Why body doubling works
You know that thing where you can't start something alone, but the second someone else sits down nearby, you're suddenly productive?
That's body doubling. And it's not a character flaw. It's how we're wired.
The presence effect
Humans are social creatures. We've survived by doing things together for hundreds of thousands of years. Working alone in a room is the historical anomaly, not the norm.
When someone else is working nearby, even if they're doing something completely different, your brain shifts modes. It stops negotiating with itself about whether to start. It just starts.
The other person doesn't need to watch you. They don't need to care what you're doing. They just need to be there, doing their own thing. Their presence is enough to flip the switch.
It's not about accountability
This isn't about shame or looking busy. The other person could be reading a book while you do your taxes. They could be in another country, silent on a video call, working on their own project.
What matters is the shared intention: we're both here to work. That agreement, even unspoken, changes everything.
Why remote work broke this
In an office, body doubling happened naturally. Someone was always typing nearby. Always in a meeting down the hall. Always grabbing coffee while you grabbed yours.
Remote work killed that ambient presence. Now we're alone with our thoughts, negotiating with ourselves about when to start. And ourselves are terrible negotiators.
The digital version works
Here's the weird part: it works through a screen.
A silent video call with someone else working recreates enough of that presence to trick your brain into working mode. You don't need their face on screen. You don't need to talk. You just need to know someone else is there, right now, also trying to get something done.
It's not as good as being in the same room. But it's 10x better than being alone.
Starting is the entire problem
People think they have a focus problem. They don't. They have a starting problem.
Once you start, momentum takes over. But starting? That's where we get stuck. That's where we need another human.
Not for advice. Not for motivation. Just for presence.
The best productivity hack isn't an app or a method or a morning routine. It's another person, doing their own thing, at the same time you're doing yours.
That's it. That's the whole thing.
And it works every time.