Roomie Cafe for PhD students
Keep the thesis moving, with your cohort beside you
Roomie Cafe is a free focus timer you share with friends. Start a session on your thesis, see who in your cohort is working right now and note what you got done when the timer ends.
- No webcam
- Nothing to book
- Free, no session limit
How it works
One chapter, one focus area
Give each part of the thesis its own focus area, like Literature review or Chapter 3, and pick a length from 5 to 90 minutes.
Write next to your cohort
See which colleagues are working right now, in your lab or in another time zone. No camera and no meeting link to send around.
Leave a note for tomorrow
Write one line when the timer ends: what you finished and where to pick up. The next session starts faster.
A writing group that outlasts the bootcamp
Many universities run dissertation bootcamps and thesis writing groups, often for a week or a single term. They work while they run. The months in between are where a thesis tends to stall.
On Roomie Cafe your group keeps going. Invite the members into a shared focus area, see each other writing live, add your hours to one running total and set a goal for the week. It makes no difference whether people share a building, a city or a time zone.
A record of slow progress
A thesis takes years, and progress is hard to see from the inside. Every session fills a square on your heat calendar, next to your total time, and each one keeps the line you wrote about it.
On a week when nothing seems to move, scroll back through the months and see how much is already done.
What PhD students get
A focus area per chapter
Track time on each chapter, the literature review and the experiments separately, or all together.
Reading for the literature review
Keep the books you are working through in your library and log pages as you read.
GitHub commits with your sessions
Connect GitHub, and the commits you push for your analysis code travel with the session you share.
A timer beside your draft
On the web, pop the running timer into a small window that stays on top of your document.
Weekly goals
Set a target for the week for one chapter or for the whole thesis, and watch the bar fill.
Focus Shield on iPhone
Block the apps that pull you away while a session runs, and silence their notifications.
Free on the web and on iOS
Everything you need is free, with no limit on sessions, on the web and on iPhone, iPad and Mac. Android is coming. Supporter is an optional subscription for people who want to fund what gets built next.
Questions from PhD students
Is there a free online dissertation writing group?
Roomie Cafe is free with no limit on sessions. Create a shared focus area, invite your fellow PhD students and you have a writing group that meets whenever anyone is writing.
How do I start a thesis writing group?
Ask two or three people from your cohort and invite them into a shared focus area on Roomie Cafe. Agree on a goal for the week, write whenever you can and you will see each other at work.
What is a dissertation bootcamp?
A dissertation bootcamp is a short, intensive writing event, often run by a graduate school, where students write together for several days. A shared focus area keeps that rhythm going after it ends.
Is doing a PhD lonely?
Many doctoral students say so, especially in the writing years after classes and lab work wind down. Working alongside others, even quietly online, is one way people keep company through that stretch.
Which productivity tools help with a PhD?
Most PhD students combine a reference manager, a writing tool and something that protects their writing time. Roomie Cafe covers the last part: a timer, company while you write and a record of every session.
Will anyone see my draft?
No. Others see your name, what you are working on and your timer. Your draft stays in your own tools.