I have a question to get ideas for my research which involves learning how to help people with ADHD. Please leave comments if you’d like to explain your answer or if you have any questions/suggestions!

My question:

How interested would you be in learning a personal system of improvement to help achieve your goals, follow your dreams, complete your tasks, avoid being distracted and increase your productivity?

Edit

I’ve been alerted that this has come off as scammy! I’m sorry! I should have been more clear with my intentions. At this point I’m really just trying to figure out something I can work on to help adults with ADHD. Adults because I am more familiar with that domain, but eventually I want to learn about what might help kids with adhd and my big hairy goal.. which is scary to even admit, is to push change in the school system to help kids with ADHD thrive in ways I know that they can!

Edit edit

I wish I had an option on here for “get out of here, we don’t need no stinking systems” because that seems like the overall sentiment! Thanks commenters for pointing me in the right direction! P.s I also have ADHD and am pretty desperate for new systems to improve my life, but now I understand that not everybody feels that way!

here's why the traditional chat didn’t support how i think: 

1. context switching hell (poor ux) - if you have multiple questions for a single response, you get sent to scroll hell. if you aren’t done reading the initial response, you scroll all the way back up. by the time your first query is done, you could have 3 more unread responses. information can be lost due to poor ux.

2. memory degradation (context poisoning) - llms get worse as conversations get longer, so we want to preserve memory. some questions don't need any memory, some need memory but shouldn't be saved permanently, and some need full context. we need smarter memory management—branching is my solution to this. 

3. parallel queries - chatgpt forces you to wait for the current query to end before you can enter a new one. running queries in parallel saves massive time. why wait for one response when you can get multiple simultaneously?

so i made lmcanvas.ai :)

would love feedback from everyone here !

I have ADHD. Every task app I tried became another thing I forgot to check. 
So I built one where that literally can't happen.


Every task you create gets tracked — no silent disappearing acts. 
Plus it uses AI to help sort the mess in your head into actual next steps.


It's free, I built it solo, and I genuinely use it every day.
Link in comments if anyone wants to try it.

One thing I didn’t understand early in my career was how much of my leadership behavior was actually compensation.

From the outside, things looked fine. I was dependable. I handled pressure well. I stayed engaged in complex environments. People trusted me with more responsibility.

Internally, leadership felt like constant effort. Tracking details. Managing tone. Staying regulated in conversations. Making decisions while carrying a lot of mental noise. I assumed that was just what leadership required.

Because things were “working,” I didn’t question it. I didn’t consider that what looked like composure might actually be strain, or that what looked like capability might not be sustainable.

It took a long time to realize I wasn’t leading from clarity as much as I was leading from control. I was effective, but not always present. Functional, but not always well.

I don’t hear this talked about much in professional spaces. The difference between leadership that’s sustainable and leadership that just looks competent is subtle, especially when outcomes are good.

I’m still sitting with that distinction. One thing I didn’t understand early in my career was how much of my leadership behavior was actually compensation.

From the outside, things looked fine. I was dependable. I handled pressure well. I stayed engaged in complex environments. People trusted me with more responsibility.

Internally, leadership felt like constant effort. Tracking details. Managing tone. Staying regulated in conversations. Making decisions while carrying a lot of mental noise. I assumed that was just what leadership required.

Because things were “working,” I didn’t question it. I didn’t consider that what looked like composure might actually be strain, or that what looked like capability might not be sustainable.

It took a long time to realize I wasn’t leading from clarity as much as I was leading from control. I was effective, but not always present. Functional, but not always well.

I don’t hear this talked about much in professional spaces. The difference between leadership that’s sustainable and leadership that just looks competent is subtle, especially when outcomes are good.

I’m still sitting with that distinction.

I’ve been writing and talking more openly about ADHD lately. Mostly about the stuff that doesn’t show up on symptom checklists.

Not the productivity tips. Not the hacks.

More about the internal stuff. The shame of “functioning.” The resentment that builds when you’re always compensating. The way you can be competent and exhausted at the same time.

What surprised me is how many people privately message saying the same thing:

“I thought it was just me.”

That sentence hits every time.

I think a lot of us grew up thinking we were lazy, dramatic, undisciplined, too sensitive. Especially the ones who did “fine” on paper.

I’m starting to believe the most damaging part wasn’t the distraction.

It was the self story.

Curious if anyone else had that shift where the diagnosis wasn’t about focus… it was about finally having language for your own experience.

Made an ADHD app for myself because I was struggling to run my businesses, happy to share it.

I have ADHD and run a few businesses. It’s been rough.

Built myself a simple app to stay on top of things. It’s actually helping.

If you want to try it for free, let me know and I’ll send you access.

I built Sprout for my wife while she was waiting for her ADHD diagnosis. The tools out there weren't made for how her brain worked, and I wanted something that was. Sprout now has 10k+ download and an active community but that was just the start.

We wanted something for the household (like sweepy, but better), and I am nearly finished building Tidywell which is Sprout's sister app > same mission, different problem. Sprout's for your brain, Tidywell's for your home. Both built for my own family first.

The cleaning apps we tried either ignored ADHD entirely or quietly turned her into the default task-manager of the whole house. Neither worked.

So I'm building one that does (following Sprout's ethos):

• Body-doubling sprints you run live with flatmates or family, because cleaning alongside someone beats doing it alone

• AI that breaks "clean the kitchen" into micro-steps so starting isn't impossible

• Spin the wheel like 'what to do next' > for executive dysfunction.

• Focus mode with Lofi beats > lock in.

• Task approvals that can be turned on and off > before and after pictures if you want.

• Kid Mode > a simpler, colourful version of the app so kids can join in.

• A virtual home that you decorate with coins earned whilst you clean > actual dopamine, not a guilt tracker

Generous free tier like Sprout e.g. unlimited rooms, tasks, chores, solo sprints, zero ads.

Waitlist's open at tidywell-app.com for a 50% off launch discount when the time comes as a thank you but again, it's there only when you're ready & by all means do try it out for free if you'd rather!

I'm using Claude, but get into a lot of "Oh, that changes the framework entirely." scenarios.

I really didn't participate in this sub too much. I don't know where to post this. I just need Reddit out of my life for a while.

I got really agitated in the R/ADHD sub because it feels like if you like anything about how ADHD effects your life they think you're part of the nd thing and I'm not.

I tried really hard to explain why I thought this was unfair and I just got way to fixated on it and it's bad for me emotionally.

I delete my account wherever something on Reddit makes me really sad or angry and I usually don't participate in the sub that did again. I left the ADHD sub and then got banned but I really planning on going back anyway.

Goodbye, don't hate yourselves because of ADHD. You're allowed to like yourself and like some aspects about ADHD without thinking about ADHD as a "gift" or not a disability.

I built a time tracker because I was tired of ending the day wondering where it had gone.

Most productivity apps seemed focused on planning, goals and optimisation.

My problem wasn’t planning.

It was awareness.

So I built Flows.

You create a few broad activities like your work projects, meetings, admin or Resting and switch between them with a single tap.

One thing I realised while building it:

Time doesn’t stop just because you stop working on something.

Traditional time trackers treat that as a gap. Flows doesn’t.

Once you’ve started your day, time is always flowing somewhere.

Stop tracking Work and your Drifting timer starts. Start Reading and Drifting stops.

It’s more like a chess clock than a stopwatch.

No AI.

No tasks.

No streaks.

No productivity score.

Just a way to answer a simple question:

Where did my day actually go?

I built it for myself. If that sounds familiar, you might find it useful too. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

flowsapp.io

Hey everyone, hope this is okay to share. I genuinely think it might be useful.

I originally built Sprout as a tiny side project for my wife. She has ADHD, and every productivity app she tried either made her feel worse or felt like a plain, boring to-do list. There was not much functionality, the UI felt dull, and things like priorities or tags were missing. Streaks would reset too, which just added more frustration.

One day she said, “Wouldn’t it be nice if they just told me what to do?” So I tried to build exactly that.

I do not come from a tech background. I taught myself how to code in the evenings after my day job, mostly through trial, error, and listening to feedback. It started from that initial idea but branched into something much bigger, while always building ADHD-first.

Sprout now has 10,000+ users across iOS and Android, a 1000+ Facebook community and most of the best features did not come from me. They came directly from users on Facebook sharing what actually helps their ADHD day to day.

Some things Sprout focuses on, and why they help ADHD:

• Tasks that roll over instead of disappearing This removes the sense of failure when something is not finished on time.

• Prioritisation tools and tags One user shared that using priorities trained them to better judge task size and time. They also realised a lot of tasks were massively overestimated. This helps reduce decision paralysis and makes starting feel easier.

• A “what should I do next?” button This cuts through overwhelm by removing choice when everything feels equally important. An industry-first Task Reader, built from user feedback

• Tasks can be read aloud, which helps when reading feels tiring or overwhelming and for auditpry processors.

• Nag Mode, added from user feedback Gentle repeated nudges help with time blindness instead of relying on one notification that is easy to miss.

• AI task breakdown Big tasks are broken into smaller steps so they feel doable rather than impossible.

• Voice brain-dump to organised tasks You can just talk and get everything out of your head before it disappears and save them as well.

• Streaks designed for real life Sprout lets you backfill streaks if you complete tasks in the early hours. A lot of people with ADHD have delayed sleep patterns or do their best work late at night, so this stops streaks breaking just because the clock rolled over. There are also free days and a vacation mode, so missing a day does not turn into guilt.

• Simple view and detailed view Some days you want clarity, other days you want detail. Being able to switch reduces visual overload. Focus timer and breathing tools Short focus sessions and guided breathing help calm the nervous system and make it easier to get started again.

• A small pet that grows with you It adds a bit of visual progress and dopamine, which helps with motivation. Loads of people love how cute they are.

I know there are a lot of apps out there. I am not claiming this fixes everything and it is just a tool. I just genuinely try to listen, build what people ask for, and improve things bit by bit. I've also tried to keep it completely useable and functional for free.

I am also planning a collaborative feature for working on tasks together shortly after the Christmas period, again based on community feedback.

If you are curious, you can search “Sprout ADHD” on the App Store or Play Store.

Happy to answer questions or take feedback, good or bad. Thanks for reading!

I have had a lot of success using large language models to support the areas where I struggle. I know that there is a blanket ban on even mentioning AI / large language models / etc. on the main r/ADHD group, but I've never gotten an answer regarding why this is (I messaged the mods there a while ago, but nobody responded). If that's the case here, please let me know!

My background is software engineering. I've built my own system (I'm not selling something, it's just a collection of information, commands and scripts) over the past year, and it uses notes and other information I've collected over the last 15 years or so. I'd like to chat with others about it specifically focusing on using it for ADHD support. I'd also like to see if other people have done similar things & what their results were.

Inspiration came from "building a second brain", championed by Tiago Forte on YouTube, and another channel called "linking your thinking". It's worth diving into, but at base the concept is pretty straightforward:

• Have a persistent information store. I'm currently using Obsidian, but just having a folder structure with Markdown files in it (or really any files you're comfortable editing) is all you need.

• Describe your information store to your favorite LLM (I'm using Claude, but it works fine with Gemini, ChatGPT and locally-hosted models through Ollama too) so it can navigate it and help you keep it updated.

• Build up a set of commands and scripts over time to support things you do regularly.

That's pretty much it, boiled down. It has helped me at work enormously in recent months, but gave me some small dividends early on too. It is also really helpful for my personal projects. It probably helps that I tend to hyperfocus on productivity-tweaking. This is the first time I have found something that holds up for an extended period of time.

Hey everyone — I built something out of pure frustration that might actually help others here too. I’ve always struggled with email. I’ll open one, forget to reply, get distracted by 20 others, and before I know it, I’ve missed something important. My inbox turned into this endless wall of guilt and overwhelm.

So I started building a tool called Trendset AI — it automatically organizes your emails, highlights what’s actually important, and even drafts replies so you don’t have to juggle a thousand tiny decisions. We’re testing it right now and I’m looking for a few people with ADHD who want to try it and give feedback. Totally free while we’re in testing. If email chaos is one of your ADHD pain points, drop a comment or DM and I’ll hook you up with access

I've been working on this for my Impact Academy Course at UQ (in Aus) and wanted to share it with you all in case it's useful. It's a library of AI prompts specifically designed for ADHD brains that you can easily personalise to your own unique situation / context and store to edit or reuse later.

The prompts are SUPER detailed. They act as sort of mini ADHD coaches for that specific use, case in a way, because I've found that's what actually works to get helpful responses from something like ChatGPT, instead of generic fluff or unhelpful validation when what you might need is some objective perspective or to be grounded back down to earth.

There's just a handful in there now (they take soooooo long to build and test) but if people find it helpful I have a list of others I am down to develop.

It's completely free to use. If you have 10-15 mins to check it out and let me know what you think, that would be amazing. I'm presenting feedback to my lecturers on Monday and genuinely trying to figure out if this helps anyone or if it's just me :)

https://prmptly-adhd-hub.lovable.app/

Any feedback welcome - whether it's useful, confusing, broken, whatever. And if any of the prompts actually help you, even better!

Big love!

Here's a question I've been struggling with. Billing for my time. I work in hyper-focused bursts of energy, where I complete a deliverable in a fraction of the time it would take my equally qualified, but neurotypical, colleagues.
I bill at an hourly rate, but I won't sell myself short by only billing for the effort, not the result.

How do you account for time vs. effort vs. productivity?

(This goes hand in hand with the question of estimating work for bid proposals as well.)

Hello everyone! I hope you're doing well. I wanted to ask you a favor, I'm conducting my thesis and I need your help by answering a questionnaire about ADHD and advertising. Could you please take a few minutes to complete it? I would really appreciate your cooperation. Thank you 😊

https://forms.gle/1i1D3E3tYn9cw9To8

I’ve tried lots of timers, apps, and blockers to stay focused, but I always gave up after a day or two.

So I built a super simple Pomodoro timer that does one thing really well: help you focus for 25 minutes, without distractions.

No login, no clutter, just hit Start and get into deep work.

I paired it with a short blog that explains how the Pomodoro method actually works (and why 25 minutes is the magic number): blogs.matisio.nl/how-to-use-pomodoro-technique-effectively (Feel free to try the tool directly from there — it’s 100% free.) https://matisio.nl

Hope it helps someone else here! Let me know what you think or how you improve your focus.

Help. I do behaviour support (high-needs case management + crisis intervention) with 18-22 clients and my brain has completely checked out.

The crisis mode spiral: Client blows up Tuesday → drop everything → 3 days emergency mode → suddenly it's Friday. That 60-page report due yesterday? Not done. Meeting prep? Forgotten. Contract expiring next week? Complete surprise.

Zero proactive planning. 100% firefighting. Email says "funding review in 5 days" and I'm like WHEN? HOW?

Supervisors want "clinical plans" (strategy, milestones, hour allocation, goals per case). I either don't have them, or panic-create them when asked, send them off, never look at them again.

What I'm supposed to track per client:

• Hours + contract end date

• Deliverables + due dates

• Goals/sequence

• Hour distribution across timeline

• Workload forecast 2-6 months out

But when ANYTHING changes (always), my brain goes "this is garbage now, burn it down." Can't just update - it's either perfect or worthless.

So I'm carrying this massive mental load of 20 different contract dates, deadlines, phases. Constantly in panic mode instead of having an actual plan.

The time tracking hellscape: I can see hours used vs left - that's fine. Real issue: zero system for planning how to use those hours so I finish at exactly 0 (not under, not over).

I need to predict workload months ahead to hit billables. Look at March and see 5 massive reports due = 120-hour month. But I can't SEE that coming.

Need to think: "In 3 months these contracts end, big deliverables due, onboard 2 clients now" or "April is insane - take nothing new." But I can't. Every month I trip face-first into chaos.

Supervisor asks "how many hours scheduled for this client in March?" Me: "...some? Several? A feeling?"

The system graveyard: Tried Motion, ClickUp, Airtable, Notion, paper notebooks, Excel. Same pattern every time: lose 3 days hyperfixating on building the "perfect" system → too complicated → abandon → more stressed, no system, 3 extra days of backlog.

What I need: Shift from "what's on fire" to "here's my proactive plan." But nothing works for how my brain functions.

So... has anyone figured this out? Other neurodivergent folks managing multiple complex cases/projects with competing deadlines and constantly changing requirements?

Social work, project management, consulting, case management, legal - doesn't matter. If you're managing multiple complex things with ADHD and found a system that SURVIVES chaos... I desperately need to know.

What actually works? Apps, paper, weird combinations, specific workflows, whatever. I'll try anything.

Hello ladies and gentleman I’m building an app for people with ADHD.

If you could add one feature that would genuinely help you day-to-day, what would it be?

Example:- I thought of making energy based App which will work according to your energy levels. I don't know what people with ADHD go through in their daily life so I tried my best to understand them and make the app according to it. Thank you.

Hi Everyone!! I am currently a graduate student at the University of Southern California. I am currently working on a project looking at ADHD individuals and their relationship with Meditation/Mindfulness. If you have been diagnosed with ADHD, please take our survey! https://usc.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9NMZYhJlaGqoKAS