ÜBERMAD
A woman pegs a sheet onto a garden washing line while a friend sits beside her on the paving, reading a book.

Action5

Work alongside someone (body doubling)

Do a task while another person is present, in person or online.

TopicEvidencePotential benefit
Focus
Goals
  • Focus
    Evidence Potential benefit

    Working alongside someone may help you focus a little better.

    • One well-controlled study, together with other tools.
  • Goals
    Evidence Potential benefit

    Working alongside someone may help you get more done.

    • One well-controlled study, together with other tools.

    Benefit size from Meeting the people their work helps, or writing about it, helped nurses work more., against the group that got only the information.

    For people with ADHD
    Evidence Potential benefit

    For people with ADHD, it's too early to say whether working alongside someone helps you get more done.

    • Only small or loosely controlled studies.
    • One star off: every study behind it has a serious concern.

    Benefit size from People screened for ADHD laid bricks faster in VR with a partner, against the same people working alone.

    Not diagnosis or treatment advice; talk to a clinician.

What 2 studies found

  • Helped 3
  1. HelpedTested
    People laid bricks faster in a short virtual task with a human or AI partner there than alone.

    Paper

  2. HelpedTested
    Nurses who met the people their work helped worked longer and made more kits.

    Paper

  3. HelpedTested
    Both extra groups had fewer kits with mistakes than the group that got only the information.

    Paper

Often used with it

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