Your First Hive Session Setup

You are not Broken. You are wired differently.
Take what helps, skip what doesn’t, and remember you don’t have to do this alone.

Save it to your computer. Print it. Write on it. It’s yours.

🐝 Your First Hive Session Setup

A worksheet from ND Hive. Companion to “What is Body Doubling?”

What this is

A Hive Session is live, low-pressure, no-performance body doubling with other neurodivergent adults. People show up to do their own work alongside each other. There is no accountability theater. There is no sharing if you don’t want to.

This worksheet preps you for your first Hive Session so the act of joining doesn’t itself trigger PDA, social anxiety, or “I’m not ready yet” spiraling. It takes 8 to 10 minutes. Fill it out before the session.

What actually happens in a Hive Session

  1. You arrive on the call. Mic and camera are your call.
  2. Someone briefly opens the session. Welcome, framing, no pressure to introduce yourself.
  3. You do your own work. Other people do theirs. Visible presence, separate tasks.
  4. Optional check-in moments. Often quick “what are you working on” rounds. Skipping is fine.
  5. You log off when you’re done. No formal goodbye required.

The whole thing is designed to feel like a coffee shop with people you know. Not a meeting. Not a class.

Part 1: Pre-session prep

Pick your task

What is the ONE thing you want to actually do during the session?

Be specific. “Work on emails” is too vague. “Send the follow-up to Sarah from Tuesday” is right.

___________________________________________

How long do you THINK it’ll take?

___________________________________________

Pick your fallback

What’s an easier task you can pivot to if your brain refuses the first one?

___________________________________________

Pick your “I’m spiraling” task

If you can’t focus on anything productive, what’s a low-effort thing you can do that still counts as showing up? (Folding laundry, drinking water, deleting old emails, writing one sentence in your journal.)

___________________________________________

Part 2: Set up the environment

  • ☐ Water near my workspace
  • ☐ Snack accessible if I get hungry
  • ☐ Phone face-down, on silent (or in another room if I tend to spiral)
  • ☐ Tab/app I need is already open
  • ☐ Comfortable temperature
  • ☐ Ambient noise plan (music? silence? noise-canceling?)
  • ☐ Bathroom break done
  • ☐ Lighting feels okay

This isn’t fussy. This is removing 8 micro-decisions from the moment your brain is most likely to bail.

Part 3: Your “first session” rules

You can break any of these next time. For your first session, try them.

  • ☐ Camera optional. No pressure to show your face.
  • ☐ Mic muted unless someone explicitly invites you to speak.
  • ☐ You don’t have to introduce yourself.
  • ☐ You can leave without saying goodbye. Logging off is fine.
  • ☐ Skipping check-ins is fine.
  • ☐ You can stay the whole time and accomplish nothing measurable. Showing up IS the work.

Part 4: After the session

Take 60 seconds when you log off.

How did you feel during the session compared to working alone? (Circle.)

Worse · Same · Slightly better · Noticeably better · Much better

What did you actually do during the session?

___________________________________________

What surprised you?

___________________________________________

Did anything cause friction (the platform, a moment, the format)?

___________________________________________

Part 5: Build the rhythm

If the session helped at all, lock in the next one before the dopamine fades.

I’m coming back on:

Day: ___________ Time: ___________

I’m bringing:

___________________________________________

Reminder

The hardest Hive Session is the first one. Your brain will tell you it’s not the right time, you’re not ready, you should clean up first, you should wait until you have something specific to work on.

None of that is true. The right time is the next session. You don’t need to be ready. You don’t need to have something to work on. You just need to log on.

Your nervous system will know the difference within 10 minutes.

Start your free 7-day trial →

Back to “What is Body Doubling?” →

A worksheet from ND Hive. Built for people who have been almost-ready for a long time.

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