Should I use a manual goal or an integration?

When creating a goal, there are a lot of options to think about, and one of the first is whether you want to add the data yourself or whether you want it to be added automatically via an integration.

There's no "best practice" here, because there are reasons for both: manual goals can be very flexible and allow you to set up goals not supported by the official integrations, while integrations can add the data for you automatically so there's less risk you'll forget. Some people get a lot of satisfaction out of manually checking off each goal as they finish it, while others want to "set and forget".

It's all up to you and what works for you, but here are some questions to consider:

Is there an integration with a service you already use to track this kind of thing?
This can be extra-convenient since you basically don't need to change anything, and Beeminder can just join your usual routine without any extra friction!
Is there any integration that works with the metric you're tracking?
If you're looking to track eating five portions of fruit/veg per day, we don't have anything that covers that, so you'll need to use a manual goal anyway.
Is there an integration that you can co-opt to do what you want?
For example, if you already use Todoist to track your chores, it might be most natural to add your veggie goal to your Todoist account and track it there, rather than manually tracking in Beeminder.
Do you really want to add another app/service you need to check and keep up to date?
Maybe you just want Beeminder to be your single point of goal-tracking, so you don't need to update six different apps every day. In that case, a manual goal works best!

There are no hard-and-fast answers, so it comes down to thinking about what you need and what will be most convenient for you.

Should I use a manual goal or an integration?

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