Virtual coworking: open a call, mute, begin
It takes thirty seconds to set up and removes the lonely part of hard tasks.
The short version: try one today
- Keep a standing link with two or three friends.
- Drop in when you need it.
- Say hello, state your task, mute.
Nobody around to work with? Priori has body doubling sessions built in. (We make it. It's free to download.)
The hardest part of a hard task is often how lonely it is. Just you, a blank document and the growing suspicion that everyone else finds this easy. ADHD virtual coworking takes about thirty seconds to set up and removes that lonely part.
The recipe is in the title. Open a call, mute, begin. What makes it stick is doing it with the same few people, on a link that never changes.
Set up a standing link
Arranging a call is its own task. You have to text someone, agree a time, find a link and then actually show up. Each step is a place for ADHD to drop the ball, especially if you are someone who takes three days to text back.
A standing link skips all of that. Create one recurring video call with two or three friends and pin the link in your group chat. It stays the same forever. Anyone can open it whenever they need company, and whoever is free joins.
Keep the group small. With two or three friends you get decent odds that someone is around, and it still feels safe to turn up in pyjamas with unwashed hair. Choose people you do not have to perform for. Many women with ADHD spend a lot of energy masking, and this should be one place where you do not need to.
Hello, task, mute
The script is three steps, and it takes under a minute.
- Say hello. A real one, a few seconds of being human.
- State your task out loud. 'I am doing my expenses.' 'I am starting the reading for Thursday.'
- Mute and begin.
- When you leave, unmute to say what you got done, or type it in the chat if the others are mid-flow.
Stating the task does two things. It makes you choose one, which is often where you were stuck. And it gives you a witness, so wandering off to reorganise your bookshelf feels slightly less available.
Muting is the agreement, so nobody reads it as rude. Nobody has to make conversation, apologise for typing noise or explain why they went silent.
Drop in when you need it
Use the link for the tasks you have been circling. The email you keep rewriting in your head. The form for your student loan. The first ten minutes of anything. A message in the chat saying 'in the room for half an hour if anyone wants company' is enough of an invitation.
Sometimes nobody joins. Stay on the call anyway for ten minutes and start. An open call with your task typed in the chat still feels a bit like an appointment, and often someone turns up halfway through.
If starting is the specific wall you hit, pair the call with a tiny first step. There are ideas for that in getting started when your whole body says no.
Where ADHD virtual coworking falls short
It is brilliant for boring, lonely or slightly scary tasks. It is less useful when the friends on the call are more interesting than the work. If hello keeps stretching to twenty minutes, agree a rule: catch-ups happen at the end, as the reward.
It also cannot fix a task that is too vague. 'Sort my life out' will not survive contact with a muted call. Shrink it to something you could finish in one sitting.
And if the group goes quiet for a few weeks, nothing has failed. Post in the chat, open the link and see who comes. For a more planned version with one partner and an agreed end time, see virtual body doubling.
Quick questions
What is virtual coworking for ADHD?
It is working on your own task while on a video call with other people who are doing the same, usually muted. The company makes hard or boring tasks feel less lonely, which many people with ADHD find makes it easier to begin.
How do I start virtual coworking with friends?
Create one recurring video call link, share it with two or three friends and pin it in your group chat. When any of you needs company, open the link, say hello, name your task and mute.