Sometimes all you need to get something done — especially something you’re dreading — is another warm body. If you arrange to do that boring, hard thing while another person is nearby working on their own boring, hard thing, it’s called “body doubling.” Last weekend, I was reminded of just how much it can help.
Our daughter, who lives a half-hour away on her college campus, came home for Easter weekend, and I could tell she was battling serious end-of-semester burnout. She had a ton of things to do but zero motivation to do them. So I asked her which assignment on her list felt the heaviest, and she said it was a four-page essay.
I, too, had an unpleasant task I’d been putting off for weeks, so I proposed a deal. “You sit here at the kitchen island and start working on the essay, and I’ll start working on cleaning out those three kitchen drawers that are so full I can barely close them. Let’s see how much we can get done in an hour.”
We made the deal, mainly because the only thing worse than tackling a difficult project is tackling it alone. I didn’t help her write, and she didn’t help me sort, clean, and organize. But our quiet presence in the same room made it easier to focus on doing instead of dodging.
Is this just a physical illustration of the old saying “Misery loves company”? Maybe that’s a small part of it, but I think it goes deeper than that. Working alongside someone (even when you’re not working on the same task) drains the misery out of the experience and replaces it with a sense of “we’re in this thing together.”
The term “body doubling” was coined in 1996 by a woman named Linda Anderson, who specializes in coaching adults who struggle with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Long before Linda came up with the name for it, humans were instinctively seeking out their own body doubles without even realizing it. Why else would coffee shops and libraries be full of people on laptops all working on their own projects? They’re not there to socialize. They come to get things done in the presence of other humans who are getting things done.
Why does body doubling work for so many people? So far, there’s no direct medical research that explains exactly how and why it works, but there are scientific theories. One of those theories is about something called “mirror neurons.” Functional MRI scans show that certain areas of the brain cause us to imitate the behavior of people around us. If you’ve ever yawned because the person next to you yawned, you’ve already seen your mirror neurons at work.
Another reason body doubling might work is because the brain gets a little boost of dopamine when we’re with other people. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that’s earned the nickname “the feel-good hormone.” This hormone has a long list of important functions, but it’s essential for feeling motivated.
Here’s one last reason why working near another warm body might help keep us on task. It’s called “social facilitation theory,” and the thought behind it is that we perform better on a task when we’re with other people. If you’ve ever signed up for an exercise class, you already know this is true. You’ll push yourself to keep going when you’re in class far more than you would if you were alone. It’s easier to wimp out and quit when no one is there to see it.
Thousands of people who work alone from home offices have begun using online body-doubling services. It’s as easy as logging into a silent Zoom session where you can see other people working, and those people can see you, too. Everyone works for a set period of time, and there’s no chit-chat allowed. When the timer goes off, group members can share an update about what they got done.
I may try some of those body double sessions next week as my own work deadlines loom. When you’re writing alone at home, it’s far too easy to stop for “just a minute” to change a load of laundry and then wander into the kitchen for a glass of water. One thing leads to another, and suddenly two hours later you find yourself at the bottom of a bag of Tostitos while watching funny dog videos and feeling like a worthless lump of lazy. (Not that I’ve ever done that many, many times.)
Speaking of productivity, check back here next week when I’ll tell you the surprising things I found when I body doubled my college kid and finally conquered the kitchen’s junk drawer drama.
Gwen Rockwood is a syndicated freelance columnist. Email her at gwenrockwood5@gmail.com. Her new novel is available on Amazon.