How to find an ACCOUNTABILITY buddy?

Nowadays, we are bombarded with countless information and tasks, making it harder and harder to achieve our goals. The old approach of writing down a task on a piece of paper and completing it later works for a few. Fortunately, research on productivity has advanced as well. One way to increase your effectiveness in life is to find a productivity partner.

Who is productivity buddy? It is a person with whom we have regular contact and who motivates us to overcome difficulties daily.

In what tasks can an accountability buddy help you?

I’ve analyzed countless posts on Reddit, discord, and Fb groups regarding accountability buddies.

In most posts, people were looking for an accountability partner to help with, among other things:

– tedious tasks at work (writing back emails, other repetitive tasks) 

– studying for an exam/certificate

– maintaining daily habits. We wrote an article about that here

– daily chores like cleaning (yes, people make arrangements for shared remote cleaning sessions)

– physical training

– writing a book, creating a course

Why does it work?

Pairing up with someone to face a repetitive, boring, or overwhelming task is usually more effective than trying to deal with it alone. The whole mechanism is a trick: it is more difficult for us to break a word given to another person we trust than to break a resolution given to ourselves.

It’s way easier to stay on track when someone is controlling you. A good accountability partner will hold you accountable.

How does it work?

Every few days (preferably every day) we contact the person to present the results of our work. At each session, we also present a plan for the following days and expect the accountability partner to regularly check if we’re working toward our goal.

This is similar to homework in school – someone will hold us accountable for its completion. Some people need more than one partner to complete their tasks on time.

Who should be your accountability buddy?

A lot depends on your accountability partner, so it is better to take a longer time to choose one. You need to work out your relationship together so that it brings the most benefits. Here’s a list of best practices for finding a partner:

– a person who cares about you, it can be a friend or family member

– a person you trust and can rely on

– ideally, a person who has a similar challenge in front of him (another student, another lawyer)

– ideally, a person of similar age, at a similar level (a pair professor student doesn’t work best), or with similar interests

– a good way may be to act as an accountability partner for each other. Two students facing similar tasks (such as an exam session) can be accountability partners for each other. They can work together in sprints and motivate each other.

Where to find accountability partner

Don’t worry if none of your friends comes to mind. There are quite a few places where you can look for AB candidates.

– online university or professional groups

– productivity groups on Fb: 

Habits, Productivity, And Time Management ; Career & Productivity Tips ; Pure Productivity – Kill the Chaos! ; All Things Productivity ; INSANE PRODUCTIVITY ; Organizing & Productivity Tips & Tricks ; Productivity: Developing Your Mindset

– Subreddits:

https://www.reddit.com/r/productivity/

https://www.reddit.com/r/GetMotivated/

https://www.reddit.com/r/getdisciplined/

https://www.reddit.com/r/EntrepreneurRideAlong/

– Discord servers:

Study Stream, Studygram Community, Tools for thought, Study Buddy Streams, Study With Me, Legal Study Buddy, Study Buddies, Coworking Study Club

How can we help you? 

We are building a coworking tool for people working with accountability buddies – sign up for the waiting list and get access.

Images:

https://pl.freepik.com/darmowe-wektory/pomoc-i-wsparcie-wspinania-sie-pracownika-z-reki-mentora-lub-lidera-zespol-ludzi-korporacyjnych-chodzenia-po-drabinie-razem-plaskie-wektor-ilustracja-sukces-rozwoj-kariery-przywodztwo-koncepcja-pracy-zespolowej_22343850.htm#query=help%20friend&position=3&from_view=search

https://pl.freepik.com/darmowe-wektory/ilustracja-ikony-ukladanki_2606569.htm#query=help%20partner&position=2&from_view=search