difficult study topic you can’t quite grasp, or something simple like painting a wall.
The idea is that nearly everything is easier if you do it with someone else, especially for people that tend to procrastinate. Some things are even more efficient per person, such as pair programming. But even if it’s not, doing something non-efficiently is still better than not doing it at all, and usually more fun with someone else. The way I think of it, this is an opportunity to get those things done you’ve been wanting to do all this time, but never get around to.
Ironically, I’ve been meaning to try this out, but haven’t gotten around to it yet :x
Obviously this doesn’t work for everything: it’s hard to do for writing a thesis for example, but plenty of things can be made to work with some creativity, especially if your partner is there in real life. It’s a different concept than what’s expressed in the blog post, which is more like working at the same time instead of working together on the same thing. I’m currently mainly interested in the former, although I wanted to share this idea here since the topics are similar.
Feel free to contact me to get to know eachother! My email is Nuntius.Marii@Gmail.com, and my skype id is m.qrius.
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I think money might complicate things: You might want to get paid more for stuff you don’t find that interesting. With trading just time, it feels different. You’d just give the other person X hours of your time, and you get X hours back. It doesn’t matter to you what you do in the X hours you gave away. Perhaps getting money for it also makes it seem like work, instead of a fun, social thing. Then again, maybe it’s a distinction that’s only in my head, so if you can make it work, sure, go for it!
Buying food indeed seems less formal.
Also, paying money to your friends is probably bad, psychologically. There is a “social mode” with family and friends, and a “business mode” when dealing with money. They use different rules. For example the business mode is based on principle that everything can be replaced and traded; but the family and friends are supposed to be special. Trying to calculate whether the X hours I gave to my friend really have the same value as the X hours my friend gave to me seems like a certain way to ruin our friendship.
(I am not sure how much this is culture-depended.)
Dan Ariely’s research found that paying money will destroy social relationships, giving stuff does a little damage, and just doing stuff for ‘free’ is best. So, if you’re trying to keep the social bits, just go straight to ‘free.’
I believe this is the research you mention? Effort for payment: a tale of two markets
Yes, it is.
Both the idea expressed in the original post and the one expressed here fascinate me. I know I work better when I have someone else involved, counting on me, or waiting on me. I do wonder if it would work via Skype as well as in person, though. (I know few people locally with similar interests and skills to my own) If it does work online, I wonder if a beeminder-esque matching service for the purpose might be doable.
Tangentially, the thought kind of reminds me of hackerspaces/makerspaces.
[Edit: One thing I do not do well with, though, is someone “looking over my shoulder.” Working with someone works. Having someone waiting on my work works. (at least if it’s out of genuine interest to see the results) Having someone watching me work just annoys the hell out of me.]