The Cure for Procrastination-- Seriously

Why am I up at 5:00 every morning lately? I have two mean friends who are making me do that. I have to e-mail them to prove that I am up and working. I am trying to finish one of those "very important but not urgent" projects that has been lingering for a while, and I have to keep getting up at 5:00 until this project is done.

My "mean friends" are actually my Accountability Partners. I have been working with Susan since 2001, and we have since been thrilled to also include Audrey in our weekly calls with each other. The three of us each take our portion of the hour-long call to go over what we got done from last week, what's going on in general, and what we want to get done the next week.

Having to answer to someone else is VERY powerfully motivating. You cannot hide! In our Clutter Diet online coaching program we encourage our members to pair up with each other to provide this accountability (in our program we actually call them Motivation Partners because it's a little less scary-sounding).  :)  There are many organizing goals that can be accomplished this way. It's a combination of providing deadlines and visibility to your progress that is simply one of the most effective cures for procrastination I have ever witnessed!

In my calls with Susan and Audrey, for each thing we commit to doing we can choose to give ourselves either a consequence or a reward. Right now I am getting this 5 AM consequence because I was not able to stop procrastinating on my project... and I know it works because that is how I wrote my book last year! Sometimes we give ourselves rewards like massages or getting to go to a special event, as an incentive instead of a consequence.

Today I will leave you with this thought from the American Society of Training and Development...the probability of completing a goal is:

• 10% if you hear an idea
• 25% if you consciously decide to adopt it
• 40% if you decide when you will do it
• 50% if you plan how you will do it
• 65% if you commit to someone else you will do it
• 95% if you have a specific accountability appointment with the person to whom you committed.

SO...be accountable to me here in the comments. Let me know when you've chosen YOUR Motivation Partner and when you're going to talk!

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Comments

[chaotic kitten]

Argh, you have scary friends!!

I wanted to let you know that I have given you and your blog an award :) You can collect it from my blog whenever you want to.

ck

[Audrey Thomas]

Lorie:
I'm proud to be one of your "mean" friends because I see how successful we are in reaching our goals. Keep pluggin' away at your project and I'll keep looking for your 5 a.m. emails! You can do it!!

[Joyce M. Hartman]

This may be the missing element in my attempt to get back to a regular routine of keeping house. At present I am going to try making my daughter my Motivation Partner. She has areas that she needs to be accountable for as well.

jorie

[andrea]

While I tend to always turn to my cousin, who's like a sister for motivation, I don't always take her seriously. I think my accountability partner would almost have to be a stranger or someone I'm not so close with. This will take some thinking...