Today I’m continuing the theme of tips and productivity hacks that actually work.
Are You Using a Co-Working App?
Most people rave about working from home—no commute, you can work in your jammies, more flexibility in your schedule which single parents need, and better work-life balance—but there has been one huge drawback I didn’t expect: loneliness.
Remote work promised liberation but delivered isolation instead. Even though lockdowns ended, my loneliness didn’t. I’d sit at my home office, productivity metrics looking great on paper, but something essential was missing. I wasn’t alone in this. The research is clear: fully remote employees report significantly higher levels of loneliness (25%) than those who work exclusively on-site (16%) (Ozimek et al.). This isolation actively undermines productivity and engagement. Social connection isn’t a luxury—it’s fuel.
Without it, we stall.
I tried to solve this problem several ways. Toggl Track helped me measure my time, but it lacked any human element and felt clunky—just another tracking tool that made work feel more isolated, not less. FlowClub promised community and structure, which I loved in theory, but the execution faltered: connections failed mid-session, the structured time often cut off before everyone could even answer the host’s questions, and my internet would slow so much I couldn’t actually be productive. Worse, it started to feel like online dating—trying to find someone you could vibe with, searching for the right host or group dynamic. I was frustrated and ready to give up on the whole idea.
Then I found Focusmate, and it actually worked for me. The magic isn’t complicated—it’s just another person, working beside you. Focusmate pairs you with a stranger for a 25-minute session where you both work on your chosen tasks while visible on video. You don’t need them to understand your work, care about your deadline, or even talk to you beyond a quick check-in. It’s not a complicated process to choose someone. But it gives you what you really need. What you need is them there, also working, visible in the corner of your screen, “beavering away” at their own task. Seeing someone else grinding away triggers something primal: accountability, presence, motivation. The shared struggle becomes enough. For people like me, especially those with ADHD tendencies, this structure, sometimes called ‘ body doubling’ is transformative. But I think it would work for anyone fighting task paralysis or the quiet desperation of solo work.
The research backs this up: the absence of structured social environments worsens feelings of disconnection, leading to emotional strain and diminished job performance (Figueiredo et al.). A co-working session becomes its own ritual—a container for focus that an empty home office simply cannot provide.
After a month I realized that booking sessions to finish a task I was dreading made it manageable and doable to complete. It offloaded the stress of forcing myself to start: someone was waiting for me to show up and that accountability factor made all the difference.
The question I have for you is this: Are you using a co-working app, and if so, which one keeps you coming back?
Works Cited
Figueiredo, Elsa, et al. “Loneliness and Isolation in the Era of Telework: A Comprehensive Review of Challenges for Organizational Success.” Healthcare, vol. 13, no. 19, 2024, p. 1943.
Ozimek, Adam, et al. “The Future of Remote Work.” American Economic Association, 2023.