Do you find yourself struggling to start a task and then follow through to completing it? Sometimes it can be hard to find the motivation to do something that you need to do or even want to do. As a neurodiverse occupational therapist working with other neurodiverse individuals, it is important to acknowledge that often times being motivated to do a task is not an easy thing to do. Often times neurodiverse individuals may not be able to “just do it” like the famous company says. Motivation is not always something that neurodiverse individuals are able to harness to complete a task, whether thats due to sensory challenges, executive dysfunctioning, difficulty with task paralysis, not being interested in the task at hand etc. When working with someone who is neurodiverse, looking for little hacks to get around this challenge is an important aspect to be able to support in the activities clients are trying to work on. Body doubling can be a big support often!
What is body doubling?
Body doubling is the practice of doing a task in the presence of another person as a way to increase motivation around completing various activities. The other person in the scenario is not helping with the task, they may be engaging in their own task at the same time, their presence alone improves accountability and concentration. Often times it can be easy to struggle with procrastination, get distracted from a task or feel lack of motivation to complete the task, and having another person can support with this. Body doubling works because social presence helps increase focus as you’re less likely to drift off into thought or get distracted from the task because of accountability. It can also be helpful to have someone present (in person or virtually) to support with task initiation which can be challenging for especially neurodivergent individuals. My caveat is of course the person you are body doubling with can’t be the distraction – think back to being in school, I’m sure you had study partners who were great to keep you on task vs those who made you laugh so hard you couldn’t bother thinking about school. Best to be aware of who your body doubling partner is!
When COVID hit in 2020, there were people who thrived being at home working on their own where it was silent and they could focus. There were also people who really struggled to get started and focus on the task at hand. Companies believed that productivity was better in the office, but I personally think that the office culture and energy isn’t necessarily the solution. A lot of people work better with flexible schedules, not needing to drive in rush hour every day and not having the distraction of the noise, conversation and social pressure of an office. However, I believe the missing piece for some of the people struggling was the motivation to work from small groups or one or two individuals in the office. This is why working in a library or a cafe might be easier to get things done that sitting alone in your house!
A quick reminder that body doubling is not necessarily for everyone or for every task, and not every person might be the ideal body doubling partner. I personally benefit from body doubling when I am doing a boring administrative task that I can’t get distracted from, but the other person I am partnering with needs to be focused on their own task otherwise I’ll get too chatty. I find that sometimes cleaning, cooking or organizing are the tasks that I very easily find success with body doubling. For me, those tasks don’t necessarily need a person who I know to be my partner, it could be listening to a commentary channel where the Youtuber is sharing their special interest so it seems like I’m listening to a friend! There are also “study with me” or “clean with me” videos you can find on Youtube if having just one sided presence is helpful.
A challenge that I find often is when you don’t have someone who can body double with you all the time. We don’t all have a roommate, partner or family member in the house at all times and it can be hard to wait for a friend to have the time to come over and support us. A phone call or a facetime can also be helpful virtually if you can catch your loved one in the time you need! I have been meeting with a friend in the same field as me recently to do admin work over zoom to help with completion of tasks. I have started trying to film body double videos on Sundays to upload to my Youtube channel as a background noise, and there are plenty of different versions of these videos on other channels as well! Hopefully you can find one that can support you in times when you don’t have another human in your space 🙂
In future posts I’ll explore other strategies to support engagement in productivity activities! Feel free to leave comments on the post of any strategies or challenges you may be curious about learning more
Be Your Own Sunshine 