The best productivity apps for ADHD brains utilize customizable reminders, shareable calendars, and digital notetaking to help with focus. Here are some favorite apps for to-do lists, personal finance, focus, organization, and project management recommended by ADDitude readers.
These productivity apps and tools were recommended by ADDitude readers in an August 2020 survey on surviving the pandemic with an ADHD brain. Add your favorites in the Comments section below!
Productivity Apps for Focus
Due ($6.99 one-time cost): Use the countdown timer to stay on task and set repeated reminders for missed deadlines; sync with iCloud and Dropbox
Forest ($1.99 one-time cost): This app allows you to set focus goals by “planting” a tree: your tree will grow while you focus on the task, but the tree will die if you leave the app before the task is complete
focus@will ($35/year): This auditory apps boosts the intensity and duration of focus by using characteristics of sound found by neuroscientists to promote atention and retention; free trial available
Be Focused (free): This app breaks up individual tasks into discrete intervals, separated by short breaks to help you better retain focus and motivation
Badgerton (free): This “persistent assistant” is a proactive reminder app that combats time blindness by sending reminder
Productivity Apps for Daily Organization
Google Assistant (free): This personal assistant allows you to set calendar events and reminders, send emails and messages, play music, and navigate places
Todoist ($3/month): This task manager lets you easily add and organize tasks and due dates by delegating tasks to others and setting priorities for yourself; free basic version available
CrusherTV ($91/year): Try 30 days for $1 and get access to more than 100 episodes of hacks and strategies from productivity coach Alan P. Brown
Microsoft To Do (included with Microsoft 365 subscription): This Microsoft tool provides a daily planner, a task manager, and a feature to easily create and share to-do lists
Google Keep (free): This handy feature of Google Chrome quickly captures what’s on your mind by allowing you to type a reminder, take a voice memo, or snap a photo to save
TimeTree (free): This app allows families and couples to share their calendars and use tools for categorization that keep everyone organized, synced up, and in communication with comments and images
Done (free): Helps you build good habits and quit bad habits by setting goals, tracking progress, and motivating you with streaks and chains
AnyList (free): Create and share grocery shopping lists and organize your recipes
Any.do (free): Compatible with iOS and Android, this free task manager organizes your grocery lists, calendars, reminders, and daily planners in one place
Habitica (free): This habit-building and productivity app treats your real life like a game, with rewards and punishments and a social network for motivation
Productivity Apps for Project Management
Trello ($9.99/month): Boards, lists, and cards help teams organize and prioritize projects; free basic version available
Notion ($4/month): This all-in-one workplace is compatible with web, mobile, Mac, and windows, and can be used to track projects, build a flexible CRM for sales, or make a marketing style guide; free basic version available
Microsoft OneNote (included with Microsoft 365 subscription): This tool provides an easy-to-organize, mixed-media digital notebook that you can annotate, highlight, and share with others for collaboration
Evernote ($7.99/month): This popular note-taking app can be used for project management, to capture ideas, and to keep track of tasks and deadlines; free basic version available
Productivity Apps for Finance
Mint (free): Mange your finances all in one place with this free app that links bank accounts and credit cards to your personalized budget
Prism (free): Consolidate your financial accounts in one place with this free app that keeps track of your bills and lets you pay them in seconds
YNAB ($84/year): Try a free 34-day trial of You Need a Budget — a personal finance assistant that provides strategies for successful budgeting, plus goal tracking and personalized reports
Homey ($49.99/year): This app teaches children financial skills and responsibility through doing chores, earning allowance, and saving toward goals; free basic version available
Tiller Money ($79/year): This program updates Google Sheets with your daily spending, transactions, and balances from all your bank, credit card, brokerage, and loan accounts so that you can clearly assess your financial health in one snapshot; free trial available
Source: Attitudemag.com