The Power of Coworking

There is a concept in ADHD called “coworking” where you are working in the same space (physical or virtual) with others while not actually working on the same things. For example, one person may be writing while the other person is reviewing spreadsheets. Why does this help us get work in motion?

You’ll often hear this referred to as “body doubling” which I believe is a more accurate way of understanding the benefits of this arrangement. In a typical working environment, say an office or (gag) an open-office space, there is a level of background activity that is occurring along with an almost subconscious reminder that work should be happening. The tapping of keyboards, conversations that do not involve you, the sounds of being productive all provide a soundtrack for some to move forward with their day.

For me, body doubling gives me two primary motivators, one positive and one negative (I’ll explain that in a moment.) In the positive realm, catching people out of the corner of my eye doing things and making things happen gives me reinforcement that I should and can be doing that as well. In the negative, when I backslide or begin to wander, the body doubling creates a low level anxiety that I might get called out on not doing what I’m supposed to be doing right then. It’s a form of unspoken accountability which if more formal I would immediately push back against for other reasons.

Does body doubling work for everyone? Nope. Can it work for you? Maybe. Is it worth giving a try? Absolutely. There is never a reason to not look for ways to make your work tasks easier or more effective. How can you go about doing this?

There are people on social media who will live stream co-working sessions with music to provide a virtual space for you. You can also body double with someone in a coffee shop, open a virtual meeting with no topic, or invite someone over to work with you at your dining room table. The number of methods are vast, but the outcomes can be worth the trial and error involved in finding a way that works for you.

As an example, I wrote this entire post while sitting in a virtual co-working sessions on TikTok with people I didn’t know; they were all doing their things, me doing mine, and all of us were being productive. Worthwhile time spent to move things forward for my morning. Give it a try sometime and see if it works for you.