The term body-doubling was introduced to me by a friend in late 2021. They expressed it was a handy way for people to slip back into the common “study hall effect” of working alongside friends, often on different projects, while being productive.
Body doubling is a popular tool used for those who may have issues with executive dysfunction, which this article outlines well, but it can also be useful for extroverts who need assistance staying on task or introverts who find it easy to be sucked into their own brain scape. Whatever your reason for body doubling, here are a few tips I use as someone who is self-employed and works on my own most days.
When to use headphones and when to not
This is a pretty specific tip, but I’ve found in many cases wearing headphones while working can be both a hindrance and helpful depending on the scenario. I think headphones are helpful for active work if you enjoy listening to movie soundtracks, lo-fi beats, or high BPM music while working. Air-pods, noise canceling headphones — whatever you pick, these can be useful.
I don’t recommend wearing headphones if you like to use podcasts or youtube videos as background noise to work. This is because in my experience, people’s conversations can be very distracting, and if you…
