In this blogpost I want to look at different Apps that can help people that are stuggling with adhd, especially with structuring and organization of tasks and time management and productivity timers.
| Name | Downloads | Rating | Price | Features | Avalability |
| Forest | >10 Mio. | 4,7 | Free, limited features 5€/Month | Zeiterfassung, Gamefication | Mobile devices, Tablets |
| Focus To-Do Promodoro Timer | >5 Mio. | 4,6 | Free, limited features 5€/3 Months | Zeiterfassung, Taskerfassung, taskmanagement | All Devices |
| Any.Do | >10 Mio. | 4,1 | Free, limited features 8$/Month | Taskerfassung, Taskmanagement Kalender, Shared Workspace | All Devices |
| Todoist | >10 Mio. | 4,5 | Free, limited features 5€/Month | Taskerfassung, Taskmanagement | All Devices |
| Fabulous | >10 Mio. | 4,3 | free for 1 week 5€/Month | Gewohnheitstracker | Mobile Device |
| Focus@Will | 100.000 + | 3,3 | pay 10$ a Month | Fokusmusik | Mobile |
| Addie | 5000+ | 1,1 | pay | Zeiterfassung, Taskerfassung, | Mobile |
Forest: Konzentriert Bleiben
Forist a gamified app that uses a virtual tree to encourage focus and discourage phone use during work or study sessions. If you exit Forest your tree dies, by staying in the app it will grow bigger.
Positiv:
- it keeps your focus on tasks
- fun and gamefied way
- very cute engaging graffics
- not to many options (straightforward)
- well organised side menu
- tracking progress, achefment
Negativ:
- in app purchase pop ups
- can´t organize tasks
- paywall for many important features ex.:custom work tags
“Ich mag die Möglichkeit des Abbruchs, was dann durch einen toten Baum gekennzeichnet wird. Es sperrt also nicht komplett das Handy, was etwas selbstdisziplin erfordert. Meiner Meinung nach eine tolle app!”
Reflection:
It is a very fun way to keep people from distracting themselfs. As people with ADHD have low impuls controle, not beeing able to excit a work app surtainly is a promessing feature. But in my opinion this App lacks the possibility to organize tasks that need to be done.
Focus To-Do: Promodoro Timer
Focus To-Do is a time management app that utilizes the Pomodoro Technique, breaking work into intervals with breaks to improve productivity and maintain focus.
Positiv:
- easy acess timer
- add aproxemate time for task
- background noices
- Subdivide the task into subitems
- Indififualizable promodore settings
- Report Page
- in addition to tasks you can add Appointments
Negativ
- overwhelming Interface
- Ranking list could be toxic
- easy to loos overview
- no possibilitys of taking notes
- no overall Kalender for better organisation
- no Priority grouping
- Completed tasks arent grouped
- No Priority
“einen richtigen Kalender, so kann man Termine und Lernzeiten besser verknüpfen und hat alles auf einem Blick. So wie es aktuell gelöst ist finde ich es zu umständlich. Ich würde mir bei allem was man anlegt Raum für Notizen wünschen. Vorallem dann, wenn einem weitere Gedanken zu der Aufgabe einfallen.“
Reflection:
This seems to be a good app for neurotypical people. I found it quite confusing at first. There is no wizard to guide you through the process/ to make it easier. Even tho you are able to give the tasks prioritys, this does not have any affect on the way the tasks are presented. Everything Seems important
Any.do – Aufgaben + Kalender
Offers task management features, reminders, and the ability to create collaborative to-do lists.
Positiv:
- nice wizard guiding
- My Day: daily plannig made more intuative
- posibility to conect work tasks
- simpeler Interface
- Notes and attachments are possibile
- Adding Shopping lists
Negativ
- constant selling Pop ups
- priorisation very badly / smal not visibill at all
- Naviagtion is weird
- no timer to actually work on tasks
- difficult to add deatails to taks
Refection
This app has a clean and simple design witch makes it easyer to use. The naviagtion Process is not very intuituve and there is no way to mark and organize Prioritys of tasks in an efficent way. Also the Timetracking tool is missing here. And there are to many anoying Addvertisments.
“Mir hilft, dass sie mich durch Erinnerungen und Meldungen quasi zwingt, mich damit zu befassen”
“die Funktion “plane deinen Tag” die selbstständig auffordert; Bei anderen Planern muss ich vorher aktiv werden.”
Refection
This app has a clean and simple design witch makes it easyer to use. The naviagtion Process is not very intuituve and there is no way to mark and organize Prioritys of tasks in an efficent way. Also the Timetracking tool is missing here. And there are to many anoying Addvertisments.
Todoist: To-do-Liste & Planer
A task management app that allows users to create to-do lists, set due dates, and receive reminders to help stay organized and on top of their tasks.
Positiv:
- Adding tasks in detail by writing
- adding Tags for more organisation
- Intuitiv adding of Task
- Setting Reminders
- Eingang: alle tasks im überblick
- Wiederholungen Möglich
- most important feature always at hand +adding tasks
- Tagesziele
Negativ:
- nicht alles selbsterklärend / kein wizard
- navigation just okay
- no timer posibility
- Push benachrichtigungen nur permium
- no way of add estimate time
- log in is a must
- adding the time to a project is inconvinient
- can´t add aproximade the duration of a task
- you have to log in
“Man kann in verschiedene Prioritäten, Gruppen und Projekte unterteilen und Unteraufgaben erstellen. Man kann sich wiederholende Daten eingeben wie jeden Mittwoch. Es ist einstellbar, ob man Erinnerungen möchte. Allerdings sehe ich viele Optimierungsmöglichkeiten wie geschätzte Zeitdauer und Intensivität, Deadlines u.w.”
14 Februar
“Zu kompliziert gestaltet, die ganze app fühlt sich eher wie ein spiel an in dem man versucht täglich flammen zu behalten! Beim versuch das konto zu löschen benötigt man passwort welches man nie eingerichtet hat?”
April 2023
Refelction:
It seems to be a well working app. Adding tasks is the best I have seen so far, very detailed. Also individual pages. Adding Rotating tasks is also good, but still no way of actually takeling the tasks. the handling of prioritys is better in this application. Still the Onboarding process is not that good, having to find everything by myself.
Fabulous – Gewohnheit Planer
Gesunde tägliche Routinen erstellen. Erfolgbringende Gewohnheiten & Zielen
Positiv: very charming engagement, nice language, look and cozy, friendly feel, very nice design
Con: only manage habbits
Focus@Will
Durch Musik soll die Conzentration gesteitgert werden.
Positiv: hightend concentration, tracking progress
Con: sessions don´t have breaks, no task name
Addie – ADHD/ADHS Planer
An app that helps people with ADHD manage tasks, reduce overwhelm and get stuff done.
Pro: Detailed Prioritisation, takled Timeblindes, Reward system, cute design
Con: Payment needed
Learnings
After looking at all these different Apps I found that non of them realy does a good job at combining an efficent Taskmanager with a Produktivity Time. The App also has to take into account how its Design can affect neuro-divergent people. For excample random Pop-Ups can distract them from the task at hand, or in another cases they need those pop-ups to remind them/ getting them back on the task at hand.
- Managing your taks alone not enough- need timer to fullfill
- reminding you of important tasks
- Prioritasiation is very important
- Task need to be broken down
- other app exclusen in timer (way to keep people not dostracten) is needed
- it would be nice to have kind reminders to help you start difficult tasks( like: hey, you can do the job: jsut start your 5 min timer, ende: greate job do you want to keep on working?-yes-no I don´t feel ready)
future investigation:
- How can features of an app be designed to help ADHD peoble with prioritisation/ not get distracted by thair tasks.
- Witch features are espacially bad if used wrong for adhd people ex: Pop ups, animations
