The return of the carrot?

Back when I lived in Fort Walton Beach, I had a lot of monthly goals (almost as many a month as on my 101 in 1,001 list. I’m obsessive like that). To encourage myself to finish them, I dangled a carrot in front of myself: Whatever I had left over after monthly expenses, I devoted a dollar per completed goal to purely frivolous stuff: Eating out, buying books, going to movies, whatever. Extra money for the really important goals.
Eventually I stopped. Partly it’s getting a little less compulsive about goal-setting as I grow older. As I’ve noted, I’m disorganized by later, but I’m more confident (a little, anyway) about maintaining discipline without rewards. Partly it was that as Freedom News continued eating away at my budget (smaller paychecks and more of the money going for insurance), I didn’t have enough left over to make a difference.
I’m wondering now if I shouldn’t revive the carrot. I’ve been thinking lately that I’m taking longer and longer to get my stories in workable form: It’s not that they’re much harder or more complex, I’m just slower. Is it possible that if I had an incentive, I’d make more progress? Particularly on Brain From Outer Space, where I seem to spend a lot of time twiddling my thumbs: Anything that would speed that up would be welcome.
On the other hand, I’ve never been a fast-writer, particularly on novels. So maybe that’s all there is to it.
Still, I suppose it couldn’t hurt to see if some sort of incentive stimulated me though I’ll probably try next month, as this one’s half over. Something simpler though: One good-sized reward (I’m not sure what yet) if I get X amount of goals done, or make Y amount of money.
Thoughts?
(Oh, and on an unrelated matter, my newest story is out at Raleigh Public Record).