I think I need a personal assistant.

Well, maybe not a personal assistant, per say. Maybe what I really need is just a Personal Internet Nag  who will contact me once a day, every weekday, to make sure I’ve accomplished the tasks I promised I would do that day. And they’d also give me feedback on any tasks I might have accomplished the previous day if that’s something the task needs. In return, I would be that person’s PIN, too. Nagging them about the things they promised to accomplish so that they also stay focused and on target for their goals.

Let’s take a look at how this might work.

Let’s say a hypothetical person wanted to write a book, practice photography, update a couple of blogs, AND learn how to code PHP. That’s a whole lot of stuff to do and each task takes up a whole lot of time. And let’s also say that this hypothetical person also has other responsibilities like taking care of children, cooking, cleaning and a host of other tasks that take up a large portion of their day. Said hypothetical person might, just MIGHT, become overwhelmed and/or dissuaded from even TRYING to accomplish their goals when they realize just how much TIME each task takes and how little free time they actually have.

Enter the Personal Internet Nag.

Hypothetical person wants to write a book? Stick a PIN on it and every Monday evening, Hypothetical person would get an email requesting that week’s work accompanied by a short critique of last week’s submission. Hypothetical person wants to code PHP? Stick a PIN on it and every Thursday morning hypothetical person receives an email asking for confirmation of completion of an online course like Code Academy or W3Schools. Want to learn photography? Stick a PIN on it and every Friday you have to send them a complete, edited, gallery-ready photo. Want to learn how to crotchet? Stick a PIN on it and every Tuesday you have to send them a photo of your latest creation.

See how helpful this could be?

I bet you’re asking, “Well, this sounds good, but what if hypothetical person DOESN’T do what they’re supposed to do? What’s the penalty?” Well, don’t get your panties in a bunch because I’ve thought about this, too. Of course, the penalty would necessarily be different for each person, because what works with one person may not be a deterrent to another. But some ideas could be; monetary fines for missing deadlines, a photo of the person holding a sign shaming them for their lack of discipline that will be posted on FB for all to see, a 500 word essay espousing the virtues of the PIN to be shared with the world, the naming of a book character after the PIN, etc., etc..

Yeah, a PIN would be awesome.

And I actually mean it because a PIN would be very, very helpful for me. I have so many projects going on that it’s sometimes extremely difficult to concentrate on any one project for longer than a couple of days before I am distracted by another one, and so NOTHING I want to accomplish seems to ever get finished. It’s frustrating to the max.

So… anyone want to be my PIN?