How to Hold Yourself Accountable When Working from Home

Work from Home Accountability:

As someone who has been working remotely for 5+ years, I know firsthand how hard it can be to keep yourself on track. It’s easy to feel isolated and alone. In this post, I’ll tell you what I’ve learned to be the 5 best ways to stay productive and accountable in my work.

Find some accountability (a partner)

Having accountability is key, especially for those of us who work from home. When we lack accountability, it’s easy to get off track. There are so many ways that you can go about this but here are a few suggestions to get you started.

Join a mastermind group
Find a FB group for other remote workers and ask if someone will be your accountability partner
Join a local co-working space
Ask a friend/family member
Ask a fellow remote colleague (if you have any)

This can take some trial and error. You might start this with one person, and it might not turn out the way you want it to. However, that’s ok. Try something else. Just keep asking and iterating until you find what works for you.

A big part of working remotely/from home is about trying new things and figuring out systems that work for you, individually. We are all different and what works for someone else might not fit you or your lifestyle.

Promises + Consequences:

If you’ve been reading my blog for some time, you’ve probably heard me talk about Handel Group or the Inner U course that I’ve been taking.

One of the foundational tools that Handel Group teaches is about making and keeping promises to yourself, in fact, they call this Personal Integrity. The idea of personal integrity consists of two parts. First, it is all about being able to keep a promise to yourself. The second part, is putting in place consequences for when you don’t keep your promises.

In my own life (especially because I work from home) making and keeping my promises has been a game changer. Recently, I also created a spreadsheet when I have all of my promises and consequences listed and then I check in with my list each night before I go to bed. You can see my spreadsheet below!

I used to just track this in a notebook, but I found that having a dedicated spreadsheet seemed to be more effective. Also, as you find yourself keeping your promises, you can always add in another one.

As a remote worker, I find that having structure in my life is so important, and having a list of promises and consequences like this has been a great way to make progress on my dreams and goals.

Set + Keep Routines:

Just like my Promises + Consequences spreadsheet above, routines and structure are the reason why I’m able to get so much done. It might seem exciting to be able to work without a plan, waking up whenever, or seeing how the day goes. However, most of us aren’t able to work like this for very long.

One of the benefits of a typical 9-5 is that if offers some clear structure for us. We know when we need to be at work, and what’s expected of us during those hours. Without that, it’s easy to flounder. I know that I experienced this when I first started working from home.

Here are some routines that help me structure my day:

Morning Routine
- Coffee
- Meditation
- No email first thing
- Keep phone on airplane
15 minute lunch walk
Afternoon 1 hour walk (I do this as soon as my workday ends)
Evening Routine
- Reading a novel
- Yoga
- Shower
- Watch a Show

If you don’t currently have a morning or evening routine, I would definitely recommend starting one! They can be really basic, that’s ok. I used to have a really complicated morning routine where I would read, pray, meditate, do yoga, etc. Right now, my morning routine is pretty simple, but it works for this season.

You can also check out these posts to help you get started:

If you work from home, I’d also recommend finding an activity that you do at the end of the workday. People who work in an office have a daily commute which helps them to switch off from work at the end of the workday. However, remote workers don’t have this. Therefore, it’s helpful to find a little practice that serves the same purpose.

For me, this is why I take a walk after work. Even if it’s only a 5 minute walk around the block, it’s still a great practice to start!

Use a Spreadsheet to Track Your Time:

Because I work from home, and balance multiple jobs and responsibilities, keeping track of how I spend my time is invaluable. A few years ago I discovered Laura Vanderkam and the practice of Time Tracking, I tried it on and off over the years, but over the past few months I’ve been doing it daily.

You might feel like tracking your time will take too long or will be monotonous, but it’s much easier than you think. I just keep my spreadsheet up on my computer all day and every 1-2 hours I take 10-15 seconds (that’s really how little time it takes) to mark down what I’ve been working on.

To get a better idea, I included an example from a normal week in my life from a few months ago.

Why do I continue to do this? Well, first, by tracking my time, I know exactly how long it takes to do a particular task. For example, if I have a blog post to write each week, if I track how long it takes, after a few weeks or a month, I’ll have a pretty good idea of how long I need to carve out each week for this particular task.

Second, tracking my time actually holds me accountable. Because I know that I’ll be tracking my hours, I don’t want to have to write down 3 hours of Netflix on a Monday night..therefore, tracking my time makes me more intentional about how I choose to spend my time.

Want to try it for yourself? Get your own Time Tracking Template below.

This will also help you avoid over scheduling yourself. We often put too many things on our to do list because we have no idea how long they will take. However, by tracking your time, you start to get a better idea for how much time to allot.

Hire a Coach:

If you find that you’re really struggling, putting money towards a coach can be a wise investment. I’ve worked with multiple coaches in the past with both solo coaches and in group coaching and they were always worth the investment.

We are often much better at following through with something, when we’ve actually put money towards it. So, if you try each of the other options, and aren’t seeing much progress, or you aren’t able to follow through, hiring a coach might be an ideal option.

Personally, I love the group coaching calls that the Handel Group offers each month through their Inner U program. Plus, even if you can’t make the live calls, listening to the recordings tends to be equally helpful because you’ll often find that others in the program are struggling with similar things.