What Accountability Techniques Are Right for You?

Accountability: anything or anyone that helps us gain mental leverage to achieve the results we desire. —The Accountability Stop

We’ve talked about fifteen separate accountability techniques to choose from so far. So how do we go about choosing one or more to start using?

I had originally listed accountability techniques in order from what I considered the most introverted to the most extroverted. That was a natural inclination for me. As an introvert, I felt that extroverted accountability techniques—often touted in the productivity space—were not well-suited for me. But we might use other factors to  help us decide on one or more techniques to use.

One Calendar to Rule Them All

For people who live and die by their calendars, using a technique that focuses on our schedules is great. These would be setting start dates and deadlines or scheduling a meeting in particular. 

Many Small Steps

Some of us don’t like deadlines! Deadlines can be daunting and stress-inducing. Incremental progress may be more useful to us as opposed to a giant deadline looming in front of us. Techniques we might prefer could be making an appointment or recurring appointment with ourselves, or phone app accountability to track our progress. Putting in effort every day will take us to our destination eventually.

You Can’t Tell Me What to Do!

I have known several people who rebel at the idea of being accountable almost as soon as they decide to be accountable. They have such an independent spirit that they hate to be tied down to anything or anyone. In this case, we might have better luck with techniques that externalize our personal accountability. Make accountability about someone else. Possible techniques are making your project a gift, taking a class, or even secret benchmarking. If we’re accountable to our family or kids—for income, for instance—that can give us the appropriate mental leverage.

Better Outcomes for Everyone

If we are driven to make things fair and equal for everyone, we might be well-suited to use accountability techniques that have a social aspect to them. Involving other people can make us feel more accountable. Techniques we might prefer could be finding a job for accountability, accountability buddies or accountability groups. We can also schedule a meeting just to talk about where our project is.

A New Adventure

If we’re adventurous and spontaneous people, then we might have an independent spirit as noted above. But it could also mean that we need more concrete plans when we have a project to complete. We may benefit from more structured options, like setting deadlines, journaling our goals and progress, or using a phone app.

What’s Your Account?

How do you feel your personality impacts the effectiveness of various accountability techniques? I wondered about the sixteen Myers Briggs personality types and accountability techniques. Anyone willing to share their MBTI type and favorite accountability techniques?