Nir Eyal

Focusmate - Distraction-free productivity via virtual coworking

Focusmate virtual coworking provides accountability exactly when and how you need it to get things done—live, "in person" from another human being.

Users to work side-by-side, remotely over video, in structured 50 minute sessions.

Let a Focusmate hold your feet to the fire, just like your coworkers might in a real office.

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Dmitry Belyaev
Looks great! Have you though about adding a real time queue like games have, so you can search for someone instantly?
Dmitry Belyaev
And yes, I'm looking forward to try it. Seems like a nice motivation to work while not in a coworking or a coffee shop
Taylor Jacobson – Team Focusmate
@dmitry_belyaev Hi Dmitry, can you explain more what that is, in non-game terms? I am not following.
Dmitry Belyaev
@taylor_jacobson A regular use case for me: I work on side projects when I have time, so usually I can't schedule it beforehand. It would be great if I can just enter my profile and search for a person who is ready to join right now. That definitely requires a large userbase for better results, but may work with smaller audiences as well.
Taylor Jacobson – Team Focusmate
@dmitry_belyaev makes perfect sense, thanks. We're planning to launch this in incremental ways so that you can find someone truly on-demand, like you're saying.
Dmitry Belyaev
@taylor_jacobson Hope it goes live one day :) Would try Focusmate out next week I hope, looking for the time to work on the side project. I've just also randomly thought that maybe same thing can be done in the office, even meeting in person and working to increase productivity for couple of hours
Chris Sheehan

Focusmate is the way that the next generation of teams will get stuff done, especially when they're remote!

Pros:

Easy and fun to use

Cons:

Growing network

Taylor Jacobson – Team Focusmate
high praise, thank you @evolsb
Jamie Shiller

Focusmate is awesome! Some weeks I spend most of my working time using the service. I see three main benefits of using Focusmate:

1) Picking the most important tasks

Using the Focusmate forces you to pick the 1 to 3 most important things you can complete in 50 minutes.

2) On-demand Accountability

Just having another person there holds you accountable in a way that doesn't happen when you work by yourself

3) Timeboxing

Blocks out intervals of 50 minutes to focus. You know you need to power through the time with as much focus as possible.

Pros:

- Helps you focus on most important tasks

- On-demand Accountability

- Timeboxing

Cons:

- Sometimes you can forget to use the service, but Focusmte sends out email reminders if you're inactive for an extended period.

Taylor Jacobson – Team Focusmate
thanks for sharing all of this @jamie_shiller . Honored to have your support!
Brittany Berger
I LOVE Focusmate to help me stay focused throughout the day. Signing up for scheduled coworking sessions that last just a few Pomodoro sessions helps me put a time limit on tasks instead of dragging them out, as I tend to do when I work from home.
Taylor Jacobson – Team Focusmate
so grateful for your support and enthusiasm @thatbberg 🙏
Sad S
I love Focusmate. I am about to hit 1500 sessions on it in past year. Profiles are private by default so linking will do no good. But message me if you need convincing to try the product or want to see someone who has used Focusmate a ton! I've used Focusmate in many different ways. Recently, I use it to get a jumpstart or make sure I'm working and accountable on each part of my day. That means almost first thing in the morning. After lunch. And then at night if I'm doing anything at night. I'll do 1-2 sessions in each part usually. Once in a while I and others will go on Focusmate binges and do like 7-10 sessions in the span of less than half a day. It can do wonders for productivity.
Taylor Jacobson – Team Focusmate
that's amazing @chase_ats ! Focusmate royalty 👑
Nife Oluyemi
Like many I was initially scared of having random people watch me, but I tried this app and the benefits out weighs that worry. I wasn't even bothered by being watched all I wanted to do was get done with my task. I also like the idea of meeting new people and offering value both ways. I am doing a 20day product challenge where I write about the #1 product of the day on PH. Today, I wrote about Focusmate. And you guessed right, I used focusmate to stay focused while I was writing this article! Helped me to accomplish it in way lesser time. Link -> https://medium.com/@nife/product...
Taylor Jacobson – Team Focusmate
@nife @nifeoluyemi so cool! and, great piece, thanks for the feedback!!
Sophia Dagnon
Focusmate is the reason I make it to my desk at 8am every morning - especially on those mornings when you've had to work late the night before... I've been using it for about 3-4 months and it's been invaluable. Makes getting stuff done sooo much more enjoyable. If you work remotely, test it out!
Taylor Jacobson – Team Focusmate
hi @sophia_dagnon , so glad to hear it's been helpful for you! 😄
Yash Bhardwaj
Great concept but how are you increasing usability? I'd love to hear your thoughts regarding using Google Hangouts, Zoom or anything else on mute vs Focusmate
Taylor Jacobson – Team Focusmate
@yash Not sure I am getting your question. Can you clarify? Are you asking how we are different than just hopping on Zoom? If that's your question, 2 things: 1. Pre-existing commitments and structure essentially guarantee that when you have a Focusmate, you will be productive. 2. You spend zero time coordinating / doing anything annoying. It is a seamless, fast, on-demand, single-user experience in every way it can be. 3. As the product evolves, it will become even more personalized and interwoven with your work life and work cadence. Have the partners you want and work most productively with, schedule in ways that are integrated into your existing workflows, etc.
Luke Bayler
I use Focusmate multiple times a day for my day job and for my personal writing. It gives me the feeling of a friendly person sitting next to me and helping me to be productive. It has been integral to my productivity.
Taylor Jacobson – Team Focusmate
@luke_bayler awesome to hear that!!
Amy Giddon

I work mainly solo and from my home office, and can easily stray from my goals when tasks are tedious or challenging (which is many of them!). I can see using Focusmate as a way to make sure I don't avoid the unpleasant stuff!

Pros:

I can see this helping me get over the hurdles.

Cons:

I plan to try this soon!