There was an interesting comment made on a post over at Divine Purpose Unleashed last night. It got me thinking about accountability partners and the role they play in productivity.

In the original post which talked about making a commitment to living your purpose this year, CK Reyes asked us to find someone to support us and hold us accountable.
One of the commenters said that she didn’t agree with the concept of an accountability partner because it was like giving your personal power away.

Now, I have serious issues with giving my power away that stem from my background as a victim of abuse. I’ve been working for years to reclaim my own power and get my life back. So the thought that I might be giving it all away again was pretty disturbing, to say the least.

I ended up chewing on this for most of the day today, trying to figure out just how I feel about the relationship I have with my accountability partner, and whether it’s an empowering or disempowering relationship. Thinking about the whole issue of accountability and responsibility made me realize that for me, being accountable to someone in this way isn’t giving my power away, it’s empowering me to be better at what being who I am and doing what I do.

It’s like knowing that there is someone there who I can tell what I got done in a day and who will encourage me to do more is really freeing. By the same token I know that if I’m trying to do too much she won’t hesitate to tell me to slow down a bit either. I know that I work better to a deadline than I do when I just have a list of stuff to do. And even though I still set my deadlines for myself, just knowing that there’s someone else who knows that deadline is enough for me.

The fact that it’s MY choice to share my goals and deadlines and to ask for support and encouragement is what makes the difference. In recognizing that I have issues with procrastination and focus and asking for help to deal with those, I would classify an accountability partnership the same as I would classify a relationship with a coach or trainer — as someone who is there at my request to encourage me to meet my goals and to get better at what I do, not to usurp my power and impose their own opinions and deadlines on me.

I love the relationship I have with my accountability partner. We keep each other focused, and I think we’re both more productive for it. Maybe in light of that, a better term for it would be a productivity partnership. What do you think?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Please feel free to leave them in the comments or share them with me on twitter.

It’s been a great week, even though it’s flown by way too fast. It seems like just yesterday I wrote a week in review post, but it really has been a whole week. And a really busy one at that!

It’s also been productive because I found a way to keep myself on track most days. In addition to writing out my weekly goals and sending them to my accountability partner, I also started writing daily checklists of everything I wanted to get done. And I did all seven days worth on Saturday night so that I knew starting Sunday morning exactly what I needed to get done every single day this week. I’ve found that I need that structure in order to keep myself working and not wandering off to do other things like read or play too much on twitter. I also like the convenience of having a piece of paper in front of me all day long so that I’m continually reminded of what to do next, and also so that I have a place to jot down ideas as they occur instead of having to go looking for a notebook to write in.

The only downer this week is my month of posting on here took a hit Wednesday night. I was helping someone that night, and by the time we were finished I was so tired I just crawled into bed. It didn’t hit me until late Thursday that I had totally forgotten to write something the day before. I did do a post on my personal blog that day, but not sure if that counts toward my month of posting or if it all has to be on one blog. Maybe one of the NaBloPoMo folks can comment and let me know?

So without further ado, here’s this week’s roundup of posts:

Sunday – Week in Review
Monday – Why I’m Thankful to be Setting Goals
Tuesday – Four Tips For Setting Short Term Goals
Wednesday – Pumpkin Soup (on HelenaRitchie.com)
Thursday – The Necessity of Baby Steps in Setting Goals
Friday – A Christmas Story in the Making
Saturday – Top 10 Quotes on Setting Goals

And that was my week, in a nutshell. How was your week? Are you looking forward to the new week ahead? Don’t by shy, share your thoughts!

Pot, meet Kettle.

Yep, that would be me. In another one of my infamous ‘do as I say, not as I do’ posts, I thought you might like to know what I do to break my own procrastination habit. I’ve been putting things off all day today, and for no real reason at all. The only thing I had to do today was write this post and a couple articles, and I really did set out with the best of intentions to get it all done earlier. Yet here it is, 11:30 p.m. and I’m just starting to write now.

I’ve dealt with procrastination all my life. So it’s not like I don’t know I have issues with it. Nor do I not know what to do to break the habit. It’s one of those issues of self-sabotage that I’m learning to deal with that keeps me on a first-name basis with procrastination. In an effort to break my own habit by talking about it, here are five quick tips that I use to get myself back on track.

1. Stop putting things off! Might as well get right to the heart of the matter from the start. Like the famous slogan says, “Just do it.” If you can get something done now, there really is no point in leaving it for another day.

2. Do your least favorite tasks first. Take the one thing on your list that you really dread having to do (and be honest with yourself, there’s always ONE thing that you’d be happy not having to do) and put that at the top of the list. Getting it done first will fuel your sense of accomplishment like you wouldn’t believe, and will give you a boost of energy to get even more done during the day.

3. Know your limits. Don’t take on more than you can handle. Trying to be everything to everyone is a sure way to overload your schedule. Knowing how much you can reasonably fit into your day means you’ll get more done and not have to worry about putting things off because you’ve run out of time.

4. Get help when you need it. When you know you’ve taken on too much, don’t be afraid to ask for help or to delegate in order to get things done. Using your time and resources in the best way possible will go a long way towards breaking your procrastination habit.

5. Finally, learn to prioritize. Prioritizing will help you keep your life in balance. When you know what is important in your life and in your work, and live by those priorities, procrastination becomes a non-issue.

I know from experience how procrastinating can suck the energy out of you. It’s not a feeling I would wish on anyone. The tips I’ve shared here are ones that I use when I need to get my own procrastination habit under control. I hope they are of use to you as well.

It occurred to me as I was sitting here trying to decide what to write today, that if I’m having a problem thinking about it on day two, it’s only going to get worse by day 31. And I’m determined to make it to the end of the month and really cement this habit of writing something fresh and unique every day. So I’m spending some time today doing my favorite thing in the whole world… planning and writing lists! (she says with tongue firmly in cheek whilst staring at the mass of notebooks and project folders on her desk.)

I was cleaning off my desk this afternoon and I came across a folder I haven’t looked at in awhile. It’s full of lists of ideas and projects and plans for websites. I’m so great at writing out the lists and making the plans, and absolutely dismal at the follow through. I actually have an accountability partner now, and this is the first week we’ve worked together. I’ve tried to be accountable to people before, but I’m so dang independent that I really resent being called out on my lack of productivity and my amazing superpowers of procrastination — two subjects which you will no doubt be hearing a lot more about if you stick around long enough. What’s really cool about it this time is that I know we’re only into the second day of the week, but even so I’m finding that I am more productive and able to focus a little better just for knowing that come Sunday I will have to stand up and say what I got done this week. And if it’s not what I said I was going to get done, then my partner has promised to announce on Twitter that little ol’ me didn’t do what I said I would this week.

The point of what I wanted to write here is that for me to succeed at blogging every day for a month, I need to have a list of topics to write about and so this afternoon I’m making up a list of twenty-nine possible posts so that if I end up having trouble thinking of something to write on any given day I can use these to jump-start my writing engine. I don’t think I’m going to have too many problems though. I found a great half-constructed plan that I was going to work on last December that involves a series of articles on… drum roll please… making plans for the new year! Between that and my new list of topics, I’m sure that the rest of my posts this month will be a lot more structured and less scatter-brained than this one.

Oh yeah, and just so that I stay on theme today, just let me mention how thankful I am to have an accountability partner that supports, encourages, and actually understands me, especially in my more flaky moments.