Use Personal Accountability To Keep Yourself Focused, On Track And Productive
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Personal accountability means that you have a specific set of tasks to complete today and instead of simply doing those tasks, or hoping you'll complete those tasks, you get someone else involved in those tasks. You tell someone upfront, here are the things I'm going to do today. You do them and then you report back on them. To set up personal accountability find someone that you can report what you're going to do and what you have done. Explain why or why not you did or did not finish those tasks and keep in mind that this can be anyone. You can use anyone in your life as an accountability partner.
Staying accountable is very easy. I recommend you choose four things at the beginning of every day that you need to complete. These can be large or small tasks but they should be easy enough that you can realistically complete all four of these things today. Contact someone at the beginning of the day and explain these four tasks. I have done this over e-mail, over the phone or even in person, but very quickly list the four things you want to accomplish today and then stop talking to that person and go do them. Do your best to knock out all four of those tasks. If you only knock out three that's OK, but it's more important to get some of these tasks completely finished instead of having four half finished tasks.
Don't talk to your accountability partner until you have completed or finished your day and then go through each of the tasks. This also is a very speedy process. Look at task number 1, did you or did you not finish it? If you did then that's all there is to say, if you didn't finish it explain why. Did you run out of time, did an emergency come out, it's very important that you explain your reason or excuse for not completing that task. You'll feel guilty for not finishing a task and you'll feel as if you have let someone else down. This seems mad but it simply means that you will feel bad about not completing tasks but you will feel good about completing tasks.
This seems like an accountability partner is a very close personal friend but in fact it can be anyone. A spouse, a business partner, even someone that you have made friends with online. It doesn't matter if the person necessarily even reads or replies to your four daily tasks. Just send them an e-mail everyday with these four things and you'll know that that person probably read that e-mail and if they see later on that you didn't complete all four tasks, even if they don't reply, they'll feel bad about what you haven't accomplished. But, if they see that you have finished all four tasks they will be proud of you. That's how you run personal accountability.
Choose the four things you will be completing at the beginning of the day, tell someone, then do your best to complete then and report back about what you did or did not finish.
Robert Plank is a time management expert and will show you how to get more time and results out of your day at www.timemanagementoncrack.com.
