Teamwork Makes the Dream Work
I am not a morning person. Not even close. But let me tell you this - there was nothing more motivating for me to get out of bed on a dark & freezing Vermont morning to go to a 5am kickboxing class than my bestie Julie. Granted, I was much younger then. We both were. The reality of it was that we wanted to work out and we wanted to hang out. The power of these two wants overrode the anger we felt when our alarms went off every morning. Julie’s voice (that of an angel as people have told her - for real) telling me that she was up and heading out the door was enough to get me out of bed to do the same. We never called it anything, but the reality of it was that we were accountability partners - looking out for each other in support of our shared goal. We were stronger and more motivated together than we were as tired individuals who needed to scrape the ice off our windshields at 4:30am.
The cool thing is that accountability partners aren’t just for workout motivation! We can use the power of friendship to help motivate us in other areas of our life too. Say, decluttering or organizing your home! It wouldn’t be hard to find another person in your circle who is also looking to get control of their home and many people with this goal encounter very similar roadblocks like having a hard time letting go, motivating to do the work, or not knowing where to start. Hashing out your goals with someone else will keep you moving in the right direction.
The first thing to do when choosing this partner in crime is to consider who would make a good partner for the goal you are setting for yourself. It could be a friend, yes, but consider family members, co-workers, neighbors, or anyone else in your day to day life that might have the same or a similar goal as you. You want to pick someone that is trustworthy and that you enjoy spending time with - even if it’s mostly a text based relationship. Picking someone that annoys you is not setting yourself up for success, no matter how excited about downsizing you both are…you will not want to answer that phone call OR open that box. This person should be honest and reliable as the whole idea is to actually do the work in parallel. You want to choose someone who will check in with you on the agreed upon schedule while you need to be prepared to do the same.
Ok, then what? Get together for coffee or a video chat and outline the plan. Start with your visions and desired results. Discuss a timeline and when you will check in with each other. Agreeing on the best mode of communications is a good idea as well. Some people (me) have a hard time on the phone, while others get frustrated with back and forth texting (my husband). Go over any expectations you have for the partnership - how will you keep each other accountable and what is the plan if one person doesn’t follow through? Finally - choose milestones to celebrate. Who doesn’t love to celebrate? Every 7 days of at least a 20 minute walk each day and you get together for a coffee date. A month of your daily walks could be celebrated with a night out. Whatever it is, make it fun and make it motivating!!
As a professional organizer here in Vermont, I am not only my client’s biggest cheerleader, but also an accountability partner. While we work side by side, we usually discuss ways they can continue with the momentum we’ve built after I’ve left for the day. Little do they know, I usually come home pumped and do some decluttering or organizing myself. It goes both ways!
Do you think you would make a good accountability partner? My advice for being the best partner you can be is to be honest, be real, be encouraging, and be consistent. Understand that circumstances change and you might need to make adjustments. Give constructive feedback and take suggestions from your partner with an open mind. Most of all - have fun!