This community has been a blessing in helping to be able to take that step into creating my company and actually implementing it and having an Etsy Shop. This has also given me a place of great support when I have had some really hard family issues happening. If I didn't have this community I'm not sure where I would be because the focus was definitely not there during that time. Thank you ND Hive!
At the moment I don't have any improvements that I can say.
Because I have tried so many others and it never helped it only frustated.
I love the Hive! The community is so supportive, and it really helps me focus and get things done, and remember to celebrate my accomplishments!
Nothing I've noticed so far.
I've tried too many different apps to name but none of them stuck.
@dr_jessica_hicksted Do you think discipline is overemphasized in productivity conversations?
@danielleralstonndhive Absolutely! This is something my research has consistently challenged.
In my work within Industrial Organizational Psychology and Information Systems, I’ve found that “discipline” is often overemphasized because it places responsibility solely on the individual, while ignoring the environment, systems, and supports surrounding them.
From a Neurodiversity perspective, this becomes even more problematic. What is often labeled as a lack of discipline is more accurately a mismatch in areas like Executive Function, cognitive load, or access to psychologically safe and collaborative environments.
The research is clear: productivity is not just an individual trait, it is an interaction between a person and their environment.
When we overfocus on discipline, we risk reinforcing shame-based narratives, especially for neurodivergent individuals who may already be navigating systems that weren’t designed for how they think and work.
What actually drives sustainable productivity is not stricter discipline, it’s better design:
Flexible systems
Supportive accountability
Psychological safety
And environments that reduce friction rather than amplify it
When those are in place, what looks like “discipline” often emerges naturally as engagement.
So the question shifts from “Why aren’t people more disciplined?” to “What conditions are we creating and who are they designed for?” 💛
@dr_jessica_hicksted I think the answer to who they are designed for is... how humans operated when in smaller groups and communities and before technology. Now nothing is designed for how brains actually need to think and process or take action. Even neurotypical's find our hub and support very helpful. Which is why we practice universal design when going into companies to help them increase productivity, employee retention and increase engagement overall in a business.
@danielleralstonndhive @dr_jessica_hicksted Amen, yes, absolutely - to all of this!
@dr_jessica_hicksted @danielleralstonndhive It feels like that's what I have heard most of my life is just buckle down and do it. Or if you put it on a list it will help you get things done. That didn't work for me though and it made me feel like there was something wrong with me that I couldn't do it.
@dr_jessica_hicksted @shayejen That shame spiral is huge... always feeling broken, or dumb or just plain incapable. Instead of compassion and understand we attack ourselves and that causes so much mistrust in ourselves overtime.
@dr_jessica_hicksted @danielleralstonndhive Yes, that shame spiral is what ran me for years in the things I did. I'm so grateful to know I don't have to do it that anymore.
@dr_jessica_hicksted @danielleralstonndhive @shayejen Shame is an energy stealer... and we need all of the energy we can get because it fluctuates so frequently!
I'm in and looking around and I like it. Tell me more about the Ta-Da list.
@jamie_damico Tada is taking the time to acknowledge even the smallest wins or tasks being done. Even if it was just a 1 minute task. When we take the time to celebrate our success we re-wire brain pathways that helps with dopamine uptake and also motivation.
@jamie_damico @danielleralstonndhive I love the ta-da list!!
@jamie_damico @danielleralstonndhive I love this! I get stressed making all the To-Do lists and seeing the things I didn't get done. But having a Ta-Da list sounds so much more fun!
@jamie_damico @shayejen This was something one of my clients Way back when mentioned and I stole it (she knows and I attribute it to her every chance I get). It is so important to celebrate everything.
One of the things we’re most focused on right now is what happens after someone signs up, because that’s where most productivity tools fall apart.
So instead of just adding features, we’re designing around behavior:
→ making it easier to start (less friction between “I should” and actually doing it)
→ reinforcing small wins (automatically sharing Ta-Da moments with the community)
→ increasing real-time presence (so people don’t feel like they’re working alone)
→ and supporting different energy levels (Good, Better, Best days built into the experience)
We’re also layering in things like lightweight rewards, micro-trainings (1–3 minutes, very specific), and better search so people can find help in the exact moment they need it.
The goal isn’t to build a more complex productivity tool.
It’s to create an environment where people actually follow through, especially on the days when it’s hardest to start.
Curious how others here think about this:
What’s the moment where most products lose you; sign up, starting, or sticking with it?
@danielleralstonndhive in the past sticking with it!
What sets you apart from the other productivity apps?
@allison_steinke1 We took at look at where users fall off.. and then went about providing the things to create longer app usage. Which was human interaction. But these apps that do exist are all amazing but they work for the brain that is the same every day. So we again took at look at where the gaps are again and filled those in. Here we are now... Productivity that takes into account capacity and emotions and how that affects their nervous system which affects your executive function each day. So we designed an app that works with that day to day variation add in the human connection and community piece and here we are.
@allison_steinke1 That confidence came from both research and what I was consistently seeing in real-world behavior.
In my work within Industrial Organizational Psychology, we know that performance is heavily influenced by social context, things like accountability, visibility, and shared presence. Even the concept of Social Facilitation shows that people tend to initiate and sustain effort more effectively when others are present.
When you layer that with research in Neurodiversity, especially around Executive Function, it becomes even clearer. Many neurodivergent individuals don’t struggle with knowing what to do, they struggle with starting and maintaining momentum in isolation.
Body doubling works because it reduces that activation barrier.
What gave us confidence it could scale online was recognizing that the mechanism isn’t physical proximity, it’s shared intentional presence. You don’t need to be in the same room to feel accountability, connection, or that subtle “we’re doing this together” energy.
And we’ve already seen this at smaller scales, people hopping on video calls, co-working sessions, even silent work rooms, and experiencing dramatic improvements in follow-through.
ND Hive takes that principle and builds structure around it:
Making it accessible on demand
Embedding it within a psychologically safe community
Allowing people to ask for the level of accountability they need
So the confidence wasn’t just a guess, it was a convergence of established research and a pattern we were already seeing work.
We didn’t invent body doubling, we made it scalable, intentional, and designed for the people who need it most 💛
You aren't just an app you are coaching and community and so many things by the look of it. How much does that cost a user? You can't be in the same realm as other apps.
@art_ralston Yes we have 10+ hours of body doubling and 10+ hours of coaching 5 days a week. We have been very focused on offering affordable care. Our Monthly subscription is $39.99 a month or a lifetime user deal for a one time cost of $250 (which is a little over 6-months of our subscription). We do this because the Neurodivergent community as a whole has been treated horribly by the app world and taken advantage of.
What kinds of things do people usually work on inside the Hive?
@shayejen EVERYTHING and I do mean everything. Some people use us to keep the on track when they are at their day job all day long as an accommodation. Others just for personal thing when they are home in the evening... build legos, fold laundry, clean their homes, make doctors appoints, eat lunch Run their businesses.
@shayejen For me everything! Work, housework, training, my business, sometimes I even just relax and crochet or read because being on body double regulate me and I calm down enough to be able to sit and do those relaxing things.
What was the first body doubling session like when you were testing the idea?
@rebekah_bingell It was chaos... as expected no one fully understood what body doubling was at first. By 10 minutes in we were all getting things done and being successful. I still see that with new users they aren't sure how it will help and are pretty sure it wont... Bet story so far is a user who came in at our subscription monthly level and after checking out to see what we did in 2 hours she moved to our lifetime deal because the body doubling piece was a huge change in her productivity.
@danielleralstonndhive That's amazing!!!
I love that your business has grown and your family even notices how much the combination of productivity and human regulation helps!