How to Create Creative Accountability in Three Simple Steps
I Said “Simple,” Not Easy
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Accountability is about as sexy as that last pair of underwear you shimmy into right before you desperately need to do laundry.
The thing is, it’s also just as important, if not more so and everyone seems to be much more open about it. All you have to do is Google “accountability” and you’ll be inundated with articles, blog posts, an ads for software that promises you’ll have your “most productive year yet!”
I tend to be fairly skeptical when it comes to wading through all of the digital bullshit, especially when we’re talking about influencers or other twentysomethings who share their “accountability hacks” from Burning Man, huddled around remote WiFi access points while tripping balls on the newest designer drug.
Hey, I’m all for enjoying the freedom that comes with working for yourself or becoming location independent, but I’d rather uncover and share the practical bits — the parts most people don’t enjoy showing — from the comfort of my home office (i.e. my kitchen table).
Before we go any further, I should start by saying when I use the word “accountability,” I’m referring to my priorities and goals for both my personal and professional life (and yes, I consider them to be two sides of the same coin, because, work/life balance and all of that).
I should also say it wasn’t until the beginning of this year that I felt like I wrestled any of this into what might resemble any amount of control, so take anything you read next with a healthy boulder of salt.
Like many of you, my initial accountability “system” (and I use that word as loosely as possible) consisted of a bunch of notes randomly captured in my phone (I’m going to let you in on a little secret: I had no idea you could even create folders in the Notes app until a few months ago, so feel free to stop reading now).
From story concepts to app ideas to random to-do lists, these notes had little-to-no rhyme or reason and I quickly realized they weren’t all that helpful if I couldn’t find or make sense of them.
That’s why going into 2020, I decided to add a little more method to the madness (thanks to a tiny worldwide…
