Earlier this week we posed the following question to our Facebook Readers:

What do the US Armed Forces, the LDS Church, 12 step programs, both the Boy and Girl Scouts, and (sometimes) school children on trips have in common?

Bonus Question:

How can it help you get organized?

When after nine hours, no one had chimed in we added another clue – “Weightlifters also have this in common.” Before reading on, ask yourself, do you know the answer? Really think about it for a minute.

When someone is lifting a particularly heavy weight at the gym, what does that lifter need? When a Mormon is sent out on a religious mission what he/she take with him/her? When you went on a school trip what were you assigned?

The answer in all cases (though the specific nomenclature may vary) is the same: a buddy!

You may find yourself asking, so what? Or maybe you already know where we’re going with this. Well, ask yourself this, why assign a buddy?

How Does it Affect Organizing?

A buddy offers accountability, encouragement and support.

In 12 step programs, each person recovering from an addiction is assigned a sponsor. The sponsor is the person the recoverer can speak with whenever there is trouble and is also there to check in with on a regular basis.

On a school trip, weight lifting or the armed forces, your buddy helps keep you safe.

In all cases your buddy is someone other than yourself looking out for you and caring about your success – sometimes when you forget to!

So how does this affect organization?

The buddy system is not limited to the examples listed. The buddy system can help anywhere where two people are working toward common (though sometimes separate) goals.

If you’re trying to get organized and having a hard time getting started, or even if you just want some encouragement, ask around – is anyone else in the same position?

How Do I Start?

You may surprised how many people you know have similar goals to you. Most of us have a spot we’d like to straighten up. (Remember the chair?)  And few people don’t appreciate encouragement. You almost certainly already know someone – a relative, friend or coworker, who is also looking to make some organizational progress.

So find someone in with a similar goal and work out a plan. Micro progress is a great way to go. But as long as you’re working at a similar pace and care about helping each other, you can plan it out however you like. Having someone there asking you how things are progressing will encourage you to keep going and may be the difference between success or forfeiture.

The two of you can even take pictures of your progress. With new technology, encouraging thoughts and words were never easier to send. 🙂

In a scholarly paper titled “Facilitators and barriers to weight loss and weight loss maintenance: A qualitative exploration,” found that women with peer support were far more effective in losing weight.

This may come as no surprise to anyone who’s tried it but it’s nice to see scientific support. It would be more surprising to find out the social support is not helpful.

We all need accountability. We all need encouragement. So find a friend, grab your phone, write a plan and let’s get organized!