Managing your responsibilities as an adult with ADHD can be challenging, especially with misplaced items, missed deadlines, and forgotten tasks constantly weighing you down. It can feel like you're always playing catch-up.
Thankfully, plenty of fantastic time-tracking and productivity apps can help you stay organised and on top of your game. From managing day-to-day tasks to providing helpful reminders to switch gears or take breaks, these 15 apps will be your lifesavers in 2023.
These tools will help you stay organised by keeping track of day-to-day tasks, managing deadlines, and providing helpful reminders when it’s time to switch gears or take a break.
But first, let’s discuss why people with ADHD typically struggle with managing time.
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What is ADHD?
ADHD is a condition that affects how a person's brain works. This can make it difficult for them to pay attention, focus and control their behavior. People with ADHD may have a lot of energy and find it difficult to sit still or wait their turn. They may also have trouble staying organized or completing tasks.
ADHD can challenge people to succeed in school or work, and can sometimes cause problems in relationships. But with the right support and treatment, people with ADHD can learn strategies to manage their symptoms and live happy lives. Treatment may include taking medication, talking to a therapist, and making changes to your daily routine.
Why People With ADHD Struggle With Time Management
People with ADHD may also be more prone to procrastination due to difficulty prioritising tasks and making progress toward their goals. They may need help breaking down complex tasks into smaller, manageable steps, which can lead to overwhelming or unfocused feelings.
Additionally, people with ADHD often struggle with time management, as they can become easily distracted and have difficulty shifting their attention from one task to another.
To help manage these challenges, people with ADHD may benefit from using a daily planner or setting up reminders to stay on track and reach their goals. Additionally, breaking down tasks into smaller components can help them stay focused and make progress in manageable steps.
Factors That You Need To Consider When Choosing an ADHD Time Management App
Features
The most important consideration is the features of an ADHD time management app. It's essential to look at available features, including task lists, reminders, and calendar integration.
Additionally, ensuring the app is compatible with other devices and platforms is crucial.
Cost
An app's cost should also be considered when selecting the best ADHD time management app for you.
Some apps offer free versions, while others come with a subscription fee. Be sure to weigh all options before making a selection.
To avoid the ADHD tax (sneaky apps that require credit cards upfront knowing that people with ADHD are unlikely to remember to cancel), choose apps that have a free trial without a credit card.
Ease of Use
An app that is easy to use and navigate will make it easier to manage your ADHD. The user interface should be intuitive and uncomplicated, so you can find what you need quickly.
Customization
A good ADHD time management app will also be able to be changed so that users can make it fit their needs. Look for an app that offers a variety of options when it comes to customising, such as colour schemes, task list types, and reminders.
Support
Choose a time management app for ADHD that has good customer service in case you have any technical problems or need help using the app.
Look for apps with reliable customer service representatives who are available 24/7.
Now, let’s dive deep into the best time management apps for people with ADHD. It should be fun!
Top Time Management Apps For People With ADHD
Focus Bear
Focus Bear is a productivity app specially designed for people with ADHD to help you stay focused and get more done.
Perhaps the reason why this app excels with time management for people with ADHD is that the founder and three team members have ADHD. There’s a lot of effort to make the app 100% ADHD-compliant — and it's pretty obvious.
It offers a full-circle approach to productivity, helping users do morning habits like meditation and exercise, which have been shown to boost focus and block distractions during the workday.
Focus Bear also automates the Pomodoro Technique, a proven time-management strategy, to break down tasks into short, achievable chunks.
With the help of their scientific advisory board, Focus Bear offers an efficient solution for improving productivity — particularly for those who are neurodiverse.
How Focus Bear Helps With ADHD Time Management
The app helps in four ways:
- Morning & Evening Routines: Research indicates that starting the day with habits like meditation and exercise makes it far more likely that you’ll be productive for the rest of the day.
Focus Bear has a unique approach to habit formation: it doesn’t just track your habits but guides you through each habit in real time.
- Blocking Distractions: Distractions are a productivity killer, even more so for people with ADHD. Focus Bear lets you set up customised block lists so social media, and news sites don’t derail your work day.
Best of all, the blocking applies to all your devices - if you hit the focus on your computer, your phone will also go into distraction-free mode.
- Pomodoro Technique: The Pomodoro technique is a powerful way to enhance productivity. Focus Bear has a built-in Pomodoro counter, so you don’t need any external tool to use the Pomodoro technique successfully.
As well as having work and break timers, the app will block distractions while you’re working.
- Break Reminders: your productivity naturally dwindles with time. Breaks are essential, and Focus Bear regularly reminds you to get away from your computer and stretch (or even do some pushups).
Best Features
- Block distractions: Focus Bear automatically blocks distractions to keep you on task.
- Boosts productivity: By tracking your tasks and productivity, Focus Bear helps keep you focused on completing goals. It also ensures that you take necessary breaks every 20 minutes, giving your brain and body much-needed rest.
- Reminders: Focus Bear's reminder system helps you stay on track and maintain focus by reminding you of upcoming tasks at regular intervals. You can customise this feature to meet your needs and preferences.
- Goal setting: Focus Bear's goal-setting feature helps you track your progress toward productivity and healthy habits.
Pricing
- $5/ month, 31-day free trial
Pros and Cons
SimpleMind
SimpleMind is a mind-mapping tool that helps you create visual representations of ideas and concepts. With its horizontal auto-layout feature, voice memo recording capability, and slideshow display options, it's straightforward to get your ideas in order and start creating powerful presentations.
How SimpleMind helps with ADHD time management
Creating a mind map with SimpleMind can help people with ADHD organise their thoughts and tasks in a visual way that is easy to understand. This can save time by reducing the amount of research needed to complete a project or activity and making it easier to remember all of the details associated with any particular task.
SimpleMind also allows users to customise colours, fonts, and symbols to make their mind map as visually stimulating as possible, which can help people with ADHD stay focused on the task at hand.
Best Features
- Intuitive mind-mapping
- Free-form layout and auto-layouts
- Block out distractions with autofocus
Pricing
- SimpleMind Free
- SimpleMind Pro: It is a one-time purchase per platform
- SimpleMind Trial: Free 30-day-trial
Pros and Cons
Trello
Regarding task management and collaboration, Trello is the premier app for users of all levels. This digital workspace empowers teams to organise tasks and projects into boards, lists, and cards.
Users can easily collaborate on complex projects through its intuitive design.
Trello also offers powerful tools such as automation, checklists, labels, and due dates. Each of these features can be customised to fit the needs of any project.
How Trello helps with ADHD time management
Trello offers a range of features that can help with ADHD time management. This includes visual tracking of tasks, which makes it easier to see what needs to be done visually.
Trello also has colour-coded labels and checklists, allowing users to easily organise tasks into manageable segments and keep track of their progress.
Additionally, the board view allows users to prioritise tasks, while the calendar view helps them keep track of deadlines.
Best Features
- Powerful no-code automation is built into every Trello board
- Use of boards, lists, and cards to keep tasks organised and work moving forward
Pricing
- Free
- Standard: $5
- Premium: $10
- Enterprise: $17.5
Pros and Cons
Todoist
Todoist is the world's number one task manager and to-do list app. It makes organising your life easier by helping you create to-do lists and tasks that can be customised to fit your lifestyle perfectly.
With Todoist, you can easily manage your personal and professional projects and goals with clarity and focus.
How Todoist Helps With ADHD Time Management
As a student struggling to plan out their workload or an adult working on staying productive, Todoist offers personal productivity recommendations tailored to the strengths and traits of its users.
With personalised suggestions for prioritising tasks, breaking goals into manageable chunks, setting reminders, and more—Todoist helps those with ADHD better manage their time.
Best Features
- Focuses the right tasks promptly
- With Todoist, you can build your task views to fit your unique style and workflow
- Simplify your workflow by connecting Todoist to your email, calendar, and files
Pricing
- Free
- Pro: $4
- Business: $6
Pros and Cons
Remember The Milk
Making tasks and reminders easy to remember is simple with Remember The Milk. It is an online to-do list application specifically designed for busy people.
This app helps users organise their tasks, prioritise them, and delegate them to others on their team. The intuitive interface makes it hassle-free to keep track of tasks, set reminders, and even collaborate with others on shared lists.
Remember The Milk lets users sync their data across various devices and platforms to take their to-dos everywhere.
How Remember The Milk helps with ADHD time management
Many people with ADHD struggle with time management, and Remember The Milk can help. The app's features, such as setting reminders for upcoming due dates, can help those with ADHD stay organised and on top of their tasks. Remember The Milk's integration with Google Assistant, Alexa, and Siri makes it easy to stay on top of tasks while on the go without having to carry around a physical planner or notebook.
Best Features
- You can use subtasks to break your tasks down into smaller, more manageable pieces
- Share your lists and give tasks to others to get things done faster
- Attach files to your tasks by connecting to Google Drive or Dropbox to keep documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and photos
Pricing
Remember The Milk is free. However, you can upgrade to a pro account for $39.99/per year.
Pros and Cons
RescueTime
RescueTime helps you to stay focused and productive by providing powerful insights into your daily habits. It works in the background of your computer or smartphone, tracking your time on different activities, websites, and applications.
With RescueTime, you can easily set productivity goals such as limiting distractions or increasing focus time on essential tasks.
How Rescuetime Helps With ADHD Time Management
Managing time differs for people with ADHD. It can be tricky to stay organised and motivated when the symptoms of ADHD make it hard to focus, remember important tasks, or finish projects.
When you trigger a Focus Session, RescueTime blocks all websites and apps you identified as most distracting or negatively impacting your focus. This creates a distraction-free environment so you can stay focused on the task at hand. You can also set timers to limit how long you use specific sites or activities.
Pricing
- RescueTime Lite: Free
- RescueTime Premium: $9 per month, or $72 per year (4 months free).
Pros and Cons
Side Tip
Evernote
What do you need to keep yourself organized?
For many of us, the answer is Evernote. It's an intuitive app that helps you create notes, organize, and remember important details.
Created in 2008 by Phil Libin, Evernote has become one of the most popular productivity tools on the market. Its user-friendly design and cloud-based storage enable people to capture their ideas quickly and manage their tasks.
It helps you store notes, photos, audio recordings, and more in one convenient place, which can be accessed from any device.
How Evernote helps with ADHD time management,
Evernote is invaluable for those with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). It helps with time management and organisation, two areas that can be difficult for people with ADHD to navigate.
With Evernote, users can create tasks, deadlines, and reminders that are easily tracked and monitored. Best of all, the Evernote app is available on all devices, including phones and tablets.
This makes staying organised and on top of tasks easier while away from home or the office.
Best Features
- You can connect Evernote and Google calendar and bring your schedule and notes together
- Your notes sync automatically to all your devices
- Clip the web by saving web pages, articles, and screen captures directly to Evernote and also customising them by including highlights, texts, and other annotations
Pricing
- Free
- Personal: $8/month; $77.99/year
- Professional: $10/month; $109.99/year
Pros and Cons
Asana
Asana is a revolutionary application that enables organisations to easily track, manage and delegate tasks across teams, departments, divisions, and functions.
With Asana, users can quickly connect goals with workflows and ensure that all stakeholders are aware of progress. By connecting what needs to get done with who is doing it and when it needs to be done.
How Asana Helps With ADHD Time Management
As an adult with ADHD, staying organised and timely and creating a balance between your personal and work life may be challenging.
With Asana, you’ll be able to manage your time better and stay organised. The app helps you prioritise tasks, break down projects into smaller chunks, and set due dates for completing those tasks.
It also allows you to communicate easily with colleagues and group members so that everyone is on the same page regarding what needs to be done.
Best Features
- See and track your tasks on the kanban board
- Visualise significant checkpoints in your project to measure and share progress
- Break up a task into smaller parts, or show additional steps to complete an overall task
Pricing
- Basic: Free
- Premium: $10.99/ user/month, billed annually
- Business: $20.99/ user/ month, billed annually.
Pros and Cons
Due
With Due, you can know that all your reminders, tasks, and deadlines will be taken care of. From bills to groceries or birthdays to anniversaries - Due ensures that everything important to you is not forgotten.
How Due Helps With ADHD Time Management
You won't have to miss an important meeting with the Due app because it automatically adds tasks and events to your calendar. This app remembers everything for you.
Its speedy setup also means you'll be able to set and forget any reminders in no time.
With its unrivaled persistence, you won't have anything slipping your mind again.
Best Features
- Quick Access Times: The time picker in the reminder apps is a great tool. It makes setting your due dates more accessible than ever with 12 fully customizable buttons for instantly reaching the next 12 noon or 10 PM
- Notification Snooze: With its simplified reminder system, you can easily mark tasks as complete or postpone them with just a few taps
- Countdown Timers: Due can be used for various tasks, from timing your morning coffee brew to tracking when important meetings start or finish. You can set the timer for a specific time and be alerted when the time runs out.
Pricing
- Use due on set app for $9.99/ month
Pros and Cons
Headspace
Headspace is an innovative application to help individuals improve their mental health and overall well-being.
Developed by Headspace Health, the world's most accessible and comprehensive provider of mental health and well-being care, this powerful tool uses scientifically backed meditation and mindfulness techniques to help users create life-changing habits that promote a healthier and happier lifestyle.
How Headspace Helps With ADHD Time Management
Being restless is a common symptom of ADHD, and it can be challenging to stay focused when you are constantly on the move. Headspace provides tools to help people with ADHD better manage their time and energy.
With its guided meditations, users can learn how to set boundaries and create a daily routine that works for them. Headspace's Sleepcasts can help those with ADHD relax and improve the quality of their sleep, making it easier to focus during the day.
Best Features
- With headspace, you can learn to manage your thoughts with the skill of everyday mindfulness
- Create the conditions for a more restful night's sleep with sleep casts
- Train your body & mind with exercises to boost your overall well-being
- Headspace is designed to boost your ability to focus
Pricing
- Monthly: $12.99, 7 days free trial inclusive
- Yearly: $69.99, 14 days trial inclusive
- Student plan: $0.83/ Month; $9.99/ Year.
Pros and Cons
MindNode
Everything on MindNode is designed to help you get your thoughts together and stay organised. Its node-based interface makes it easy to create visual diagrams of ideas, notes, tasks, and projects.
You can also sync across multiple devices and easily collaborate with others on shared documents.
MindNode provides an intuitive layout that will help you quickly and effectively brainstorm or outline anything. Plus, with cloud synchronisation across multiple devices, you can access your projects wherever and whenever you need them.
How MindNode Helps With ADHD Time Management
Not only does MindNode help with organising tasks, but it also allows people with ADHD to map out their day using nodes and branches visually.
This helps them visualise how long tasks may take and prioritise their schedule so they can manage their time more effectively. It provides a simple structure that can help keep them on track.
Best Features
- Brainstorming
- Ability to add more context to tags
- With MindNode, you can style your thoughts using different themes
Pricing
Basic Plan: $2.59/ User/ Month.
Pros and Cons
Productive App — Habit Tracker
Habit Tracker is an application to help users track their progress and develop productive habits. It allows users to set goals, monitor progress, and get helpful insights on improving their efficiency in reaching these objectives.
How Habit Tracker Helps With ADHD Time Management
Managing your time when you have ADHD can be difficult, but Productivity-Habit Tracker makes it more accessible. With its customizable reminders and tracking features, you can easily keep track of your daily tasks, goals, and habits.
The app also provides helpful insights into where you're spending most of your time and how productive you are with that time.
Best Features
Habit Management: You can manage your habits by creating, completing, and tracking your habits with the help of the productivity-habit tracker.
Customization: The habit tracker is fully customizable, allowing you to personalise the look and feel of your habits. You can even name your icon for easy recognition and more meaningful tracking!
Statistics: You can easily track your progress with the habit tracker and see how you've been doing. The statistics give you a better understanding of which habits are working and which ones need improvement.
Pricing
Habit tracker is a free app that includes in-app purchases. You can upgrade for $3.99 or a 1-year subscription for $23.99.
Pros and Cons
Bear
Writing in Bear is a breeze, making it an excellent choice for those who want to craft an impressive piece of writing with minimal effort. Its modern and minimalistic design makes creating stunning notes and proses easy.
Plus, the app boasts an array of features that let you express yourself in style, whether taking care of business at the office or working on a novel.
How Bear Helps With ADHD Time Management
Bear is an excellent tool for individuals who struggle with ADHD Time Management. It provides a unique approach to note-taking and organisation, allowing you to efficiently structure your notes in a way that makes it easier to remember and find information quickly.
With its rich text editor, powerful search functions, and tags system, Bear can help you stay organised and focused on the task.
Best Features
- Bear works on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, so you can access your notes everywhere
- Automatically sync your notes across all devices
- Capture ideas quickly with Markdown formatting
- Organise your library with hashtags and mentions
- Export notes to popular formats like PDF, DOCX, and HTML
Pricing
- Most of Bear's features are free, with a few optional Pro upgrades available for an additional fee. The Pro features include Analytics, Custom Designs, and the ability to export your notes as PDFs or Markdown files
- The Bear Pro subscription costs $1.49 per month(one-week free trial) or $14.99 per year(one-month free trial)
Pros and Cons
Focus@will
Neuroscience and music come together in Focus@will, an ingenious app that helps people concentrate and remain productive for extended periods. This unique solution works by using scientific principles to help enhance focus, enabling the user to get more done in less time. Utilising a combination of neuroscience and music, Focus@will keep individuals relaxed without sacrificing concentration or energy.
How Focus@will Helps With ADHD Time Management
Focus@will is a music streaming service designed to help those with ADHD manage their time better. The service uses specially crafted musical rhythms and tones to train your brain to stay focused on the task.
By providing a steady stream of music that has been researched and curated to be both enjoyable and effective for people with ADHD, Focus@ will help users get more out of their time. Studies have shown that listening to Focus@will can help people with ADHD concentrate better, stay on task longer, and complete more tasks within a given period.
Best Features
- Reduce distractions and maintain productivity when working and studying
- Create multiple profiles for different situations: block apps and websites, limit social media use, and establish a specific workflow
- It uses neuroscience-based music to help you stay focused
- Set personal productivity goals and track your performance with the app's metrics tracker
Pricing
- Monthly: $7.49
- Yearly: $52.49
- 2 Years: $45.00, $89.99 billed every two years
Pros and Cons
Offtime
Offtime is an app that encourages individuals to take regular breaks from technology and digital devices to reduce stress, improve focus, and promote healthier habits.
It involves limiting our time using our phones and other devices and having scheduled periods of the day or week when technology is wholly avoided.
How Offtime helps with ADHD time management
Staying focused on tasks and managing time are especially challenging for those with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Offtime is a digital well-being tool designed to help free you from distractions so you can stay on task and better use your time.
Offtime helps with ADHD time management by allowing users to customise their settings and filter out distractions like notifications, calls, texts, and emails. It also provides a detailed report of how users spend their time on different apps to prioritise tasks and activities better.
Best Features
- Reduce distractions and maintain productivity when working and studying
- Calls blockage profiles which allow you to select which apps and contacts can reach you
- Set goals and create timers to keep focus during working sessions
- Create multiple profiles for different situations: block apps and websites, limit social media use, and establish a specific workflow.
Pricing
- One-time purchase that costs $3
Pros and Cons
What Makes Focus Bear The Best Time Management App for People With ADHD?
Focus Bear takes the guesswork out of time management for people with ADHD. It is explicitly designed to target the challenges of dealing with attention deficits by providing highly customised routines tailored to an individual's needs and lifestyle.
With Focus Bear, you can set up reminders, receive notifications when it's time to take a break, track your performance, and view your progress in an easy-to-follow graph.
You can also stay on track with detailed reports and insights that allow you to make changes accordingly.
Most importantly, Focus Bear helps keep motivation high by displaying your milestones so you can stay focused on the bigger picture. With all of these features at your disposal, managing time efficiently has never been easier.
FAQs About ADHD Time Management
Does ADHD Affect Time Management?
Yes, ADHD can negatively impact an individual's ability to manage their time. People with ADHD may find it hard to pay attention and finish tasks on time. They may struggle with procrastination or have difficulty setting and sticking to goals.
How Can I Improve My Time Management With ADHD?
Start by setting realistic goals and breaking them into smaller, manageable tasks. Then create a schedule with built-in breaks and focus on one task at a time.
Does the Pomodoro Technique Work for ADHD?
Yes, the Pomodoro Technique can be helpful for people with ADHD. It can help you break big tasks into smaller pieces, eliminate distractions, and feel like you've accomplished something by giving you regular breaks and rewards.
How Do I Discipline Myself With ADHD?
Disciplining yourself with ADHD can be difficult, but you can take steps to make it easier. Start by setting short-term goals that are achievable and manageable; break tasks down into smaller chunks.
Use positive reinforcement when completing a task; get organised, create reminders or to-do lists, and find ways to motivate yourself.
How Do I Train My ADHD Brain to Focus?
Training your ADHD brain to focus is mostly about creating the right environment and giving yourself the right tools, like breaking tasks into smaller pieces, using timers and alarms to schedule activities, keeping a daily routine, living a healthy lifestyle, and using cognitive-behavioural strategies.
Block Distractions and Improve Your Time Management Skills Today
ADHD time management and productivity apps have been gaining traction in recent years as more people seek to improve their focus and attention. With the best 15 ADHD apps for 2023, you can easily stay on task and make the most of your day - no matter how limited your resources or energy may be.
Focus Bear brings an innovative approach to this market, offering a customizable suite of tools to help you stay organised and productive.
With its ability to block distractions, manage tasks, and set reminders, Focus Bear makes it easy to stay on track and achieve your goals. Take control of your productivity today - try Focus Bear and see how much you can accomplish!
Hi I'm Jeremy, and I understand the challenges of living with ASD and ADHD.
