Body Doubles and Accountability Partners

What is a body double and an accountability partner?

A body double is someone that you sit with and work together. You do not have to be doing the same things: it is just an appointment to hold you both accountable to get some work done. The format of body doubling can be set up either online or in person. For online meetings, if you are meeting via zoom it may be a good idea to have yourselves muted for the majority of the time to reduce the temptation just to visit and not get any work done.

An accountability partner is someone who can hold you accountable for your goals. Accountability partners do not work next to you like a body double: they are just someone to do a quick check in to say, “yay I did the thing” or “no I didn’t do the thing”. A good accountability partner does not judge you for not doing your goals: they are just there to have someone to report to and support you.

Accountability partners can also be used for in-the moment support. For example, sometimes people may experience getting stuck and not being able to move forward with a goal. A real-time accountability partner is someone that you can call and have them stay on the phone with you or check in with you right in the moment until you get unstuck. For example, let’s say you are having a hard time getting yourself out of your office and into your car to go home: you call your accountability partner, and they stay on the phone with you until you get into your car. Alternatively, you may send a text asking them to check in on you in 5-10 minutes to ensure that you are on your way.

What is the difference between the two?

In a nutshell the main difference between the two is a body double is someone who works next to you (either in person or virtually) at the same time, and an accountability partner does not. The other difference is an accountability partner is someone you would report back to regarding progress on goals and a body double may or may not fill this role.

What are they used for?

Accountability partners and body doubles can be used for practically anything. Common tasks for body doubling that I see many clients doing include studying, doing paperwork, reading and cleaning. Common accountability partner uses may include real time support when stuck for motivating yourself to do something or go somewhere, check in on daily, weekly or monthly goals such as exercising more, keeping up with cleaning or other tasks, eating more cake: whatever your goal is!

Which one should I use?

If you need to have a set meeting date/time to work on something, then perhaps a body double will be a good fit for you. If you don’t need someone to sit next to you and work at the same time but would just prefer to have someone to report to: then accountability may be a good choice. In addition, if you would like real-time support then an accountability partner may be a better fit, as typically body doubles are a set meeting date/time and there is not expected contact outside of the work session.  

Why do body doubles and accountability partners work?

Using an accountability partner or a body double works because when another person is involved in the process, we feel obligated and more motivated to complete the task/attend the appointment.  It makes you more conscientious of the choice to do the thing or not.

Making an appointment or having someone to report to also keeps the task at the forefront of our mind and makes it less likely to be forgotten. If you set an intended date/time for working together or a check in, that creates a natural cue in your brain to remember to do the thing.

No body double/accountability partner	Using a body double/accountability partner

Next time you are stuck and unmotivated consider trying out a body double system or an accountability partner!