Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental condition estimated to affect over 6 million children and 10 million adults in the United States alone. The core symptoms of ADHD include difficulty maintaining focus, trouble controlling impulses, hyperactivity and problems with organization.
While ADHD can significantly impact daily functioning, a number of apps have been developed that can assist with managing symptoms. These tools aim to help individuals improve their focus, build better habits, stay organized and boost productivity.
In this comprehensive guide, we will explore 10 of the top-rated apps for assisting those with ADHD.
1. Freedom – Prevent Distractions
Freedom is an app and website blocker that allows you to limit access to distracting sites and apps that tend to drain focus. With over 2 million users, it‘s considered one of the leading website blockers.
Freedom works by allowing you to custom create a "blocklist" of sites and apps you find distracting. You can schedule these to be blocked during set times so you can focus on what matters. Key features include:
- Build a custom blocklist of distracting sites/apps
- Set schedules for when restrictions should be in place
- Sync restrictions across devices (Windows, Mac, iPhone)
- Try a "Locked Mode" for avoiding irresistible habits
Overall, Freedom gives you the "freedom" to focus by limiting self-distractions. The restrictive nature of the app helps combat ADHD symptoms like wandering attention and poor impulse control.
2. RescueTime – Track and Optimize Time
RescueTime takes a data-driven approach to managing your time and attention. It quietly runs in the background on your devices, tracking exactly where your time goes each day.
With detailed analytics, you can set daily goals around your ideal vision for time management. Key aspects include:
- Accurate tracking time spent on devices/apps
- Set daily time management goals
- Customize usage plans for building helpful habits
- Enable "Focus Mode" for distraction-free sessions
- Works across Mac, Windows, Android, iOS
For those with ADHD who struggle with organization, planning, and attention, RescueTime provides the insights needed to make positive changes. By revealing exactly where you spend time, you can make informed decisions about optimizing your days.
3. Blinkist – Digest Key Ideas from Books & Podcasts
Blinkist provides an ingenious solution to absorbing non-fiction books and podcasts for learners with busy or easily-distracted minds.
The app distills thousands of top non-fiction works into "blinks" – key takeaways that can be read or listened to in just 15 minutes. This allows you to efficiently build knowledge.
In addition to books, Blinkist summarizes some of the best informational podcasts. This can be especially helpful for unwinding an active ADHD mind before bed when racing thoughts can interfere with sleep.
Some key advantages Blinkist offers include:
- Get key ideas from bestselling non-fiction books
- Hand-picked podcast summaries on diverse topics
- 27 categories to match your interests
- Read or listen to blinks on-the-go
- Available offline without internet
By condensing books and podcasts into brief but insightful nuggets, Blinkist caters nicely to shorter ADHD attention spans while building knowledge.
4. Focus@Will – Music Engineered for Focus
Focus@Will takes a uniquely musical approach to strengthening mental focus. It produces customized instrumental tracks using AI to optimize concentration for ADHD minds.
Drawing from neuroscience research on sound processing, Focus@Will tunes music to reduce distractibility. The proprietary algorithms fine-tune elements like melody, rhythm and ambient harmonic progression.
Advantages offered include:
- Harnesses 7+ years of focus-related neuroscience research
- Calculate over 70 billion music permutations to reduce mind-wandering
- Ability to select tracks based on current mood and behaviors
- Reports analyze your focus patterns over time
- Access expanded focus music library
By listening to instrumental tracks scientifically engineered to hold attention, Focus@Will empowers ADHD individuals to achieve flow states more consistently.
5. Remember the Milk – Task Manager
Remember the Milk excels as a task manager and to-do list app tailored to busy lives. It provides useful structure for organizing responsibilities and priorities for ADHD adults who struggle with executive functioning.
By allowing you to break down tasks with tags, priority levels, due dates and reminder options, Remember the Milk keeps you on top of managing daily responsibilities big and small. Benefits include:
- Smart automatic reminders via email, text, notifications
- Share tasks/lists with others
- Access tasks from any device
- Set repeating tasks
- Integrates with Gmail, Google Cal, Evernote, Alexa
With Remember the Milk, staying organized and accountable to your duties provides a sense of accomplishment. Crossing completed tasks off structured to-do lists gives dopamine boosts to your ADHD brain.
6. Clean Email – Organize Messy Inboxes
Email overload causes anxiety for many busy professionals. Clean Email delivers a high-IQ solution for automatically decluttering unwieldy inboxes.
It instantly gets rid of low-value emails like newsletters and notifications. It also unsubscribes you from email lists saving you future headaches. Useful features include:
- One-click unsubscribe from email lists
- Instantly delete, archive or label groups of emails
- Block unwanted emails from distracting you again
- Keep emails organized in folder structure
- Sync seamlessly across devices
Clean Email reduces the stressful mental load of an overflowing inbox. By mindfully curating your email landscape, it alleviates the distractibility email often causes for ADHD individuals. Less digital disorder grants more mental space for completing important tasks.
7. Bear Notes – Organize Thoughts and Ideas
Bear provides a delightful notebook app for jotting down text notes, sketches and to-do lists. Its versatile tools assist with organizing thoughts and capturing ideas into shareable documents.
Bear‘s intuitive tagging system helps associate notes by themes. This assists greatly with idea consolidation for ADHD minds prone to racing thoughts. Useful Bear features include:
- Hashtags help organize notes by themes
- Sketch drawings, diagrams and screenshots
- Export notes to share in multiple formats
- Encrypts notes locally for privacy
- Syncs seamlessly across Apple devices
Bear‘s versatility, organization and focus on clarity empower note-taking helpful for reducing cognitive overload from unchecked ideas. By regularly emptying brain thoughts into Bear, you process ideas into concrete words unlocking your creativity.
8. Productive Habit Tracker – Build Better Routines
Consistently achieving goals requires organized effort which can perplex those with executive function challenges. Productive provides effective scaffolding for constructing daily habits and routines.
Tailored habit planning features allow you to set reminders promoting accountability. Positive reinforcement builds motivation to maintain progress on all types of life goals. Advantages of Productive include:
- Schedule unlimited daily tasks and to-do items
- Customizable smart reminders to complete habits
- Track streaks for sense of achievement
- Analyze performance insights over time
- Available across all devices
By formalizing routines and persistently tracking accomplishment of small wins, Productive’s system boosts motivation reducing distraction tendencies of ADHD.
9. Forest – Beat Phone Addiction
Smartphone addiction sabotages productivity for many digital natives. Forest gamifies beating tech compulsions using fun motivation mechanics.
The app allows growing virtual trees which flourish by simply leaving your phone alone and staying focused on tasks. If you can’t resist the urge to check your phone, the tree withers.
Forest mechanics include:
- Grow inspiring lush forests while staying focused over time
- Track how many trees you’ve successfully cultivated
- Set up reminders to take healthy breaks
- Integration with task apps for extra motivation
By satisfying innate human needs for reward and a sense of progress, Forest taps into ADHD cravings for stimulation and excitement helping discipline device usage and sustain attention.
Start Improving Focus Today
Attention-grabbing apps provide effective assistance with minimizing daily ADHD struggles. By taking advantage of tools purpose-built to enhance organization, productivity and concentration, you can start optimizing days right away.
As with starting any new system, avoid overhauling everything simultaneously which tends to backfire. Pick 1-2 apps complementary to your needs for a trial run. Gradually expand your toolkit for managing symptoms only as makes sense for your lifestyle.
We also recommend exploring mindful meditation using Calm or Headspace to strengthen mental muscle helpful for minimizing ADHD impacts long-term. Creating a personalized app stack gives you added means to thrive and reduces feeling overwhelmed.
