At the end of last year, a friend and I were talking about an article she‘d read about work gyms. The basic concept is that, instead of finding a buddy with whom you work out your body at the gym, you match with an accountability buddy online to get your brain work done. I was intrigued, so the friend sent the article, and I fell down the rabbit hole of the various online services.

I won‘t lie: the offer of "three free sessions per week" was the initial "win" for Focusmate over its competitors. I had literally nothing more to lose than my time. So, to simply try it out, I quickly created a profile and booked my first session.

YOWSA, ZOWIE, and WHOO BOY was I completely underestimating the value of such a simple system. Having a portal through which I could find a stranger willing to simply WATCH ME GET WORK DONE (and vice versa) proved to be a powerful tool in the personal productivity toolbox. Apparently, I am one of those persons for whom "body doubling" is the difference between achieving some objectives (under stress and after much procrastination) and feeling turbo-charged in meeting and achieving my objectives with time to spare. GTD? Yes! I upgraded my free subscription to the paid USD $5 per month rate for unlimited sessions in a week.

"Focusmateys" can use the simple browser-based calendar to select from users available at different time slots OR create a session on a date and time of their own choosing to then be matched by the program‘s algorithm or with someone using their private invitation link.

[As the site has grown in popularity, it has faced the same struggles that the Zoom boom did to ensure the safety of its members from trolls and abusers. The Focusmate team does this work admirably and transparently, attending especially to calls from women (cis and trans) and nonbinary persons to create rules and algorithm tweaks that puts their safety FIRST.]

Back to how it works: After connecting the two participants, the interface uses video, mic, and a chat channel (what every Zoom user understands by now) for the session. Each person declares their intent and queries about how it should proceed. Mic on or mic off? Screensharing tasks or not? Video, however, is not negotiable. Video on!

By now, I have completed over 60 sessions and have already added sessions to the calendar through to the year's end. I get ZILCH, ZERO, NICHTS for writing this review. I am that truly impressed by the product, by its effectiveness in my life, and by the community of users that have sprung up around it. (Search Facebook! Focusmate has a vocal and happy base of users, including creatives, people with ADHD, and students!) I have no doubt that it will be a success.

And that brings me to the SOLE COMPLAINT that I have about Focusmate: payment options for joining. I do not live in the US and, in Europe, paying for services via direct bank transfer is the norm. In Germany especially, credit cards are *not* the default. I wish very much for Focusmate to make it easier for international users to participate, whether via Paypal or direct debit. This, however, isn‘t a strike against the team and everything they are trying to achieve. It is more a warning for international users and non-credit-card holders to read the payment options closely. Definitely sign up, if your payment option is available to you. :)