It's Accountability Week here at One Woman Shop. Follow along with all of our posts about accountability, email us your questions and tips, and give #AccountabilityWeek some Twitter love!
Get honest: All of the tips, tricks, and strategies in the world won't motivate you to stay on track with your business if you're aiming for the wrong (for you) thing, chasing every shiny object, or not following your gut. So first, get honest about your business goals and the steps you need to take to get there. For example, if your goal is to build your audience, then social media might be a very real part of that- but mindlessly skimming your Twitter homefeed is probably not. Likewise, doing unimportant things well doesn't make them important.
Do a daily business check-in: This can be as informal as a question that you ask yourself at the end of each work day or as formal as a written daily business check-in worksheet (like ours!). Ask yourself questions like: "Did I generate income today?" "Did I put myself in front of new clients or customers?" "Did I drop the ball on anything?" "Any big wins?" If you do a written check-in, you can review your answers every week or month to see what's working and what's not (a good bonus!).
Set up a system of rewards and punishments: One punishment we think is genius is forcing yourself to donate to an organization you despise if you don't reach your goals (tweet this idea). It provides a lot more incentive than the possibility of donating to a charity you support, right? Whatever you decide, be honest with yourself- maybe a walk outside doesn't actually incentivize you to work hard, but a walk to Starbucks does (of course, we're always motivated by the smell of coffee- so Pavlovian).
Revamp: If you've fallen short, ask yourself why. Were your goals, rewards, or punishments out of whack? Sometimes we procrastinate on things that we know deep down that we shouldn't be doing- could that be why you didn't reach your goal? If things are chugging along fine but could be better, don't hesitate to adjust, tweak, and revamp your system of accountability over time. Remember when we said we were fans of adapting our practices to make them better? This is a perfect place to do just that. Your rewards might lose their novelty, your punishments may not seem so bad (especially if it means you get to waste away your day on the couch!), and your goals might change, so adjust accordingly (tweet this idea).
Another huge step toward accountability? Finding someone who will help hold you accountable- stay tuned for more on that!
Great tips! I know I like to hold myself accountable but I’m really bad at it because I don’t really punish myself when I don’t do what I mean to do. I just inwardly sulk and berate myself for not keeping up things to standard which actually just makes it worse.
I prefer the idea of reward as positive reinforcement and Starbucks sounds like a nice treat for the end of a productive workweek! Great post <3ed it! 😀
Haha we’ve found sulking and berating to be surprisingly ineffective too 🙂 We love the idea of a positive reinforcement but every once in awhile, an (effective) punishment gives us the kick in the you-know-what that we need!