Now in my THIRD year as a customer Back in 2020, a close friend told me about work gyms – sites where you randomly match with an accountability buddy online to get work done. Of the ones I looked into, I selected Focusmate, frankly, because of the offer of "three free sessions per week." Nothing to lose by trying it out. The site uses a browser-based calendar through which you select timeslots to book your session with another user. Each session uses video, mic, and chat. But in each session you basically greet your session buddy, declare what you'll work on, and then you each get to your tasks, with you and the other person's video on. Co-working with video ("body doubling") turned out to be a powerful tool for my productivity. So I upgraded to the paid subscription of what was then just USD $5 per month for unlimited sessions. Focusmate has rules to ensure members' safety. When I wrote my first review, I had completed over 60 sessions and highly recommended it. Now I am over 1,200 session in, and it is still my absolute favorite productivity tool, also for the fantastic and diverse community of users and the respect for that diversity. The only (continued!) complaint I have is the limited payment options for international users. They really need to sort that out.

Focusmate has made it possible to be productive again I started working remotely back in 2020, and am still mostly at home since. I have had trouble focusing on work for a long time, so much so that I was worried that my executive functioning was impaired. I mentioned body doubling to a close friend, and she told me about Focusmate. The mere fact that I am sharing a work session with someone else on the screen has done wonders for me. I have finished tedious tasks like writing and reviewing citations for a book and rewriting my resume and cover letter, which I usually avoid like the plague. I like that I can choose defined time blocks so that I don't stare at the screen all day. I also like that it's giving me a sense of how long tasks take. It's amazing how much I can get done in 25 minutes. I also appreciate hearing what other people are working on and how they organize their tasks. I use the first 25 minutes of my day making a to-do list, estimating how long tasks will take, and then prioritizing rather than having a huge list and never feeling like I've gotten anywhere. Even in short snippets of conversation I have met great people. Some have recommended other tools to help with focus and organization.

I appreciate thaI appreciate that the team are responsive. I appreciate that the team are responsive. They have always helped me to their best efforts whenever I've had a query. Of course, the Focusmate team have no control over the people using the site (in terms of punctuality and the basics like that, I mean) and so can't be blamed if members spoil my session by not showing up etc. As a concept it's great! The other reviews here give a diverse range of angles on what you can get out of using the site.

I have used Focusmate on and off over… I have used Focusmate on and off over the last 18 months and have generally found it both easy to use and most people pleasant.

This is just a big thank you for… This is just a big thank you for developing Focusmate! I’m a software developer with ADHD and I’ve been really struggling recently to focus on anything. I tried Focusmate today and I genuinely feel like I’ve unlocked my ability to focus again.