Show HN: Focusmate – Distraction-free productivity via virtual coworking

focusmate.com

3 points·taylorjacobson··2 comments

Hi HN,

Working solo can be liberating, but it is also hard. I’ve been working from home for 7 years, and let’s just say it’s been a long and winding journey

The big change for me happened when I started working with an accountability partner, remotely over video, to ensure I showed up, chose the right thing to work on, and stayed on task.

It may sound weird or extreme, but it worked insanely well.

The problem was, we needed more people!

So, I built Focusmate—-a community of solo workers who have committed to holding one another accountable for finishing their most important work.

With Focusmate, you can find an accountability buddy to work with at any time, anywhere, on demand.

I’d love for you to give it a try and share your feedback. Also:

How can we reduce the initial fear or hurdle of trying Focusmate? Are there specific people/groups you’d like to work with on Focusmate?

Thanks so much!!

Hi Taylor! Really interesting idea. I look forward to following Focusmate and giving it a go sometime soon. One use-case that I didn't see mentioned in your copy is for creatives. Consistently finding time to sit down and work on creative projects, music, writing, art can be a real challenge. I would certainly be interested in trying this out in my music production. Initial hesitation from me is the requirement for video chat, just because I haven't grown comfortable with doing that with a stranger over the internet. Perhaps video chat is a critical component to making this whole thing work, but maybe there is some middle ground that can be achieved by just using text chat or the like. Curious to know your thoughts on both these points. Cheers! - Varun

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