Focusmate - Virtual coworking for getting anything done

Focusmate has honestly been life changing for me. I have been using is very regularly since the beginning of the year and after playing around with a few things I now know how to use it to best benefit me. The new feature of being able to see all your favorite mates’ availability has been a huge win for me. One suggestion from me is that it would be nice if there was a way that I could put that I’m doing something not seated for a particular session and it would match me with people who are okay with that. I do a mixture and I honestly don’t care what my mate is doing as long as we meet at the beginning and end and focus, but I know some are more particular. I have some favorites who are in similar situations to me so I know I’m safe with them, but if a cancellation happens or I’m doing a session with someone random I always feel a little nervous when I know I really need the session to do food prep, housework, etc. Thanks for developing this life changing service and your continued support working to make it better!

I would love there to be some kind of visible text box (in addition to chat) that each user states their goals in. The text box would be viewable the whole session, and would be separate from chat. I think this would help a lot to encourage people to state their goals clearly and measurably each session!

Very excited about the new features in progress! I saw someone's review included a request for GCal events to be more customizable and I wanted to second that request. (in Focusmate, we can type a little label on the session about what we plan to do, but although the calendar sync works nicely, it only imports the label "Focusmate session" in Gcal, which isn't as useful when you use Focusmate all day!) It's awkward to try to timeblock in the calendar with Focusmate events on top of blocks for particular work tasks. And it would be great to be able to make the time blocks in one step while I'm scheduling sessions for the week and have it sync to the calendar (instead of using a different app to create calendar events for the timeblock details.) But if that never changes, it's cool -- the service rules and the subscription is a real bargain. Happy to work around any calendar shortcomings as long as I need to!!

I love Focusmate and it has been making a huge difference in my ability to get work done. I have a story that relates to a suggestion that would make a big impact for myself and others: One day while using Focusmate, I was paired with a someone who was using external software to composite a blurred screen-share inside of his webcam feed. It seemed to me like the perfect casual accountability option. You get privacy of what you are working on, but the general vibe is visible so people can tell if you are visiting distractions. Additionally, the fact that it was composited in the webcam feed meant that: 1. Both he and his screen could be seen in one view, 2. It seamlessly worked with the picture-in-picture feature which is critical for working with lots of windows, and 3. The blur was baked into the feed, so there is no way someone could hack and disable the blur to read private information. I was disappointed when I found out this was something he had rigged up, and it wasn't part of the product. I think adding this feature would lead to screen-sharing being more accessible to most users as accountability without giving up privacy and without drawing attention away from your main video feed. Thank you for your work on Focusmate and I look forward to more helpful features that make a big difference every day.

I have introduced at least 5 people to the platform who cannot believe how productive this app is! I am currently on the free version but honestly I believe in it so much and just don't require it more than 3 times a week. I really like that you're adding to the features for the users but IMO it works so I wouldn't complicate it too much.

I'm obsessed with Focusmate and recommend it to my team at work - we are all remote.

Focusmate has been a life saver for me. I've been on FM since July 2018 (coming up on my 5 year anniversary soon!) and have completed 3600+ sessions. Some of the folks I cowork with have become good friends, and one has become a close friend (she & I will soon reach 1000 sessions together). Before finding Focusmate, I had even tried Ritalin and Adderall -- but Focusmate is what finally worked for me. Thanks to FM, I was able to finish my dissertation and complete my PhD in 2019. Back then, I was using it for school -- now I use it for work. I simply can't get things done any other way. I also love all the new features that have been rolled out recently, such as the 25-min option, the snooze option, being able to keep a list of favorite folks to work with, and being able to see when my favorites are available. (I call them my FM buddies.) Thank you Taylor and team for this gift. Please keep doing what you're doing!! ♥ 🙏

I love FocusMate! It has been wonderful for me and as a psychiatrist I have recommended it to countless patients and it has been a game-changer for a lot of them as well. Looking down below a couple of things that I agree with: (1) Pronouns displayed with name. (2) Love the idea of matching based on mic on/off preference.

I wouldn’t be where I am today without FocusMate. I only wish I had found it sooner! I’m planning on having a few sessions today even to get through some work. I’ve also used it to motivate myself to clean the house. I’ve really appreciated the updates you’ve made so far and look forward to the ones you’ve got coming up! Best $5 I spend every month!

Focusmate is a game-changer for someone like me who struggles with focusing at work. I've found it especially helpful for those nagging tasks that I don't want to do, but know I need to do. I'll schedule a session dedicated to it and often find it was far easier than anticipated. Still, I got it done thanks to Focusmate. I'm loving the 75 minute sessions and have met a few friendly faces that I work with frequently. I recommend it to anyone who works remotely, but it can be great for those who work in an office as well.