Kathi talks with Writing at the Red House instructor Cheri Gregory about accountability. Cheri tells us all about her new favorite productivity tool called Focusmate. It’s an accountability system for all of us who work from home and are social learners. It’s especially valuable for a time like this when most of us are maintaining our social distance but thrive on working together.

In today’s episode, you’ll learn how to create your own online accountability system from home.

The "Rules" for a Successful Co-Working Session:

1. No socializing
2. No collaborating
3. Come with a mindset: "This is a work session"
4. Pre-decide what you're going to work on
5. Show up a little early
6. Share what you'll be focusing on
7. Invite your partner to share what they'll be focusing on
8. Decide together: mic on or mute?
9. *Set a timer and focus for 50 minutes
10. When the timer goes off, briefly share how it went, offer each other encouragement, and sign off

* Kathi's alternative idea for 9, when you want to work with a friend and need to focus on a project: Focus for 45 min and then reward yourselves with 5 min of "friend time."

Links and Resources:

Writing at the Red House

Focusmate

Cheri Gregory

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