Accountabilibuddies
How to create an accountability partnership
Many of you who know me know me through the ADHD Big Brother Podcast, know that I believe the ultimate elixir for managing ADHD - especially in the beginning - is externalized accountability.
We get that external accountability through our therapists, our coaches, and our communities.
I took a survey inside the ADHD Big Brother community and asked about why the members joined, and what they thought about accountability. The results:
81% said they joined the community to get shit done.
93% said they felt accountability was an important factor in getting shitty tasks done.
I’m not surprised by this.
We don’t need help doing the interesting stuff, but we absolutely benefit from accountability on the craptastical tasks - laundry (barf), dishes (double barf), financial ‘stuff’ (dry heave).
How we attack this at ADHD Big Brother is through a daily accountability club, through a 24/7 body doubling room, group zooms, and now with an accountabilibuddy space. We are about getting shit done.
And I’m going to share with you how we do it, so you can adopt it for yourself at home!
We have a google sheet where members can find an accountabilibuddy with a shared interest/desire. Perhaps it’s exercise, perhaps it’s organization, could be whatever you need help with.
But my question to you is: do you have a family member, a friend, spouse, co-worker, neighbor that you could “parter up” with?
In our community, I provide a template of coaching style questions that come from my experience as an ADHD coach and some best practices. But here’s how I recommend setting up your check-ins.
What are you committed to accomplishing over the next 30 days? What’s the goal? (I like doing these in 30 day increments.)
What action steps are you committed to taking toward this goal over the coming week?
Make the commitment and then check in the following week. I like to take it a step further with coaching style questions about obstacles, setting tasks like appointments, and possible daily accountability. Those are things you can feel out for yourselves as the accountabilibuddy relationship progresses.
Hope this is helpful! ADHDers who have externalized accountability succeed at their goals much faster and more likely than those who try to wing it on their own. Where will you get your accountability?