Accountability Partner

An accountability partner is a trusted person who can approve your requests to stop, skip, pause or edit a protected plan. Instead of bypassing your own restrictions with a password or random characters, the request goes to someone else — a human judgement layer that is much harder to get past in a moment of low willpower. Partners don’t need a FocusMe account. They confirm and approve everything through email links, or by giving you a one-time code.

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Adding partners

Partners are managed in Settings → Accountability (shown when you’re logged in).

1. Under Add Accountability Partner, enter a Partner email and, optionally, a Name (optional).
2. Click Add. FocusMe confirms Invitation sent to … Ask them to check their email and click the confirmation link.
3. The partner appears in the Accountability Partners list as Pending until they confirm, then as Confirmed. Click Refresh to update the list.

You can add several partners. When you send a request, any active partner can respond.

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The 24-hour activation delay

Partners added while any plan is running only become active 24 hours after confirming. The list shows Active in N hours - stop all plans to activate immediately, and requests you send in the meantime tell you how many partners are still in 24-hour activation period. This stops you adding a lenient partner in the heat of the moment. Stop all plans to activate the partner straight away.

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Removing partners

A Pending partner has a Remove button. Once a partner confirms, only they can remove themselves, using the link in their invitation email.

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Locking the partner list

Click Lock Accountability Partners to stop yourself from adding or removing partners until all your plans are stopped. FocusMe asks you to confirm: You won’t be able to add or remove accountability partners until all your plans are stopped. Are you sure? Once locked, the button reads Unlock Accountability Partners with the hint Stop all plans to unlock.

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Using partners on a plan

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Partner Override

On the How strict step of the Plan Wizard, click Customize to set each action’s challenge individually. Every action (Protection when active, Protection when on standby, Skip break, Pause / Postpone break, Add to whitelist, Edit protection) has a Partner Override checkbox. With it ticked:

• a Random or Password challenge can be handed to a partner instead of completed yourself (until you have a partner, the challenge dialog shows an Add Accountability Partner link);
• an Enforced action, which normally cannot be done at all, can be done with a partner’s approval. FocusMe explains: Your plan has enforced protection. Request your accountability partner to approve stopping this plan.

For Edit protection set to Enforced, the checkbox reads Partner Override (required).

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Approving plan edits

When you edit a plan whose Edit protection is set to partner approval, the wizard shows These changes will require approval from an accountability partner before they can be applied. Save the plan as usual; the changes are held until a partner approves, and the plan shows This plan has changes pending approval from an accountability partner. until then.

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The approval process

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Assisted Stop

Assisted Stop is available in a plan’s right-click menu while it is active or on standby, and on the Break Screen.

1. Under Select plans to request an assisted stop for:, tick the plans to stop.
2. Enter a Reason: — Your partner or FocusMe may require a reason to approve your request.
3. Click the main button to send the request to your partners. (If you have no partner yet it reads Add Accountability Partner instead.) FocusMe confirms that the request has been sent.
4. Your partner receives an email with your reason and either approves or denies it.
   • Approved: FocusMe shows Request Approved — … approved your request. Selected plans have been stopped. A partner can also approve with a delay, in which case FocusMe shows Approved with delay - plans will stop at ….
   • Denied: FocusMe shows … denied your request. with their reason if they gave one. The plan stays active.
5. Alternatively, type the code your partner gives you into the dialog and click Apply.

Only one request can be pending per plan. Creating a new one cancels the existing request (Pending Request → Continue), and you can withdraw a request with Cancel Request (Your partners will no longer be able to approve it.) or Cancel Pending Request in the plan’s context menu.

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Skipping, pausing and challenges

When you click Skip Break or Pause on a plan with Partner Override, or when a Random / Password challenge appears, FocusMe offers to send the request to your partner instead. Wait for their approval, or enter the code they provide.

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Support fallback

If you have no partner, the Assisted Stop dialog’s main button reads Add Accountability Partner. Either way, the Send Request to FocusMe link sends the request to the FocusMe team instead. FocusMe does not provide 24/7 support, so a partner is the faster route. Support may stop the plans, set a custom password on them, or reduce their protection to a shorter random code.

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Tips

• Choose someone who will say no. A partner who approves everything is the same as no partner.
• Explain your goals. Give partners the context to judge your requests well.
• Combine with Lock it Down. With Enforced stop protection and Partner Override, your partner’s approval is the only way to stop the plan.
• Add more than one partner so a request isn’t stuck when someone is unavailable.
• Lock the list once it’s set up, so you can’t swap in a softer partner later.