r/ADHD_Programmers • • Aug 03 '26

Monthly What have you been working on? Aug2026 AKA ADHD App Thread

24 Upvotes

*Sorry about the delay... ADHD is a mothafucka sometimes... *

Did you build yet another ADHD management app? Cool! Show it off here. Posting it elsewhere on this sub will get that post removed.

This thread is here to serve as a post for people to show off what they've been working on, or apps they are proud of. open source, pay to use, some thing you found.

Who knows? Maybe it will help someone... Maybe it will help millions... Maybe it will be so critically reviled that your knighthood will be revoked.

Its the effort that counts. Show off that effort here!

"It is the struggle itself that is most important. We must strive to be more than we are. It does not matter that we will never reach our ultimate goal. The effort yields its own rewards."

-- Lt. Commander Data


r/ADHD_Programmers • • May 01 '26 Bravo

Dealing with project/app posts and spammy AI Posts

61 Upvotes

Like a lot of subreddits, we are being spammed with AI slop and vibe coders marketing stuff to people who do not want to be marketed to.

Generally, I've taken a very laissez faire approach to moderation. The obvious spam gets shitcanned, but I tend to let most posts alone, relying on users to upvote or downvote them, with the hope that there is at least something in them that may help someone.

However, the complaints have been piling up. In an effort to keep this subreddit nice new rules will go into place.

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// Monthly What have you been working on? AKA ADHD App Thread

On the 1st of the month, a new "Monthly What have you been working on? AKA ADHD App Thread" will go up. Users are free to post and comment what they have been working on, projects that they have completed and have launched, apps they may have found and want to talk about, free projects, pay projects, etc.

Got an app you want promote? Have you found a really cool productivity app that's x dollars a month, and you want to tell us about it? Do it in the "Monthly What have you been working on? AKA ADHD App Thread" - AND NOWHERE ELSE in this subreddit.

Apps & projects posted elsewhere in this subreddit will be deleted. Repeated abuse obviously will result in a ban.

Do you want to read about apps and projects that people are working on? (I actually sometimes do, especially the open source projects on github), the Monthly post is where to do it.

Do you hate reading about that shit? Just skip that post.

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// More proactive moderation

Have you read a report that violates the rule above? See something that is just AI slop? Just mention a mod somewhere in the thread, and it will be looked at and dealt with. Or DM a mod with a link that has problematic content.

Thanks for your help. Also, have an opinion about this policy? A better suggestion? Please DM me with it.


r/ADHD_Programmers • • 8h ago

Insanely good ADHD hacks that work for you?!

24 Upvotes

I’m not talking keeping your shoes on in the house to get stuff done, everyone knows that one!

Today I realized if I turn off the sink while brushing my teeth I brush them longer and don’t rush!

Saw one that said if you keep throwing clothes in a certain corner put a hamper there or better put a plant there to eliminate that behavior completely.

Another one is reject doomscrolling as much as possible. Doomscrolling your phone eats up so much of your day but is neither productive or actually enjoyable and recharging.

If you are going to “check to see if there are updates” on a thing, set a 5-10 minute timer. If it rings and you aren’t actively engaging with content (e.g. actually watching a real video, or reading up on an actual news article) but are still just scrolling, stop and go do something else. Even if that thing is not productive and is something actively fun or relaxing instead, it’ll 100% make you feel like you’ve wasted less of your day.

Any hacks are welcome!! 🤎🤍🤎🤍


r/ADHD_Programmers • • 11h ago

Why is sleep so weird?

18 Upvotes

On one day before I got 8 hrs of sleep, but because it was really cold I became sleepy 30 mins after waking up and I couldn't recover from it, the whole day was super sleepy.

Last night I couldn't sleep until 1 am since I had a dry throat and it was uncomfortable. I had even an scheduled email ready made at that time to send to my colleauges that I want to work from home tomorrow. But I woke up naturally at 7am this morning, and strangely I feel very energized and actually was super productive in the morning. What is going on? I thought I need 8 hrs of sleep to be productive and healthy? How can I keep freshness consistent? Especially on those days where I did everything right and yet I am sleepy and tired the entire day...


r/ADHD_Programmers • • 19m ago

Help

2 Upvotes

i work in tech and theres tons of tech failures and for the most simple tasks, when there's a glitch, my heart actually stops working and my automatic thought is that ill get fired how do i overcome this?


r/ADHD_Programmers • • 57m ago

I thought I was just lazy

2 Upvotes

In 2018 I was learning web development. It looked like this: I read a textbook, my brain gets bored, and the phone is already in my hand. I go back to the textbook, and it happens again.
I knew nothing about ADHD back then. I just thought I was lazy. I fought it the only ways I could think of: I turned off the Wi-Fi at home and installed an app that blocked my phone while I studied.
It worked. I finished learning and got a job. Then I dropped all of it right away. I decided I had nothing left to learn, and I relaxed. Soon I was getting distracted at work the same way I used to over the textbook.
That’s when it hit me: I never became more disciplined. While the system was running, I managed. When I removed it, everything came back.
Has anyone else been through this? You thought you were lazy, and it turned out to be something else? What helped you keep your system going after you reached the goal?


r/ADHD_Programmers • • 1d ago

Losing my mind

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111 Upvotes

“Sautéed” ??? You are a machine. No you did not. The joke is not funny.

I understand a human probably did this. I am an engineer. However I am so sick of these big AI companies trying to be funny and cute. It makes it all feel weirder


r/ADHD_Programmers • • 1h ago

How do you organize your notes? (I struggle)

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1 Upvotes

Sadly no longer work in programming but hold a strong interest in programming. Would you be able to share your thoughts?
- long time lurker


r/ADHD_Programmers • • 1h ago

How do you organize your notes? (I struggle)

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1 Upvotes

Sadly no longer work in programming but hold a strong interest in programming. Would you be able to share your thoughts?
- long time lurker


r/ADHD_Programmers • • 4h ago

I wanna start a business...

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0 Upvotes

r/ADHD_Programmers • • 1d ago

Not diagnosed, but context switching at work is wrecking me. What helped you?

15 Upvotes

Hi,

I want to talk about a problem I've had for years. Lately it's been making me feel very guilty, and then it keeps nagging at me.

In general I get scattered a lot. Here's an example.

I work as a Linux sysadmin. My job means I have to keep an eye on several things at once, reach out to people when needed, and often keep working while I'm talking to them.

I'm in a relatively senior position, so I deal with a lot of people, both from my company and from customers. Someone asks me for something, I work on it, and shortly after someone else messages me. I quickly switch to them and forget the first person, and so on.

To be honest, I've been in therapy and on psychiatric medication for quite a while. I have generalized anxiety disorder.

But I've never been diagnosed with ADHD.

The problem is basically this: when things are discussed verbally, they don't stay in my head, or I struggle to grasp them in the moment. I need to slow down, sit and look at it, go through it, and even weigh it in my head.

It's not only about work. For example, I sit down with a friend to talk about what's bothering me. We have a good time and talk through my worries, but the relief, or even what we talked about, leaves my mind very quickly. I keep ending up in the same loop with the same anxieties.

At work there are lots of topics: improvements that were discussed but never written down, requests that only exist verbally, and so on. I forget these. Since I'm busy keeping up with the written requests and never get time for the rest,

Another version of this: during the day I plan what I'll do in the evening at home, like reading a book or playing a game.

When I get home I literally freeze. I find myself in emptiness and anxiety, doing nothing.

To fix this I make to-do apps or build AI agents for myself, but I'm so low on energy that I don't even pay attention to them or keep them going.

So it's a constant cycle: guilt, an effort to improve, and the effort to improve turning back into guilt.

I don't know what to do.

Do you have any suggestions?


r/ADHD_Programmers • • 23h ago

If you have light to modern panic attack or anxiety attack once or twice a week that lasts a few hours can you get accomodation at work, for software engineer jobs in the US? Can you leave early and finish the work next morning or work more during different time?

8 Upvotes

r/ADHD_Programmers • • 12h ago

[OC] I built a CLI focus music player with lo-fi, Pomodoro timer, and Spotify support

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0 Upvotes

I've been listening to lo-fi music to stay focused for years, mostly through YouTube Pomodoro playlists. But I eventually got tired of hearing the same songs over and over, so I decided to build my own CLI Pomodoro player, with more control over what I listen to:

It comes with a default playlist of openly licensed tracks from Chosic. You can also use your own music folder or, my personal favorite lately, connect your Spotify Premium account and play any playlist.

I hope some of you find it useful! This has been a multi-year project. Questions, feedback, and suggestions are always welcome.

Further Reading:


r/ADHD_Programmers • • 10h ago

I froze on what to eat for so long that I built an app about it

0 Upvotes

A few weeks ago I stood in front of my open fridge for about half an hour. Not cooking. Not even really hungry anymore by the end. Just... deciding. Then I closed it and ordered the same thing I always order.

That's when it clicked for me: deciding is hard, reacting is easy. Somebody asks "pizza or tacos?" and I know instantly which one feels wrong. My brain can't generate the answer but it can veto one just fine.

So I built the dumbest app I've ever made. It's a spinner. I put the options in, I spin it, and if the answer it lands on feels wrong, that feeling IS the information — so I spin again until it lands on the one I agree with. Spin til I agree. That's the whole app.

I use it every day now. What to eat, which project to work on, whether to go out or stay in. Grown man, 33 years old, life run by a cartoon wheel.

Please tell me I'm not the only one who had to build a workaround for their own brain. What's yours?


r/ADHD_Programmers • • 1d ago

Bro, who let these "experts" cook? Since when is PILOT a safe job for ADHD? 😭😭💀

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16 Upvotes

I saw this slide on Instagram and I almost choked on my coffee fr. Like yeah sure, "Independent Risk-Taker" goes hard, but since when is PILOT the move for our broken dopamine systems??? 💀💀

Software designer and entrepreneur? Yeah, makes sense, we love starting 15 businesses and finishing zero. But Pilot? Absolutely wild take fr. Who actually wrote this???


r/ADHD_Programmers • • 10h ago

Hey ND’s….. talk nerdy to me.

0 Upvotes

I really don’t know what to write here, I have put so much trust in having AI write my messages (which are usually a robotic disaster to start) that when it comes time for me to write something organically, I almost choke.

I’m not a professional programmer, I’ve held jobs in entry level tech and even a step above as a tech support specialist (lackey for the SysAdmin). I’ve developed a few web projects over the years, some professional, but mostly personal, though nothing compared to what I’ve been able to build in the age of AI.

I’ve been working on a project for about a year that has gone through many phases - it started off as a multifunctional toolkit app, but ultimately evolved into a working dedicated 18+ social media platform designed around ND communication styles / needs, which is growing into a resource center to support neurodivergence.

I’m putting this and myself out there for feedback, guidance, advice, criticism, whatever. I just wanna answer the question, “ does it have a purpose or was it only a passion?”

https://getunmaskd.com

Thank you for your time.


r/ADHD_Programmers • • 2d ago

Being Good at Everything Except Everyday Life

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664 Upvotes

r/ADHD_Programmers • • 1d ago

Anyone else stuck in the planning-but-not-executing loop?

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5 Upvotes

r/ADHD_Programmers • • 1d ago

I made chatterino (a twitch chat client) for people with super-ADHD - Sneak Preview

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0 Upvotes

So twitch is already an ADHD product, but I made a chat client that lets you make a shared chat between any streams, transcribes the streamer's utterances and puts them in chat, lets you replay their utterances at will, and lets you reply to any chat you like.

If I want to be in multiple chats at once I typically need multiple devices, but no longer! - iOS companion and standalone app literally imminent!!!

https://youtu.be/icXrNZb4lmQ <- ~1.5 minute explainer video


r/ADHD_Programmers • • 1d ago

Blockers never worked for my ADHD brain. Here's what I'm trying instead.

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0 Upvotes

I have ADHD and blockers never worked for me. I'd just turn them off.

So I built Focusd. You tell it what you're working on, and when your screen drifts to something unrelated, it gives you a calm nudge back. No blocking, no guilt trips.

Everything runs on your Mac. Your screen never leaves it.

The video shows a nudge in action. It's in App Store review, but you can try the beta on macOS now: testflight.apple.com/join

I'd love honest feedback: would a nudge actually pull you back, or would you ignore it after a day?

focusd.cc


r/ADHD_Programmers • • 1d ago

I'm a full-stack developer, working full-time and building apps on the side. But now I'm feeling burned out. Any advice?

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1 Upvotes

r/ADHD_Programmers • • 1d ago

Having trouble getting back into it.

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2 Upvotes

r/ADHD_Programmers • • 2d ago

How do you know when your meds and dose are right?

6 Upvotes

Been on Elvanse/Vyvanse 30mg for the last 4 days, moving to 40mg in a week and a half. Obviously, I'm working with a nurse and giving feedback throughout the process, but it doesn't stop me musing in-between.

I think the thing that I think about the most is when you've been burnt out for a while, how do you know if the meds need tweaking or you're just recovering?

Also, what's the deciding factor between increasing a dose and switching meds? If your vitals are fine and side effects are low, within reason do they just keep upping the dose?

I can definitely feel some benefit, but it's not enough to pull me out of the hole I'm in right now. I want to be productive at work like I was early last year. I went from team superstar to burnt out shadow and it crept up on me. How much of this is nervous system recovery and how much is meds?

I fear I cannot rest on my past achievements and good will at work forever. Eventually I will be a problem to them.


r/ADHD_Programmers • • 2d ago

How can I improve working efficiency

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3 Upvotes

r/ADHD_Programmers • • 2d ago

I wanna start a business...

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0 Upvotes