I don’t know about you, but I always do a better job at something, or stick with a commitment longer, if I have accountability.  Whether it’s a workout partner, my husband, a weekly meeting with my best friend, accountability is always effective.  This goes with cleaning and organization as well.  I love www.Flylady.com.  Flylady is a free service offered online to help you get your household in order (mostly in regards to cleaning, but they do some financial stuff now too).  One of the best things about Flylady is they teach babysteps.  They’re motto is, “You are not behind, you’re just getting started!”  It’s easy to get overwhelmed when you feel like you’re years behind on your clutter control and cleaning, but if you look at it as a brand new challenge that you’re beginning today, then somehow, it seems more attainable.  Flylady sends you emails several times each day asking you how you are doing with your routine.  Have you done taken five minutes to drink your water and take your vitamins?  Have you taken 15 minutes to declutter a hotspot?  These are things you’d be held accountable on with Flylady.  If you’re interested, I encourage you to visit their site.  It is one of the best things I’ve ever done for my house.  Flylady teaches you how to make a household notebook (they call it a ‘control journal’).  I call mine a household notebook because mine is SO much more than just the stuff in their control journals.

Another example of the power of accountability is in my homeschooling.  I’ve really enjoyed our first year of homeschooling, but I’ve just gotten an extra boost because my best friend Ashley has informed me that she’ll be pulling her five year old out of his public school after Christmas and will finish out the year homeschooling.  That accountability and motivation is just what I need to give me that extra push to be more creative in my teaching, think outside the box, and also the promise of more ‘adult conversations’ with Ashley throughout the week since she won’t be working anymore!!    We’ve already started brain storming about how we’re going to do this together and make sure the boys get the most out of their kindergarten year at home.  We’re planning field trips, teaching rotations, art projects, sharing material and curriculum; I’m really excited! 

Everyone benefits from accountability.  What are the areas in your life in which you need the most accountability? 

~audrey

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 20th, 2008 at 7:44 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.