What is body doubling?

Body doubling is a productivity tool often used for individuals living with ADHD and those who desire accountability starting and completing tasks.

Body doubling can be informal, such as two friends working on separate things or formalized through co-working in a professional environment with shared responsibility.

At CMHA Saskatoon, body doubling will be used as intentional time for individuals to work on a task they can independently initiate with the accountability and support of the presence of others. Intentionally choosing a task, setting aside time for it, and starting can be challenging with so many demands in life, and having a set time every week can be helpful for task initiation.

If there has been a task you’ve been procrastinating on, starting it with the grounding presence of a body double could help! This includes paper-based or online work. Clients are welcome to use CMHA laptops or their own devices. Everyone contributes to a clean, quiet, motivating environment. Utilizing noise cancelling earbuds for music is welcome, but watching shows, scrolling on social media, excessive phone use or other distracting activities are not conducive to this session.

Offering encouragement to others and expressing what you’ll be working on at the start of the session is welcome, but note this session is not meant for external processing, intervention, counselling, or tasks that require 1:1 support.

For tasks that require additional support, please utilize the Vocational Support Drop-in on Thursdays or book an individual session with your Mental Health Worker.