Body Doubling

This is a concept primarily for people with ADHD by the way, if you're not in this target group you might not understand why it's needed, as we already see in this thread.

I used to host weekly virtual co-working for founders who needed some accountability. We got a lot done during those sessions and ultimately met my co-founder through it. Later today we'll be body doubling virtually to get our taxes done together.

<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;web.archive.org&#x2F;web&#x2F;20250116111830&#x2F;https:&#x2F;&#x2F;bodydoubling.com&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;web.archive.org&#x2F;web&#x2F;20250116111830&#x2F;https:&#x2F;&#x2F;bodydoubl...</a>

I’ve noticed this quite a few times before when working with my systems administrator: He calls me in for a debugging session of a problem he‘s been stuck on for some time and within a few minutes (or less than a minute) he finds the solution. I’ve always seen it as him having to reorganize his thoughts to give me a somewhat structured introduction into the problem. And somewhere along the path he finds the missing piece.

You don&#x27;t necessarily need the person to be there. My house is never cleaner than after I&#x27;ve been on the phone with a friend. My mind shuts off, my body does all the chores I&#x27;ve been procrastinating, while my friend does her art, and we both catch up on life.<p>Comparatively, working in a coffee shop does not make me get more work done, I just feel better.

I’ve intuitively know about ‘body doubling’ for years but had never heard the term. I’ve just always understood that I tend to get the most work done in coworking spaces and cafes and not when I’m at home by myself.

I can confirm this. As soon as there is someone else near me, I become productive. When I am alone I have no big motivation to do anything.

This was the only way I could study in college. I had “study groups” but in reality all we did was sit quietly next to each other working through our own material. Worked amazingly.<p>I’m not ADHD, but that’s probably a bigger discussion

I find this also works when you go to coffeeshops that have a lot of people working

Is this common? Maybe that&#x27;s one of the reasons that people push for RTO, they can&#x27;t work alone?

A friend of mine used to call me with technical&#x2F;programming issues. He would explain the problem on the phone and suddenly come up with the solution, then thank me profusely even though I didn&#x27;t really do anything. I don&#x27;t know whether he was an ADHD case or not, but I thought he was, and he used to speak with a pronounced stutter especially when excited. Spending any time with him would make clear why: thoughts and ideas came at him so fast they were difficult to serialize through speech.<p>Anyways, I&#x27;m not sure whether this is &quot;body doubling&quot; or &quot;rubber ducking&quot;, or even if there isn&#x27;t significant overlap between the two concepts.

I happened to do this at work with a coworker, and it was fantastic. I immediately went from being able to get nothing done to being able to be productive.

This reminds me of <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.focusmate.com&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.focusmate.com&#x2F;</a>

I used to get more done within an hour on the sofa next to my ex watching her shows, than I did in the four hours preceding it at my desk.<p>As a single guy now, I have the &quot;leisure&quot; to stretch my work hours far longer into the night and I get just as much done as when I was with her.

Shoutout <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.flow.club&#x2F;">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.flow.club&#x2F;</a><p>Fantastic body doubling service

Previously: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=33478562">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=33478562</a> (November 5, 2022 — 325 points, 199 comments)

Any difference between this and <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.focusmate.com" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.focusmate.com</a> ?

Site takes like 10 seconds to load. Did HN give it the kiss of death?

everyone needs a friend

See also <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;adhdactually.com&#x2F;membership" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;adhdactually.com&#x2F;membership</a> Basically moderated by a small team zoom sessions to body double.

That&#x27;s one hell of a term to mean being afraid of being alone.

I haven&#x27;t read the article yet, but is it about body weight doubling?

If you need to practice body doubling it’s suggested you don’t go into a career doing knowledge work because you will likely have to spend a lot more time working alone.