What is Body Doubling?

Body Doubling is working alongside others to help stay focused and complete tasks, either virtual or in person. The presence of others provides structure, accountability, and motivation, especially for those with ADHD or other executive functioning challenges.

In my experience, there are 2 types of body doubling. The more common type is where participants usually do not interact except at the beginning, during breaks, and at the end of a session. The other type is more interactive where everyone is doing the same type of activity and is chatting. Activities I frequently do are cooking, cleaning, and brushing my dog.

For the independently working sessions, the host typically begins each session by asking the attendees to say what they want to accomplish. Each host will set a timer for 30 (or so) minutes and then there will be a short (2-5 minute) break before attendees resume working. This work/break may happen once or repeat several times depending on how long the session is. At the end of the scheduled time, the host will ask how everyone’s focus was. There is no judgement - sometimes we will be able to focus really well and sometimes showing up is our win. To quote a good friend: “progress, not perfection”.

You can find free groups on Meetup. There are multiple paid services with a limited free plan also.