The Buddy System, But For Productivity

why working alongside others works so well

You can listen to an audio version of this newsletter above. Please note that this is unedited, there may be some natural stumbles, as I’m recording in my home office. Thank you and enjoy.

Photo of online meeting on laptop by Sigmund on Unsplash

Some of my favorite memories from graduate school were spent on the second floor of the Smith College Neilson Library. The cozy reading room was where I penned a journal article, fellowship applications, and most of my term papers. The atmosphere was perfect: comfy couches by a working gas fireplace, sturdy wooden tables illuminated by old-school green banker lights, and best of all, the low hum of people working on their own scholarly projects. I was notorious for striking up conversations on work dates with friends (whoops!), so working in a designated quiet reading room was necessary for my (and others’) focus levels.

A key part of what made my library work sessions so effective was body doubling. While it may sound like the plot of an old-school sci-fi movie, body doubling actually refers to a person being present while another person completes a task. Body doubling is a great motivator to complete aversive tasks that we may procrastinate on if left to our own devices. When another person is present—even if they are focused on a completely different task—we may find increased and sustained focus in our own project (body doubling is lauded as a helpful tool for people with ADHD).

Co-working As a Form of Body Doubling

Body doubling can be a reciprocal process when both people are co-working on individual goals. I’ve been hosting virtual co-working sessions for years as a way to support others and myself in practicing intentional productivity. Because co-working sessions often feature multiple focused work sessions, they’re a great way to practice breaking projects down into actionable tasks and selecting tasks that are realistic to focus on in a short time block. The added accountability of working alongside others offers the benefit of gamifying tasks, which can help limit spending unnecessary time on activities that can become time sucks (like grading or responding to emails).

What Happens During a Co-Working Session?

If you’re curious about my co-working sessions or if you’d like to host your own co-working with your colleagues or friends, here is how I run virtual co-working.

1. Determine a set amount of time for your co-working session. Mine are generally 3 hours long.

2. Allot some time for hellos and introductions at the beginning (usually five minutes).

3. Everyone is invited to briefly share what they hope to accomplish in the next hour.

4. Establish expectations for audio/video/chat usage. Everyone on my co-working sessions mutes their audio and we each choose if we would like to have our video on or off. I leave mine on to increase the benefits of body doubling for others. Because everyone’s schedules are so complex, I’m fine if folks need to leave early or join late. If someone joins when we’re working silently, I make sure that their audio is muted and I send them a private message to welcome them and to ask them what they’re working on.

5. After an hour has passed, I unmute myself and invite everyone to come back and share what they accomplished in the last hour. If you’ve been to my co-working sessions, you know that the tone is supportive and encouraging: we cheer each other on for our small wins and we acknowledge and sympathize when things feel tricky.

6. We then repeat steps 3, 4, and 5 for two more cycles before we congratulate one another on jobs well done and then sign off until the next co-working session!

The next co-working session for paid subscribers of Tending will be on December 8th from 12-3pm Eastern Time. You can learn more about co-working and access the Zoom links here.

What about you?

I’d love to hear about your experience with using body doubling or co-working for your own productivity! What has made it successful for you? What tasks do you reserve for co-working? Please share in a comment.

Curiosities

This section of my letters is for things that made me say “hmmm” or “wow!” recently.

• Kris ordered us one of the KC Davis Room Reset Boards and I love it! We both are pretty busy during the week and save most of our chores for the weekend, so having this board is helpful for tracking what we need to do. I am very motivated by gamifying chores and I find it satisfying to move the little magnet to “done” for tasks that I can complete in less than 5 minutes.

• I loved

  Brooke McAlary
  ’s recent newsletter “SlowMoWriMo”! If you’re working on a writing project this month, check out Brooke’s post for some gentle encouragement about balancing big goals with the reality that you may not hit them on a short timeline, and that’s okay.

• Since I found out I’m allergic to whey I’ve had to say goodbye to my beloved cheesy popcorn. I’ve been sampling the Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe's brand Pringles and they’re proving to be a satisfying replacement. I’m really into the salt and vinegar ones.

Take care and talk soon,

Dr. Kate