Body doubling is when a student completes their work in the presence of someone else. A pretty simple concept, right? However, it addresses one of the biggest challenges – getting started, formally called task initiation.

Task initiation is more complex than people assume. Many students with ADHD have a complete understanding of what they need to get done, but express that there is a mental block when it comes to getting started. For middle and high school students, this may result in getting behind in assignments, resulting in poor grades.

Some say that body doubling gives them a slight increase in pressure to get started while others say that it provides a calm environment for them to focus on their work.

We address sustained attention and self-regulation by running sessions in three 15-minute Pomodoros followed by a 5-minute break.

A Pomodoro is a short session of focus on a given task. This technique can be paired with an anxiety or intrusive thought journal to allow for greater attention within the 15-minute Pomodoro. Students bullet point any persistent thoughts that may be distracting and then schedule a time after their work to think about them.

Each Pomodoro is followed by a 5-minute break. Students will be taught and prompted to do a body scan to check-in with how they are feeling. If they are in a high-energy state and are feeling anxious or angry, they will be given calming techniques. If they are in a low-energy state and are feeling lethargic, they will be given alerting techniques. These techniques involve different breathing and movement to bring the body back to an optimal state that allows for better engagement with their work.

After a student completes the three 15-minute Pomodoros, they are encouraged to take a 20-minute break to rest.

For $48/month, your student can join as many body doubling + self-regulation sessions that they want.

Sessions run 3:00pm to 6:00pm MST every Monday – Thursdays and every other Sunday.

Sessions are run on Zoom in Focus format. Students are only able to see the individual running the session. Chat features from student-to-student will be disengaged.