Some of my friends and I have started betting on our productivity, with smaller prizes for the person who starts the bet. We will be working together, and Friend A will say “I bet I can write the next 500 words of this essay in less than 20 minutes.” Friend B replies “no way, this essay is too hard.” Then A will say “Bet you I can. Let’s set a timer, and if I fail, I’ll buy you dinner, but if I succeed, you’ll buy me a coffee.”
Some of my friends and I have started betting on our productivity, with smaller prizes for the person who starts the bet. We will be working together, and Friend A will say “I bet I can write the next 500 words of this essay in less than 20 minutes.” Friend B replies “no way, this essay is too hard.” Then A will say “Bet you I can. Let’s set a timer, and if I fail, I’ll buy you dinner, but if I succeed, you’ll buy me a coffee.”
We also race on assignments for prizes.
Are you sure you’re rewarding the right thing? What if quality suffers in favor of speed?
It can, but we at least find procrastination more problematic for finishing assignments well than overly hasty or shoddy work.