My Favorite ADHD-Friendly Apps

As always, you can watch the much sillier, but just as fun to make video here. Or listen to the episode on the player below:

I have an app problem. Every time a new one comes up, I have to try it. 

I think I’m just on the hunt for things that work well with ADHD, because everyone is still catching up to how it works. Most times, these apps call for too much commitment, aren’t interesting enough, or don’t take things like decision paralysis and executive dysfunction into account. And I mean…seeing as that’s kind of how we work, it makes for pretty slim pickins’ round these parts. 

I am so sorry. I watched 3:10 to Yuma last night.

Anyway. 

Here are a few apps that I think are incredibly useful for badass ADHDers who want to get things done without feeling like they’re shoehorning themselves into methods that don’t work: 

Duolingo

Okay, yes. Everyone knows Duolingo. We’re all aware that the owl is vaguely threatening, and that for some, this app winds up ignored just as hard as everything else. But bear with me here. 

I used to have the same issue that many do: I’d play with it, forget it, then delete it for fear that the notifications from the owl would eventually lead to it standing over my bedside. I couldn’t seem to stick with it for any amount of time, no matter what. 

Then I moved to Costa Rica. Nothing like having no choice. 

But you know what? While life helped push me, it was actually connecting Duolingo to a part of my already-established morning routine that got me to the point where I’m still doing  it daily, over a year later. And now, I think it’s a brilliant app for ADHD-ers. 

Not only does it gamify learning without making you feel like a child, but it also uses popular study suggestions for ADHDers, like highlighting new words, and using nonsense sentences to help new phrases stick better. If you’ve tried this before and struggled with sticking to it, I highly suggest trying again, and connecting it to something you do every single morning. Set small goals at first (“I’ll just do one lesson three days in a row while I’m drinking my coffee,” or “I’ll answer the first ten questions before I get out of bed for the day”), and then scale up as you start feeling more and more compelled to try. 

Maybe it won’t work for you, but maybe it will. Only one way to find out, right? 

Freedom

You know how we can get distracted and go down rabbit holes SUPER easily? Well, Freedom serves to help with that. And the beautiful thing is, it only takes initial setup to have it work. 

Once you’re signed up for Freedom, you tell it what social media, personal, or otherwise distracting sites you want blocked. You can set up times ahead of time for this to go into effect, and you can even use it to block certain games and apps on your phone. Can’t get distracted by what you can’t access, right? 

I don’t use Freedom anymore, as I’m on social media too much to block it, but I have used it in the past, and it works beautifully. You can get a free trial, and then you’ll have to pay anywhere from 8.99 a month to 159.99 for a lifetime. At the time of this writing, there is a deal going on where you can get 25% off the lifetime plan, but I don’t know how long that’ll last, so be sure you pounce on it if that’s your kind of thing. 

Finch

Remember Tamagotchis? Remember how bad you were at keeping them alive? 

Well…now you have no choice but to take better care of this one, because it can’t die, and it only grows when you take care of yourself. 

Finch is an adorable, fun little app wherein you hatch and care for a creature by caring for your own wellbeing. Every day, your little animal friend will push you to chat with it, where it will encourage you to set goals for the day (and these goals can be as big or as small as you want; there are literally goals as simple as “make it through the day”), leave reflections on your moods, drop some feelings of gratitude, and more. With each of these things, you give your pet energy, with the goal to eventually pump them up enough for them to go on a journey. 

If you’re worried about forgetting about your pet, you can set up a widget on your phone, where its cute little face will stare expectantly at you until you’re forced to oblige. You can also make friends within the app, and within its Facebook community. 

There is a paid version with extra quizzes, stretches, and other features that you can access for 5.99 a month or 39.99 a year, but I have a blast with the free version, so don’t stress if you don’t want to drop cash on more apps. 

Paced

I have been a fan of Paced ever since I first found out about it, and I’ve been watching it grow like a proud parent. I’ve been slow to suggest it to people, because its calendar integration was very clunky and cumbersome, and I hated it. But they’ve since fixed it, and now I can say with absolute certainty that ADHD-ers will benefit hugely from Paced. 

Not only does Paced help you time block, but it also does two really great things that we need: 

1. It keeps track of your Ultradian Rhythm (remember that?), to help you figure out when your best times are for different tasks, and 
2. It adjusts your day for you as new things are added to your schedule, without allowing you to over-schedule or ignore your personal “exhaustion zone.”

Paced is free and great for everyone, but there is one hitch: it’s iOS-only at the moment, so if you’re on Android, you’ll unfortunately be waiting until the Android version comes out. Support has been very open to feedback, so I’m sure it’s coming out soon, though.

Tusk

By far my favorite app on this list, Tusk is an amazing productivity app for different brains, and I love it like a love song. 

Where most task apps tend to have a “get it done and get it done TODAY” approach to things, Tusk’s attitude is more of the “write down what you want to get done and then do what you can, boo. You’re special to me no matter what; have a hard candy” variety. 

For free, this app does a ton. It allows you to set up recurring tasks that don’t just happen once, but as many times as you want throughout the day. It allows you tag things, to color them, and to choose icons for them. Best of all, it will subtly gamify the app by giving you achievements for everything. Get shit done? Achievement. Skip things? Achievement. Reschedule things? Achievement. 

This is beautiful, because the root of decision paralysis sometimes looks a lot like a fear of “failure.” So giving you credit for deciding not to do something you don’t have time or emotional bandwidth for? Yeah, this makes a huge difference. 

There is a paid version that I eagerly invested in for the lifetime price of 20.99, but you can also buy it for 1.99 a month or 10.49 a year. The paid version includes awesome things like Google Calendar integrations, extra colors, and more custom tags. 

It is worth every second you try it, and so you should. Enjoy. 

Water.do

Another to-do app that is gentle, fun, and engaging, Water.do turns your tasks into bubbles. 

If you question was “why?” Who hurt you? Why do you hate bubbles?!

Besides, every time you pop a bubble, you get credit towards a treasure chest that eventually gifts you with diamonds or decor for your own little island. As you build that island, little people inhabit it and soft music plays. It’s one of the most relaxing to-do lists I’ve ever experienced, and it makes a nice little end-of-day recap of all you’ve done. 

I don’t really use the app anymore due to it being mobile only, but I still highly recommend it for people who don’t use desktop computers much. You can get Water.do for .99 a month, 9.99 a year, or 14.99 for a lifetime. 

Have you tried any of these? How did they work? Let me know!