On a call with my mastermind partners today, I suggested we use the 5-question format I use with my book writing students for accountability (courtesy of my mentor and friend Mitch Feigenberg):
- What did I say I’d do?
- What did I actually do?
- What worked?
- What didn’t?
- What’s next?
Here’s how my check in went:
Out of my 3 commitments, I’d completed 2. I’d already scheduled commitment 3 in my calendar, so just scheduling again for this week wasn’t going to work. Instead, I decided first to be realistic. 8-10 hours just wasn’t happening–too much to do to support my Bring Your Book to Life participants. I scheduled a more realistic 4 hours and I also remembered a trick I’d shared with clients in the past: Call an accountability partner before the writing and after.
So, I’m calling my mastermind partner Richard before I start writing my articles and again when I complete each work period. Will it work? I’ll let you know. What tips do you have for staying accountable and getting past procrastination?
First, I wish you the best of luck with staying on track and such. While avoiding procrastination will never be easy. Setting multiple goals over a course of time will be helpful if you do this step by step. You can also think of creative reminders to post in different places, some with check marks so you can get them off the list when your done. Be creative, there are plenty of ways to remind yourself to stay on track!
Thanks for the tips Victoria.
It did work. I did stay on track. I didn’t call Richard, but he kindly called me and I was able to say I did my writing.
Interestingly, I think I was challenged by a lack of clarity about the book. Now that my co-author and I have a whole new level of clarity, the writing has been easy and very productive.