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Erin, welcome to unlearning work, where we empower you to redesign your job by rethinking work habits, behaviors and strategies. I'm your host. Erin Merideth, a work behavior enthusiast and leadership strategist, join me as I explore various work related topics and provide practical insights and real life examples. We'll examine the nature of work from the ground up and deliver bite sized episodes with actionable advice twice a month.
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Welcome back to unlearning work, the podcast where we challenge the old worlds of productivity and redesign how we show up in our work and for ourselves. Today's episode is for anyone who's ever wondered, why can I hit every deadline at my job but struggle to stay accountable in my own business, side hustle, passion project or creative pursuit I care about. Spoiler, it's not just about discipline. It's about how your brain is wired. We're diving into the psychology of the accountability gap and breaking down five key behavioral patterns that explain why motivation follow through and identity look so different between your nine to five and your personal projects. And if you're ready to take what you learned today and actually apply it, stick around, because I'll introduce a new tool that makes that easier than ever, the unlearning work app. Let's get into it. Welcome to the new normal, where it's no longer unusual to work a full time job and run a business on the side. In fact, it's becoming the norm, from freelance design Etsy shop owner to coach, consultant and content creators. Side hustling has become one of the biggest work trends of the last decade. But here's what I've noticed about coaching dozens of clients in this space, people are showing up brilliantly for their nine to five but barely showing up for the thing that matters most to them, their own business. Does this sound familiar? I meet deadlines at work, I show up early, I'm organized, but when it comes to my own thing, I stall, I procrastinate and I feel stuck. And here's the truth, this isn't a discipline issue. It's not laziness, it's not lack of motivation. It's actually a design issue, and that's what we're exploring today. So let's talk about the psychology of the accountability gap and what's really going on underneath the surface. There are five key behavioral science principles that help explain why accountability looks so different in your business than it does at your job. The first reason is this lack of external structure. So at work, we have accountability that's built in. We have deadlines, we have bosses, we have meetings, we have consequences. In your own business, you have to create that from scratch. There's no waiting, no immediate consequence, no external pressure. So the science behind this is our brains respond really well to structure. So at work, we have this built in accountability with the project timelines, performance reviews, Team dependencies, and even the simple act of showing up at the meetings. But in your business, you have to create every bit of structure yourself. That freedom sounds great until it becomes a productivity trap. So for example, at your day job, you might prepare for a team meeting because your boss expects an update in your business. You delay launching a newsletter for weeks because no one is waiting on it. Yet the absence of external eyes reduces the urgency. Second reason is identity confusion at work, your identity is clear. I am a team lead. I manage projects in your business, that identity might feel fragile. Am I really an entrepreneur yet, and when we don't fully identify with the role, we struggle to act in alignment with them. The science behind this is identity is a powerful driver of behavior. We tend to act in ways that reinforce the roles we believe we hold. So in your business, if you're still thinking, I'm not really a business owner, your actions won't line up with the behaviors of someone who is so as an example, here, you introduce yourself as a marketing manager at your job, but when it comes to your coaching practice, you hesitate to call yourself a coach out loud. That subtle identity gap creates hesitation in launching offers or even marketing yourself three emotional risk and perfectionism. Let's be real. Building your own thing feels personal, your reputation, your idea, your future, it's all tied to you, that fear of failure or judgment can freeze you in place and show up as procrastination. The science behind this is when something feels personal and tied to our self worth, our brain registers it as riskier and tries to protect us from potential harm. So in. Your business, your side hustle is a creative extension of you that makes every move feel like high stakes. For example, you procrastinate posting on social media not because you don't have time, but because you're worried it won't be good enough. But at work, you'll send a deck that's 80% done because it's good enough for now, and your business feels too personal to tolerate in perfection. The fourth reason is decision overload at work. A lot is already mapped out in your business, you are the vision setter, Task Manager, executor, all at once, too many decisions leads to overwhelm and delay. The science behind this is the more choices we have to make, the more mentally fatigued we become, and this is known as decision fatigue. So in your business, you are the strategist, content creator, operations lead, customer service, rep, and every other role that's a recipe for paralysis. As an example, you spend hours debating your website font instead of just publishing the sales page, the cognitive load of constant decision making creates a loop of busy work and avoidance. The fifth reason is delayed. Rewards. Work offers quick feedback, praise, promotions, a paycheck. This business rewards are often slower, and when the reinforcement is delayed, motivation naturally dips. The sciences, we are wired to crave immediate feedback and rewards. This is called temporal discounting. The longer it takes to see a payoff, the less motivated we feel. So in your business, the reward cycle is slower. You may not see results from your blog or offer until weeks or months later. For example, you publish a podcast episode, but no one comments or downloads it for days that silence is discouraging at your job, you'd know right away if something landed Well, what we can take away from these five reasons is the accountability gap isn't a sign that you're lazy or unmotivated. It's a signal that your environment identity and brain wiring are out of sync. But the good news you can design your business habits intentionally to bridge the gap. So now that we understand the problem, what can we do about it? Coming up next, we'll talk about specific tactics to build structure, create identity rituals and set up a habit loop that actually there are five ways to build real accountability in your business, and let's talk those solutions, because now that we understand the behavioral science behind why accountability in your job and your business feels so different, we can actually start designing around it. I'm going to walk you through five shifts that will help you go from I'll get to it later, to I show up consistently because that's who I am the first shift is to replace external structure with intentional systems. Here's the deal. At your job, you don't need to think about structure. It's baked in. Meetings are on the calendar, deadlines are externally set, and someone else is expecting you to deliver. But in your business, that structure disappears, which means you have to build it. So how do you do that? The first way is through time blocking. I always tell my clients, treat your business hours like client meetings. You wouldn't just skip a meeting with your boss, so why treat your vision any differently? The second way is public commitments. Say it out loud, post it. Tell your accountability buddy. When others know that you're doing something, your brain registers it as real. And the third way is accountability partners. This is huge. Find someone else building a business and commit to weekly check ins. Think of them as your co pilot for follow through. The behavioral insight behind all of this is that pre commitment defect shows that we're far more likely to follow through when we commit in advance, and especially when we do it publicly. Question is here, what's one way we could build structure around your business this week? What would you change today if your calendar actually reflected your goals? The second shift we need is to define your entrepreneurial identity. This one is personal, because the way you see yourself influences what you do and what you avoid. So at work, you have a title. You know who you are, but in your business, especially early on, your identity is still forming, and that can create a subtle resistance to showing up. So let's change that. Start with identity based affirmations. So you wouldn't say, I want to launch business instead, try, I'm a business owner building momentum. Another way to do this is to reflect weekly on your wins, no matter how small. One post, one email, one ask, those are all evidence that you're doing the thing. And the fun one here is to talk about your business like it already exists, say my clients, my podcasts, my offers, speaking into being. Now the behavior insight behind this is really identity based habits such as, I am someone who follows through. Are more powerful. Than outcome based goals like I want to launch a course. So this week, you can reflect on this think about one identity shift you need to embrace, to show up differently this month,
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the third shift to make is to reduce your cognitive load. Let me ask you something. Have you ever sat down to work on your business and immediately felt overwhelmed. You're not alone. That's decision fatigue and action when everything is a possibility, nothing gets done. So here's how to reduce the friction. One, use the two task rule every morning. Write down the two most important tasks for the day and do those first two, build templates for the stuff you repeat, like, outreach, email, social posts, onboarding. Steps three, create decision rules that reduce energy during like, I always write content on Tuesdays or I batch record on the first Friday of the month. These tiny systems protect your mental energy for the work that matters. The behavioral insight behind this is we conserve energy by automating routine decisions. The more we reduce friction, the more consistent we become. So a reflection for you this week is, where in your business are you overthinking? What can you make a system or decide on once and for all. The fourth shift is to design for emotional safety. So let's be honest, a lot of business procrastination is actually emotional avoidance, not fear of the task, but fear of being judged, getting it wrong, putting yourself out there, no one responds. This is where perfectionism kicks in, and it's sneaky. Here's how to shift from fear based avoidance to emotional safety. First, redefine the wind. Instead of do it perfectly, focus on do it consistently. Two, use the 10 minute rule. Tell yourself all to start for 10 minutes. Once you start that resistance will resistance will often melt away. Three celebrate progress, not outcomes. If you showed up, you've already won. Behavioral insight behind this is emotion drives behavior more than logic, so reducing perceived emotional risk unlocks action. A reflection for this week is what's one area where fear is holding you back. How could you reframe it to feel safer and more doable? The fifth shift is to install feedback loops. The brain loves short term feedback. That's why traditional jobs often feel easier to stay accountable in feedback is immediate in a business, not so much. That's why you need to build your own feedback loops. So one, track what moves, whether it's how many offers you've made or how many people you've connected with, or how many hours you spent creating it, track it. Two, reflect weekly ask yourself what worked, what felt good, what surprised me. And three, yes, definitely reward yourself. Celebrate with the coffee, music, a walk, a nap. It doesn't have to be big. It just has to be a signal you did the thing. The behavioral insight behind this is small, consistent rewards help reinforce positive behavior behaviors and build long term habits. A reflection prompt this week is what's one small reward you can give yourself for showing up this week? So let's wrap this up and recap those five big levers you can pull to build real, sustainable accountability in your business. One, create structure that mimics the workplace. Two, align your business owner identity. Three, simplify decisions to reduce friction. Four, lower emotional risks so action feels safer. Five, build in feedback to stay motivated. Remember accountability doesn't happen by chance. It happens by design, and you have everything you need to design it intentionally. Need additional help and want some tools. I do recommend organizing your work by using clickup notion or Trello. I personally use Trello. I also use toggle for time tracking. There is also the unlearning work community that we have, and within it, we get weekly accountability, check ins, mindset, support and tools to help you stay in momentum. My final thought on this is you already know how to show up. You've done it for years in your job. Now it's time to apply that skill to your business and do it in a way that feels good, sustainable and real. This is not about hustle. It's about designing an environment that supports who you're. Here's what I want you to take away from this episode. You already know how to show up. You've done it for years in your job. Now it's time to apply that skill to your business and do it in a way that feels good, sustainable and real. This is not about hustle. It's about designing an environment that supports who you're becoming. You. If you're ready to stay consistent and follow through, you can join us in the unlearning work community, where accountability is the cornerstone. We also have a new unlearning work app, which you can find on Apple or Google Play, so if you've been nodding along, thinking, Yes, how do I actually follow through? Inside the app, there are downloadable worksheets for every podcast episode. There's also a mini course to help build skills like self awareness, habit change and feedback, along with weekly updates to keep you focused, inspired and moving forward. Think of this app as your personal accountability system designed for people who want to unlearn the habits holding them back and build a work life rhythm that works for them, because really, at the end of the day, insight without action, that's just more noise. So let's build better habits together until next time, keep unlearning what's not working and keep showing up for what is foreign.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
