Study with me: why watching someone else study helps

A “study with me” video gives quiet company and a shared rhythm.

The short version: try one today

• Pick a video with built-in breaks.
• Match your blocks to theirs.
• Keep it on a second screen, not your phone.

Nobody around to work with? Priori has body doubling sessions built in. (We make it. It's free to download.)

Somewhere online right now, a stranger with a neat desk and a cup of tea is silently revising for three hours while thousands of people watch. On paper this is a strange thing to watch. In practice it gets a lot of essays written.

If you have searched for a study with me ADHD video because you cannot make yourself start, you are in good company. These videos give you quiet company and a shared rhythm. They are a form of body doubling you can switch on at any hour, with no need to ask anyone for anything.

Why watching someone study can help

Studying alone in your room asks you to create all your own structure: when to start, how long to go, when to stop. That is a heavy load on executive function before you have read a single page.

A study with me video hands you some of that structure. Someone else is already working, calmly, and it feels natural to join in. There is a mild sense of company, which takes the edge off a dull task. And the person on screen keeps going, which makes it slightly harder to justify wandering off.

Formal research on this is thin, so nobody can promise it will work for you. Plenty of students with ADHD swear by it, and it costs nothing to test. For the in-person version, see body doubling for studying.

Picking a study with me ADHD video that helps

They are not all equally useful. Some are basically room tours with a textbook in shot. Look for a few things.

• Built-in breaks. A visible timer with work blocks and rest blocks saves you from managing your own.
• A calm picture. One camera angle, not much movement, nothing to follow.
• Sound you can live with. Rain, pen scratches or silence. Skip anything with talking.
• A length that fits. An hour is a fine place to begin. You do not need the twelve-hour one.

Once you find one that works, save it and reuse it. Searching for the perfect video every time is its own form of procrastination. You know this. Twenty minutes of browsing thumbnails does not count as revision.

Match your blocks to theirs

The real benefit comes when you work and rest in sync with the video. When their timer says work, you work. When it says break, you take the break, even if you feel you have not earned it.

This is helpful for two reasons. You stop negotiating with yourself about when to pause, because the decision has been made. And the breaks happen at sensible intervals, which protects you from the pattern of doing nothing for two hours and then panicking for four.

Before each block, tell yourself what it is for. 'This block: flashcards for chapter six.' Say it out loud if you are alone. The video supplies company and timing. You still have to supply the target.

Keep it off your phone

Put the video on a second screen if you have one. A tablet, an old laptop, the TV, or one half of your monitor all work. Your phone is the wrong place for it.

The video itself is harmless. The trouble is that a phone propped against your mug is one notification away from the group chat, and one swipe away from an entirely different kind of video. If the phone is your only option, turn on do not disturb, go full screen and put it out of reach.

Say you have a 9am exam in ten days and a stack of lecture slides you have not opened. Tonight, pick a one-hour video with two breaks. Do the first block on week one's slides only. That is a real start, made in company, and the next evening is easier for it.

Some days a video will not be enough and you will want a real person who notices whether you turn up. That is when it is worth finding an ADHD study buddy.

Quick questions

Do study with me videos help with ADHD?

Many students with ADHD say they do, because the video offers company and a ready-made schedule of work and breaks. There is little formal research, so the best test is to try one for a few sessions and see whether you get more done.

What should I look for in a study with me video?

Choose one with a visible timer and built-in breaks, a still and calm picture, and no talking. Play it on a second screen so your phone can stay out of reach.