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ADHD
An ADHD planner and practical tools for adults
I was diagnosed with ADHD in 2017, at 31, two years after I put the Self Journal on Kickstarter. I'd built that first planner to keep my own head on straight: somewhere to put my thoughts so I'd stop dropping them.
My phone is a productivity app graveyard. I need time to be physical, something I can see in front of me. These are tools, not treatment. My story is here.
Cathryn Lavery
Plan, people, phone
Most of what we make is something you can hold. Each one is for a different place an ADHD brain tends to lose time.
Losing the plan
An ADHD planner that keeps the finish line close
A goal a year away is too far off to feel real, so it waits until November. The Self Journal is a 13-week goal planner. You set one goal, map out the 13 weeks, and plan each day on paper, with a morning page and an evening page. We picked 13 weeks so the finish line stays close enough to see.
If you'd rather see the whole week at once, the BestSelf Planner gives you a two-page spread per week. The Weekly and Project Action Pads are 100 tear-off sheets each, for breaking a week or a project into steps on one page.
In a randomized trial, adults with ADHD whose therapy included training in a calendar and task-list system were about twice as likely to respond as those given relaxation and education (67% vs. 33%). The planner was one part of a larger therapy. Source: Safren et al., JAMA, 2010.
A long term goal never holds my attention, but the short little wins are available each day.
This journal has really improved my ability to organize my day and my priorities as a graduate student with ADHD.
I was recently diagnosed with ADHD and general anxiety, and had a hard time keeping track of anything.
Losing the thread with people
ADHD and relationships
When your attention goes in ten directions, you can sit across from someone you love and realize you've only talked about errands for a month. Our conversation decks hand you the question, so you don't have to think one up at the end of a long day.
They play like a game and get people talking: the Intimacy Deck for couples, developed with psychologists and relationship therapists; the Little Talk Deck for parents and kids; the Icebreaker Deck for everyone else; and digital game decks on your phone. See all our conversation decks.
Had been divorced
Adults who reported an ADHD diagnosis
28%
Similar adults without one
15%
Biederman et al., Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 2006. 1,001 U.S. adults; diagnosis self-reported.
In a well-known psychology study, pairs who took turns answering gradually more personal questions felt closer afterward than pairs who made small talk. The pairs were strangers, not couples. Source: Aron et al., Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 1997.
Losing hours to your phone
A phone blocker you have to get up for
If the phone is in your hand, you'll open the app eventually. Helm is a solid brass key for your phone, with no battery. Pick the apps that pull you away, tap your phone on Helm, and they stay locked until you get up and tap it again. Keep Helm in another room while you work and the walk does the deciding.
It's also an alarm only your Helm turns off, and Helm for Mac does the same job on your computer.
In a large randomized experiment, letting people set limits on their own future screen time substantially reduced how much they used their phones. The study looked at the general public, not people with ADHD. Source: Allcott, Gentzkow and Song, American Economic Review, 2022.
Having a physical tool has been a completely different experience and the first time I've had a tool like this work for me.
Find your tool
Here's how to
Manage yourself
Planners and pads that put the plan on paper, where you can see it.
Here's how to
Manage your relationships
Card decks that play like a game and get people talking, for couples, families, friends and people you've just met. See all our conversation decks.
Here's how to
Manage your relationship with technology
Helm is a solid brass key that locks the apps on your phone until you get up and tap it again. Helm for Mac does the same on your computer.
Questions
Is this a treatment for ADHD?
No. None of our products treat or cure ADHD. They're practical tools: paper planners, card decks and a brass key for your phone that help you get tasks out of your head and put some distance between you and your apps. If you need clinical support, talk to a doctor.
Which ADHD planner should I start with?
If you have one big goal you keep putting off, start with the Self Journal: 13 weeks, with a morning and evening page each day. If you'd rather see the whole week at a glance, get the BestSelf Planner.
How do the decks help with ADHD and relationships?
At the end of a long day, starting a real conversation takes effort you might not have left. A deck takes away the part where you think up a question. Draw a card, read it out loud, and listen.
Who makes these?
BestSelf, run by Cathryn Lavery from Austin, Texas. She was diagnosed with ADHD in 2017, two years after she made the Self Journal for herself. Read her story.
