Interesting, I used to do almost the exact same thing a few years ago. Except I counted down from 15, and physically tapped my foot against the bed on each count.
If memory serves, I stopped this practice after messing up enough times that I realized I could sleep in a little longer with my schedule, and now I get up a full 30 minutes after actually “waking up”. I think I’ll reimplement this and see if it affects my sleep-in habits. (Publicly announcing something also seems to work about 60% of the time for me.)
I’ve been a lurker of OB/LW for a little while. I will truly miss your postings, which I thank you greatly for. (Perhaps with a donation to the SI from my next paycheck.) I’ve found them to be very well-written and well-explained, and although you’re currently at an intellectual level higher than my own, you don’t write cryptically.
I have read some of your old stuff and have noticed an improvement, so I’ve decided to try my own experiment of writing something of size and complexity each day. Perhaps one of these times I’ll put it on LW, and not worry about looking like a complete idiot when it’s juxtaposed next to something of yours. =P