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Focusmate: Watched over while I worked from home

It's 08:00 GMT and I'm sitting silently in my lounge while a stranger watches me via my webcam. I can see them too. In fact, we've both agreed to spend the next 50 minutes spying on each other without saying a word.

We've never met before, but Jasmin - not her real name - and I have something in common: we're both trying to resist the many temptations of working from home and finally get some work done. Our work date has been arranged by Focusmate - a new website that promises to stop you procrastinating by having another human hold you to account, just like your co-workers might in a real office.

Every session starts with you each explaining what you're trying to achieve. Jasmin is working on the next chapter of her book, and I'm catching up on my emails. Everything about the interaction has been designed to make us both feel the pressure to work.

Fifty minutes of quiet tapping later, Jasmin and I say our goodbyes.

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