Where can I find someone to text me?

April 26, 2012 5:10 PM

I need someone to text me every 4-6 hours to keep myself accountable for one very specific, discrete thing. I don't want to ask any of my friends/family to do it. Reminders on my phone are too easy to brush off and ignore. Is there some sort of web service I can sign up for that will hook me up with someone who also needs to be kept accountable, or someone who wants to help?
posted by Night_owl to Grab Bag (13 answers total)

Astrid I believe can do this; I know for a fact it will keep buzzing to remind you again and again if you don't mark a task complete. Apps for both iphone and android, plus a website interface.
posted by FlyingMonkey at 5:14 PM on April 26, 2012

How long-term is this?
posted by Picklegnome at 5:19 PM on April 26, 2012

astrid is a good solution if you have a smartphone. if you don't, you can set discrete reminders with IFTTT where it can text you at certain times.
posted by raihan_ at 5:26 PM on April 26, 2012

Best answer: It sounds like an automated solution is precisely what OP isn't looking for – he wants a real human being.
posted by Picklegnome at 5:31 PM on April 26, 2012 [1 favorite]

It seems to me the risk of this turning out badly are low enough that Craigslist is a good place to look for this sort of help.
posted by SMPA at 5:46 PM on April 26, 2012

You may want to examine why it's so hard to do it yourself. You may really not want to do it, in which case a human reminder will not last long either.
posted by shivohum at 5:53 PM on April 26, 2012

What about Mechanical Turk? It seems like the small-ish, low-paying type of work that a human being could do for you that they specialize in.
posted by xingcat at 6:23 PM on April 26, 2012 [2 favorites]

Taskrabbit? Kind of a web service, more focused on "brick and mortar" tasks like hauling, delivering, etc., but I bet you could find someone who'd be happy to do this.

Even if they're not in your town, for what you're looking for, they don't need to be.
posted by altcountryman at 7:37 PM on April 26, 2012 [1 favorite]

Best answer: What about looking for an online support group for whatever you are trying to do or not do (e.g. if it's about quitting smoking, find a group for that; if it's about writing, find a group for that, etc). Then message their members on a forum or whatever to find someone else who wants accountability too.
posted by lollusc at 8:12 PM on April 26, 2012 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Lollusc is heading in the right direction, although in searching I can't really find any groups for what I want to do. It's something simple that most people manage to do without any help, and I feel some small about of shame as regards this.

Thanks for all the answers.
posted by Night_owl at 8:21 PM on April 26, 2012

I had a good experience with Google Calendar's text message alerts.
posted by lotusmish at 10:47 PM on April 26, 2012

Don't feel bad, Night_owl, we all have stuff like that. At least I know I do...
posted by altcountryman at 7:11 PM on April 27, 2012

Best answer: I would go to a forum where people with your same issue or category of issue are, and see if someone would like to go in on this with you.
posted by ramenopres at 7:51 PM on April 27, 2012