Since sharing my adult ADHD diagnosis online, I have met more and more entrepreneurs who have it as well. Surprisingly we are drawn to each other and often end up working for ourselves. Running a business with ADHD means finding tools that work with your brain, not against it. After a lot of trial and error I thought I would share my toolkit that helps me stay focused and organized without fighting my natural patterns.

Timing is Everything: Cuckoo

Ever lost hours scrolling through TikTok when you should be working? Enter Cuckoo, my daily MVP. It’s a simple productivity timer with a twist – you can use it solo or with team members. The cute timer keeps me off my phone and signals when it’s time to switch tasks, acting like a gentle accountability partner without the pressure.

My Second Brain: Notion

Client work requires organization, but traditional systems never stuck. Notion changed that. It’s flexible enough to adapt to how my brain works, letting me store client content plans, random 2 AM ideas, and project timelines all in one place. With built-in reminders and calendars, it’s become my reliable second brain.

Time Management Made Real: Google Calendar

Time blindness and forgetting appointments is unfortunately how my brain works! I utilize Google Calendar to manage it with colour-coding (work/life separation for the win!) and multiple reminders because we all know one isn’t enough. I also find this helpful because I can look at my calendar on the go and know who needs to be where and when!

AI Assistance That Actually Helps

Meeting notes? Covered by Fathom AI. It takes notes for me so I can stay present in virtual meetings. When the meeting is done it sends me a breakdown of the meeting along with action items for myself and key topics discussed. And for those chaotic thought dumps? Cleft Notes has become my secret weapon. It can voice record a meeting or your brain dump and then send it to you as a nicely compiled word document instead of chaos. It can also export directly to Slack or Notion which is great for getting those notes where they need to be!

While no single tool is perfect, this combination creates a system that works for my ADHD brain. It helps me show up consistently for both my clients and family in the best way I can!

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