Work Alone? Here Are 5 Tips to Hold Yourself Accountable

Apr 18, 2018

When you answer to no one else but yourself, sometimes it can be hard to fulfill important tasks. Personal accountability is a common concern among solopreneurs. A lack of accountability can be the reason why you don’t move in the direction you want. It can be a big factor behind delays and even failure.

Yesterday, I came across a Huffington Post article This Is Why Solopreneurs Are All Going to Die. One of the things mentioned there was that working solo makes self-accountability extremely difficult because nobody’s watching.

Should you give up being a solopreneur? Of course not. Now we’re going to focus on the positives by learning the ways you can be more accountable so that your productivity and likelihood for success increase.

1. Set tight deadlines.

A solopreneur project gets done in 6 months because you worked at a pace that allows you to finish in 6 months. It’s as simple as that. If there’s one thing you ought to do more, that is to create short deadlines for yourself. Short deadlines eliminate overthinking and overplanning so that you get things done. Best of all, they prevent you from getting bored as you work.

2. Use the little moments.

We would hate to admit the fact that each day, we plan on accomplishing work only to face distractions, run errands, and meet the requests of others. Life always gets in the way. If you are to make the most of your days, you need to learn how to adapt better. The secret is to use those free moments “pocket times” to your advantage. Whether you’re waiting in line or on a public transport, grab these opportunities to plan your next blog post or perhaps share a social media update to your followers.

3. Reward yourself.

Rewards are not the ultimate answer to achieving personal accountability but they sure do help. If you use rewards as a motivator, pick a treat that you’d find hard to resist and make sure you don’t have it until you accomplish your solopreneur task. Rewards can be anything like no-guilt hours of downtime, a trip to the spa, or a good book. After all, your hard work deserves a mini celebration.

4. Remind yourself of success.

Do you constantly visualize your success? Your thoughts are so powerful that they fuel your reality. You can be anything you want to be - a successful solopreneur - if you focus on success thoughts. Make it a mental habit to think about the wonderful things that could happen in your solopreneur business if you did something. You have an unlimited potential. Remind yourself of that.

5. Evaluate your efforts.

Organizations conduct performance evaluations to know their progress. Evaluation must be an ongoing process in your solopreneur business. When you review your progress basing on your goals, be honest with yourself about your weaknesses and failures. Personal feedback can also make you realize that the problem lies in your tendency to overcommit or multi-task.

Final Thoughts

Even if you are a solopreneur, consider getting feedback from your business audience, customers, and people close to you. Things may not be working out the way they should and you just aren’t aware of them.

So there you go, 5 personal accountability tips to help you build a stronger solopreneur business. Do you have more ideas to share? Feel free to comment below.