A body double that sits in the corner.
Say the plan out loud. Then start.

What body doubling is

Body doubling means doing a task with another person present. They do not help with the task; they are just there, in the room or on a video call. Many people, especially people with ADHD, find that someone else’s presence makes it easier to start a task and harder to drift away from it. Online focus rooms and co-working calls are built on the same idea.

Facelet is not a person, and it is not a treatment for anything. But it gives you something a to-do app cannot: a face in the corner of your screen that you tell your plan to, out loud, and that is still there when you look up. Saying “I’m doing the invoice first” to someone is a small commitment. For a lot of people, small commitments are what get them started.

Why Float works for this

Float turns the Facelet window into a small tile that stays on top of your other apps, in the corner you choose. The character breathes, blinks and glances around quietly while you work, and answers when you talk to it. You can hold the talk button on the tile, or hold your push-to-talk key from any app, so checking in takes two seconds and no window switching.

A work session, start to finish

1. Float the character. Press ⌘⇧F, then drag the tile to a corner or right-click it and choose Move to Corner.
2. Say the plan. Three tasks, out loud, with the first one small enough to start now.
3. Start, and leave it quiet. The character stays in the corner. Nobody talks until you do.
4. Check in when something changes. “Done with the first one.” “I’m stuck.” “I’ve opened Twitter again.” It knows the plan you gave it and can tell you what is next.
5. Talk through what is stuck. Explaining a problem out loud to someone who asks questions is often enough to find the answer yourself.
6. Close the session. Ask what you got done. It remembers everything you said in this conversation.

Rubber-duck debugging, with questions

Programmers have long explained broken code, line by line, to a rubber duck on their desk, because saying it out loud exposes the bug. Facelet is a duck that asks questions back. Describe what the function should do, then what it actually does, and let it probe the gap. It cannot see your code editor, so read the relevant lines out loud; that is where the bug usually shows up anyway.

Things to say

• “I’m going to work for the next hour. Here are my three tasks. Hold me to the first one.”
• “The first one is replying to Sam’s email. I’ll tell you when it’s sent.”
• “Done. What’s next on my list?”
• “I keep avoiding the report. Help me find a first step that takes five minutes.”
• “I’m stuck. Let me explain what this function is supposed to do, and you ask me questions.”
• “Before I stop, what did I finish today?”

How to set it up

• Push to talk, not always listening. When you work with music or calls, choose push to talk and pick a key you can hold without looking, such as Right Option. It hears you only while the key is down. To use the key while another app is in front, click Allow the shortcut in other apps once, in the same settings.
• Put it on a second display if you have one. Present, but out of your main line of sight.
• Choose a calm character and voice. Some people like a warm voice; others want someone brisk. Each face remembers its voice.

What it won’t do

• It does not interrupt you on a timer or nag. It speaks when you speak to it.
• It does not watch your screen. Facelet never captures your display; it knows only what you tell it. The experimental computer use can read the front window of a few supported apps, such as Notes and Pages, after you approve each request.
• It forgets the plan if the conversation ends. If you disconnect or your Mac sleeps, tell it the plan again.
• It is not a treatment for ADHD or any other condition, and it does not replace one.