Setup

How to add an accountability partner

A partner does not police you. They are simply somebody who can see what happened, which turns out to be most of the effect.

Short answer

Open Partners in your account, send an invitation to their email address, and they accept from the link. They can see flagged activity and changes to your settings. They cannot change your rules, unlock a device, or browse anything you have not blocked.

Step by step

How to do it

01Step

Pick somebody who will not make it weird

A friend, a sibling, a sponsor, a spouse. The only requirement is that you would be mildly embarrassed for them to see a bad week, and not so embarrassed that you would delete the account instead.

02Step

Send the invitation

Partners, then Invite a partner, then their email address. They get an email explaining what is being asked before they are asked to agree to anything.

03Step

Let them accept in their own time

Being a partner is free, permanently. They create an account, accept, and see nothing but your activity summary. The invitation expires on its own if they would rather not.

04Step

Tell them what you actually want from them

This is the step everyone skips. "Ask me about it if you see something" and "do not mention it unless I bring it up" are both fine. What does not work is neither of you knowing which one it is.

What a partner can see

  • What was blocked.The flagged activity summary, the same one you see.
  • When settings change.Including a request to loosen a rule or remove a device, at the moment it is queued.
  • Nothing else.Not your browsing at large, not your files, not your location, and nothing from a device you have not enrolled.

What a partner cannot do

They cannot change a rule, approve or refuse a cool-down, unlock a device, or remove Kellet. Those are all yours, and they all take as long as you decided.

This is on purpose. A partner with control is a person you end up hiding things from; a partner who can only see is a person you end up telling.

Removing a partner

You can remove one at any time from the Partners page, and they are told that it happened. It waits out your cool-down like every other loosening, so removing a partner mid-argument is not a thing you can do in the moment.

Straight answers

Common questions

Do they have to pay?
No. Being an accountability partner for someone is free, permanently, with no limit on how many people you support.
Can I have more than one?
Yes. Some people have a spouse and a friend, which usefully splits "knows the detail" from "asks the awkward question".
One decision left

Calmer water is one decision away.

Kellet blocks the distractions you choose and lets you stay accountable to yourself, or to someone you trust.