​This event is a 4-week series! Accountability Buddy Club meets Monday evenings, this cohort will meet on September 9, 16, 23, and 30.

​If you’re like us, you have a creative pursuit that you’re fired up about. Maybe you have a manuscript you’ve been dying to finish, or you’ve been excited to learn and practice some new crochet techniques.

​But when it comes down to it, carving out the time and space is a struggle. Between day jobs, family and friends, and other super exciting obligations like washing the dishes, the creative work that feeds the soul often gets left by the wayside.

​That’s where Accountability Buddy Club comes in. Through gentle structure, a chill and supportive environment, and finding kinship in like-minded people, we aim to create the time, space, and energy for us all to pursue the creative practices that call to us.

​What is Accountability Buddy Club?

​Accountability Buddy Club (ABC) meets on Monday evenings at Morning Parade Café near Trinity Bellwoods Park. Each session goes a little like this:

• ​Arrive, grab your complimentary drink, get set up, mingle

• ​Mini-lecture on the principles of focus and productivity

• ​Small group goal-setting chat

• ​Two deep work sessions with a break in between

• ​Close the session sharing our works in progress and celebrating each others' wins :)

​Whether you’ve got a concrete goal in mind (”I want to finish the first act of my play by the end of the month!”) or you want dedicated and focused time to devote to your practice (”I want to improve my pencil shading skills!”) you’ll find community here. We welcome hobbyists, dabblers, creative professionals, and everyone in between!

​Just make sure that whatever you bring fits on a café table, can be cleaned up easily, and won’t be disruptive to your neighbours. (If you’re not sure about this please reach out at hey@slownight.art and we’ll figure it out!)

​Can’t I just do my creative work on my own?

​Well yes, obviously, of course you can! If you find it easy to make progress and stick to your practice then you might not really need accountability, but you’re still welcome to come out to meet and work alongside fellow creatives. :)

​For us, accountability is all about healthy social pressure — not the anxiety-inducing stuff that keeps you up at night. When you’re in a room with supportive and like-minded folks who are all gathered to work on their creative pursuits, getting through your tasks feels a lot lighter and comes more naturally. If you’ve got passion and intention but still struggle to actually get down to work, accountability might be the piece missing from your practice.

​Here are some of the principles we’ve used to design Accountability Buddy Club:

​Body doubling

• ​Having someone else present as you work can serve as a gentle motivator and reminder to keep your focus on the task at hand. Folks who identify as neurodivergent may be familiar with this one!

​Distraction management

• ​We’ll talk about the principles behind deep work and put them into practice with focused sprints. We always start and take breaks together to minimize noise, movement, and distractions.

• ​We play low-key music without vocals to help with focus.

• ​When we're in session, it's a phone-free zone! We encourage you to turn your phone off or go on airplane mode. If you need your phone out for your project, please make sure it's on silent!

​Mindset

• ​Committing to a regular practice and affirming your intentions out loud with a supportive group of friendly faces are two great ways to train your brain to get into the headspace you want. Establishing mindset is a great way to help your goals solidify a little more easily.

​Finding community

• ​Humans are social creatures! Whether you’re introverted or extroverted, being in community creates a shared feeling of purpose and motivation.

• ​Creative work in particular can often be a little lonely, so being able to hang with others helps us feel less isolated. We’ll offer lots of opportunities to chat, connect, and meet others (but if you’d prefer to keep to yourself that’s cool too — we find that even just being in a room of creatives has its own benefits).

​Monotasking

• ​We don’t know who needs to hear this, but multitasking is super not good for you! It might feel more efficient, but you burn time and effort jumping between tasks and correcting errors, and the sort of mental state you need to be in isn’t conducive to finding your creative flow. At the start of each sprint we’ll encourage you to keep your focus to one clear goal or theme.

​Need more info? Got questions?

​Read our FAQ here or send us an email at hey@slownight.art!