Something I'm trying this Sunday
A women's coworking hang in Soho, why body-doubling actually works, and an IRL AI session coming up, too!
Hi friends,
I’m hosting a small women’s coworking hang this Sunday, May 17, in Soho, 3 to 5pm. Just a few of us in a coffee shop, working on the things we’re building.
Maybe it's the newsletter you've been meaning to send, or the Claude Code-built side project you swear you'll finish but keep getting a little stuck on. Maybe it's the invoices that have been sitting there, the application you keep almost starting, baby shower planning that somehow takes more energy than your actual job, or the document that's been open in a tab for three weeks…
If you’re in NYC and free for a couple hours Sunday, the link is here. Come hang and maybe meet a cool, kind new friend or two.
If you can’t make it this time, or you live somewhere else entirely, fill out the interest form and I’ll keep you in the loop on what’s coming next for IRL coworking hangs and virtual ones, too!
Why I’m doing this in the first place
I have been thinking a lot about how lonely the work of building something can feel. The side project, the freelance gig, the newsletter, the business you’re nursing into existence on Sundays and weekday mornings. Most of us are doing it in stolen hours, alone, between everything else.
There is real science behind why working alongside someone helps, even when no one is talking. It’s called body doubling and you can read more about it here (the Cleveland Clinic has a nice piece). But the short version is that having another person in the room, even on a screen, makes the thing easier to start and harder to abandon.
A few things I’ve come back to lately while reading about it.
Starting is the hardest part. When someone else is starting too, you start. When they keep going, you keep going. The work that takes hours alone takes one focused session in a group.
Saying it out loud counts. A Dominican University study found that people who sent regular progress reports to a peer were twice as likely to accomplish their goals. Naming what you’re working on, even casually, even to one person, changes the math.
Most of us are missing a room. Most women building creative work do it in stolen hours, alone. Sunday coworking, on a couch with a laptop and a vague feeling of guilt. A session with other women is a stand-in for the room you don’t have.
That’s the whole thesis behind this. Less hustle, more company.
What’s coming next
I’ll host more coworking sessions, both IRL and virtual, the interest form is here!
Aparna Chopra and I will also be hosting an AI workshop for women in AI in NYC. More details and link to the interest form here.
More soon! Excited to connect, learn, and get some work done together.
xo,
Carley