When you hear the term “body doubling,” you may think of somebody doing a task for you, resembling a body double doing stunts for an actor, however it's actually about using the presence of one other person to concentrate on your task.
While the technology has been used for years to assist individuals with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, financial experts say that individuals outside the ADHD Community People who’re coping with body doubles can also find handling money matters helpful, especially in the event that they find it difficult to start or have trouble staying focused.
You could dial right into a video conference with strangers when you review your budget on your individual, or you could possibly sit together with your partner when you pay bills or organize receipts.
“The social presence of someone completing a task with you makes you feel like you're not alone and helps you get the task done,” says Dave DeWitt, an authorized financial planner who makes a speciality of serving clients with ADHD. “It helps you feel supported,” he adds, especially if you're working on something that will be overwhelming, like financial tasks.
“I use it all the time,” says Vanessa Dean, a financial counselor who makes a speciality of helping clients with ADHD and who has ADHD herself. “It gives me something else to focus on and keeps me accountable.” She adds that she often sits as a double along with her clients over Zoom as they organize their funds and budget.
If you would like to try body doubling, financial experts recommend following these guidelines:
Select a selected task you would like to tackle
“The tasks that I find tedious or boring are the ones that I need a body double for,” says Ellyce Fulmore, financial educator and creator of Keeping Finance Personal. She has incorporated the concept into her financial coaching program by encouraging body doubles at the top of group meetings. Participants work concurrently on specific financial tasks, resembling adding expenses to a budgetFile tax returns or log into bank accounts with the camera on or off.
“Double-body can help with motivation,” Fulmore explains. “It can create a sense of pressure and also help regulate your nervous system,” especially if the opposite people aren't stressed or avoiding the duty, which may have a relaxing effect, she adds.
Christine Hargrove, a researcher and physician who makes a speciality of financial therapy and ADHD treatment in Athens, Georgia, says her clients have found body doubling helpful when filling out financial aid forms just like the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. “The emotional availability, the physical presence, a little background noise — it helps them get in the zone where they can do it,” she says, even when it only works within the presence of a roommate.
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Find the tactic that works best for you
Body doubling can take different forms, Hargrove says. Some people may prefer a silent partner who does a distinct task, like folding laundry, while others may prefer a bunch situation with people focused on the identical thing.
An easy technique to try body doubling is to ask a friend to hitch you on a video call where you each do tasks side by side with no interaction, Hargrove adds. “Just make sure you're both doing it and not chatting,” she says.
Fulmore says she prefers body doubling with a friend or in a restaurant to a bunch of strangers on a video call. “As you try different things, you get a better feel for what works well for you,” she says. “If you know you'll need to concentrate in complete silence, you may not want to do body doubling with someone who's talkative.”
Set deadlines and provides yourself breaks
Taking breaks can also be vital when body doubling, says DeWitt. He suggests working for 25 minutes after which taking a 10-minute breather. “This gives you time to relax and see how much you've accomplished and how much you still have to do,” he adds.
Many of the paid body doubling apps that organize group video calls, resembling Flow Club, Focused Space or BodyDoubling.com, recommend deadlines and breaks, says DeWitt.
Keep your financial information private
Body duplication doesn’t mean sacrifice Privacy or security with regards to your funds, Fulmore says. She advises not doing work on tax returns in public, logging into financial accounts over public Wi-Fi, or sharing your screen while posing as a body double if doing so would reveal personal financial information.
As long as you follow these basic privacy guidelines, body doubling could be a secure and effective technique to handle financial matters, she adds. “It's about knowing how your brain works and finding a technique that fits that.”
Kimberly Palmer writes for NerdWallet. Email: kpalmer@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @kimberlypalmer.
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