Pandemic has been hard for everyone in various ways. Some people with ADHD have been really struggling with focus while working from home. When the physical environment stays the same, and there is no clear boundary between working space and living space, day after day, for nearly a year, the struggle to concentrate becomes quite real.
I recently learned of an app that may be helpful – FocusMate. It allows two people to work in parallel in their own spaces and see each other via video, without talking to each other, for a few hours per week. The idea is to mimic a work environment in a shared professional space, where you may not know anybody, but everyone is busy with their specific tasks, working in parallel. The app allows a form of accountability that may help with external motivation.
One blog entry on FocusMate site states: “Focusmate is a simple and effective web app that pairs you with an accountability partner. The partner is a real person – someone who, like you, needs the presence of an extra person in order to get stuff done. You check in at the beginning (yes, you’re on camera, that’s really important), tell each other what you’re planning to do, then check back in at the end to see if you really did do it.”
I offer ADHD Counseling to adults in my practice, where we have the opportunity to examine the deep reasons for procrastinating or struggling to focus, and address parts of us that have unmet needs and need to be validated, witnessed and cared for.