Your Accountability Buddy Can Help With Work (And Play)We often talk about accountability buddies when we talk about setting goals for everything from our fitness to our businesses- why not for our work-life balance as well?

Over the last few weeks, myManaging Editor Tamara Pupicand I have embarked on a sort of project together- the two of us had come to a realization that we were spending way too much of our time on work, and even in the free hours we had, we were simply lazing around and just cocooning ourselves.

We then decided that we were going to, well,get out more, and we were going to hold each other accountable for our efforts in this department. Our partnership began with Tamara making sure that I take some time off for a short vacation- I'm notoriously bad at planning holidays, but Tamara insisted that I schedule it on my calendar. She then essentially took it upon herself to let anyone and everyone around us know that"Aby is out for a week in September."And yes, I managed to get some time away from the office, traveled around, relaxed a bit, read three books, made new friends, had fresh experiences, and thanks to all that, I got back to work feeling quite refreshed and rejuvenated.

In a similar manner, Tamara and I worked together to battle the feeling of staidness that was threatening our day-to-day lives owing to our overpowering workloads. We agreed to make a concerted effort at finding things or people that excited or interested us, getting out of our comfort zones, trying out experiences we've never had before, plus connecting and interacting with new people outside of our current circles, and thus broaden our horizons a little bit. We did all this because we felt we were getting too comfortable (and perhaps even a little bored) with the status quo, and if we wanted to save ourselves from this situation, it was clear that it was up to us (and no one else) to put in the effort to make this happen. And whenever either of us would falter in these efforts, the other would make it clear that we are not to slip back into the routines that we were used to.

While it's still early days to commend on the results of our efforts, I like to think that Tamara and I have already begun to see rewards from our little scheme- while both of us still have got our hands full with work, making ourselves accountable to each other for our out-of-work time has enabled us to at least make some positive changes to our lifestyles. The salient point here? It has had a knock-on effect on everything else we do as well, including our day-to-day work.

We often talk about accountability buddies when we talk about setting goals for everything from our fitness to our businesses, but I'm here to say that it's good to have someone looking over you to ensure yourwork-life balanceas well. It's (seemingly) worked for Tamara and me, and I can't see why it wouldn't work for you too.

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