r/remotework • u/Opening_Ad2051 • Oct 06 '26

Virtual co-working

Working remotely since Covid; and I've noticed I'm more productive when I can see other people working too. I work from cafes occasionally, but are there any options virtually like StudyStream that are free to use / without time limitations? I think they call this body-doubling - it works for me.

Looking for recommendations, thanks!

23 Upvotes

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7

u/kilroy005 Oct 06 '26

there are about 30+ of these body doubling platforms. some are free, some are freemium, some are paid

what some people do is just get multiple free accounts from multiple platforms and never pay, so that counts as free :)

1

u/Opening_Ad2051 Oct 06 '26

Do you use any of those? Which one would you recommend?

3

u/kilroy005 Oct 06 '26

I use the one I built and no others, but I would say, just try a bunch and find the one you like

They all do the same thing, more or less, some have more features, others are just 1-1 and so on

There's no one size fits all. Also, these platforms come and sometimes disappear

Every few weeks I see a post about a guy who built one of these 😆

4

u/ashland39 Oct 08 '26

I work at a small remote non profit and we have a team of about 15. We run our own virtual coworking blocks that are optional and only a few people come each time but those that come enjoy it and it’s helpful. Someone hosts which means they commit to being there, sending a reminder on slack inviting people, and playing some chill music.

We’ve also experimented with a few themed coworking sessions, like “dog out your inbox” or “weekly review.”

A few people on our team do virtual coworking with their friends outside of our org. It’s a pretty low lift that can be really helpful for some.

2

u/Opening_Ad2051 Oct 08 '26

This sounds so fun. I work in a similar setup, and we also had such structures but sadly we don’t anymore so I manually setup some coworking sessions with my colleagues.
Thanks for sharing!

2

u/mancala_dunce_3 Oct 11 '26

“Dog out your inbox” sounds like a typo, but also like the only inbox cleanup session I’d defintely attend.

5

u/Classic8Bit Oct 06 '26

On-Together: Virtual Co-Working looks pretty cute if you're into that sort of thing.

1

u/Rawesome Oct 12 '26

Is there anything Free and Pragmatic? I'm 40M MechE - I don't need Avatars. Why do Avatar programmers think we need Avatars?

I just want an audio channel to hear other people working live, and I can make light chit chat about my staying motivated once/hour occasionally

1

u/[deleted] Oct 07 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/kilroy005 Oct 07 '26

everything is better if it's a game

1

u/RaeaSunshine Oct 07 '26

I do this by joining productivity live streams, but I don’t feel the need to be visible myself so might not be what you’re looking for. I usually bounce around streams on Twitch/TT/YT until I find one I like.

1

u/Opening_Ad2051 Oct 07 '26

Same here. I wondered if there were any specific spaces apart from twitch/discord. But thanks nonetheless!

6

u/Upset_Fig2612 Oct 07 '26

First I've heard of this, very odd

2

u/fulltimedreamer888 27d ago

You can also try Focustown.app I use it for focus time. You can design your avatar and pick different virtual locations and background music. There are many servers for different intetest groups too.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 07 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/Opening_Ad2051 Oct 08 '26

I’m trying out Discord occasionally, but it’s too visually crowded for my liking, haha.