Having that human connection seems to be a big thing for me for getting work done. Though services like Boss as a Service are also appealing.
For now I’m looking for either drop in or scheduled coworking video services. The one I’m keen on is FocusMate. They give 3 free sessions a week then $5 USD/mo.
Anyone try that one or have favorites they enjoy?
I have used FocusMate for a while and it worked well for me. I stopped, mostly because I went back to working from the office, and I felt awkward doing FocusMate sessions with my colleagues hearing me. I probably should work through that at some point.
A couple of Beeminder users enjoy FocusMate and I think there will be an automatic integration at some point. Here is a thread about FocusMate in this forum:
I have the same challenge at home when it’s not just me. I notice that some people on focusmate put 
in their name and only use the chat to share their focus tasks. Maybe they’re also usually in a shared office!
Focusmate dev here, jumping in to say that yes, the Focusmate/Beeminder integration is well on its way and will be ready to roll soon!
Focus mate is wonderful and well worth the monthly cost. ROI is very high for me. I’m just a happy user of the platform.
The vast majority of people do a short intro, then mute while working, then short recap. There’s a chat box you can use if you cannot talk. Chat is also useful for writing out your commitment and marking things done.
The 
usually means they like both to be silent during the main session, as opposed to people who like to work with a little background noise. The generally accepted default is muted during main session.
It would not be a problem if you wanted to do chat only, along with the video, imo. You can also put that preference in your profile.
I’m a FocusMate user too. If you’d like to try something with more people in the chat, there’s also Cave Day. It wasn’t my cup of tea (I wanted a little less interactivity) but you might want to try it to see if its higher-energy sessions work for you and then settle on the one (or the combo) that you like best!
For UK timings, there is a new similar thing called Flown (www.flown.com) - like FocusMate but in a group. It’s my favourite thing - it’s well facilitated, structured breaks, nice people. Highly recommend.
Nice thread! I wasn’t actively aware these services exist. Will try out a Focusmate session this weekend (@davidaugustus, looming Beeminder integration made me try Focusmate first). Thanks! 
Another Focusmate user here; I considered Caveday but found it a bit… much. The thing I particularly like about FocusMate is kind of a hidden feature – you have a special link that you can give people that lets them specifically book sessions with you (basically sign up for the sessions you’ve already signed up for), and I’ve exchanged those links with a few people I’ve enjoyed coworking with, and now I have a nice little set of known people where we already know each other’s projects/etc.
Which link exactly is it?
It’s a little hard to find your focusmate booking link, because it’s not just your normal focusmate user link.
Unintuitively, it’s hidden in plain sight: click on the ‘invite’ paper airplane in the upper right of your focusmate screen. That’s not [just] to invite new users to the service as you might expect, but [also] to invite existing users to book a focus session with you.
Using the personal invite link to book sessions with a friend | Focusmate Help Center
Edit: it’s both!
@davidaugustus thanks for working on FocusMate! I’m loving it and am happily paying.
I’ve not been scheduling ahead of time, just booking a session immediately before I start working. I mute myself and ask my partner to mute as well. For my own background noise I pump in fake cafe noise into my headphones.
Small correction - it actually is meant as a way to invite new users onto the platform, but can also be used to book directly with people you know and trust! If you send the link to someone without an account, they’ll be directed to a page that explains the gist of the platform and invites them to create an account to book with you.
Glad you like it! I’ve been a happy user myself for I think 3 years now and only started working with the platform a few months ago.
Yeah, it’s really surprisingly hard to find! I had to have someone else I partnered with point me to it, otherwise I’d never have clicked on it (I also assumed it was some kind of referral link). In fact, I just went looking for it to respond to this thread and spent about 30 seconds going around the page trying to find it again…
Workfrom Virtual Spaces is another option. It gives you the option to host your own “virtual cafe” or to join others. It’s great if you want to be able to drop in and out, and just feel like you are with other people.