Remote workers are adopting a new practice called ‘body doubling,’ in which they watch strangers work online
... She’s doing both at the same time, live streaming herself working from home to an audience ranging from hundreds to thousands of viewers.
She usually starts work at 9 a.m. and goes live an hour later. Onyia’s TikTok live videos, which she calls “work alone together,” have earned her 100,000-plus followers. She has an aesthetic desk setup with ambient music, and she stops working from time to time to answer questions in her comments section from viewers who work alongside her.
Onyia is body doubling, or parallel working—a new term for an old strategy: doing work in the presence of others. Traditionally done in the same room, the trend is now taking over TikTok live and Zoom as remote workleaves many people struggling to concentrate or looking for community. ...
The stranger in body doubling serves as an unbiased, accountable “other” that helps one to get out of their personal struggles, explains Campbell. She adds that it’s “completely changed the game” for her productivity and that of other people with ADHD she’s worked with. ...
See the full story here: https://fortune.com/2023/03/05/body-doubling-parallel-working-tiktok-trend/
