Body doubling: a simple focus tool.
Start a task with company nearby.
Body doubling means doing a task while another person is with you. They don’t have to help, or even do the same thing. They only need to be there, in the room or on a video call, getting on with their own work.
People with ADHD have used it informally for decades, usually without calling it anything. The library was easier to study in than the bedroom, and the kitchen got cleaned faster when a friend was chatting at the table.
Research on why it works is still young. A 2024 study found body doubling helped people with ADHD both start and finish tasks, and earlier work suggests that having other people around nudges the brain’s reward and motivation pathways. It seems to help most with starting, and starting is usually the hard part.
How to try it. Choose a task you’ve been avoiding and ask someone to sit with you for twenty minutes while they do their own thing.
Tell them out loud what you’re going to do, then begin. If nobody is around, a video call with the cameras on works too, and there are plenty of online focus rooms set up for this.
It costs nothing to try tonight.
Sources and further reading
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