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- How Notion Became My ADHD Superpower
Hello, unscattered friend!
As someone navigating life with ADHD, I have spent too much time feeling like my mind was on hyperdrive. Ideas living in my head, yet an empty to-do list. It was stressful, uncoordinated, and caused me to get absolutely nothing of importance done. Then I met the organization tool of all tools: Notion.
Why off-the-shelf planners fail our ADHD brains
I used to buy every fancy planner I could find—pretty layouts, daily checklists, mood trackers. Week one? Gorgeous. But week two? Blank pages just sitting there, mocking me. My heart sank whenever I opened it, like I was failing before I even began. It was so intimidating!
When tools aren’t built for our scattered minds, they become just another chore. I’d feel anxious for “not being organized,” and guilty knowing tasks were slipping through the cracks.
How I turned Notion into my ADHD life manager
Enter Notion, the chameleon of productivity. Here’s what saved me:
Custom toggles for brain dumps and priority tasks. I am now able to collapse the noise and focus on what matters now.
Automated date filters that surface only today’s and this week’s items. No more overwhelm from future tasks.
Color-coded project boards that match my personal energy rhythms. I use teal for creative work, orange for admin tasks, purple for planning.
Databases that connect to each other, and are easily viewed in different formats like table, calendar, board, and gallery.
Cross-device syncing helped me keep everything I needed at my fingertips. Laptop for doing my work, tablet for using during in-person meetings, phone for capturing ideas on-the-go. It’s available on IOS and Windows
Now, instead of guilt or anxiety, opening Notion feels like I’m slipping on noise-cancelling headphones and into my own little world of productivity. My mind is calm, my to-dos are clear, and I actually manage to stay on task. Imagine that!
How to get Notion (it’s free!)
Simply head to notion.io and set up your account. It’s available for use on IOS and Windows systems as a native app, or you can use its web-based interface. As mentioned above, it has phone and tablet apps as well.
Notion comes with some pre-built templates for you, plus you have the freedom to build your own, which is truly the beauty of it all!
If you’d rather skip building from scratch, you can find many pre-made templates on Notion’s in-app marketplace, or check out my favorites. These layouts already include the basics you need to get started—so you can dive right in.
No fluff—just the ADHD-tested tools I use every day to stay on track.
AI Prompt of the Week
Ready to dive into Notion without the overwhelm?
Use the prompt below to have ChatGPT build you an ADHD-friendly starter workspace—complete with toggles, databases, and review pages—so you can jump straight into organizing your life.
“Act as an ADHD-friendly Notion setup assistant. I’m starting from scratch—walk me through creating:
1. A Daily Dashboard page with:
- A ‘Today’ toggle for top 3 tasks
- A ‘Brain Dump’ section to jot and collapse stray thoughts
- A ‘Quick Notes’ area for random ideas
2. A Project Tracker database with:
- Properties: Name, Status (To Do/In Progress/Done), Due Date
- A view filtered to show only ‘In Progress’ items
- Color-coding suggestions for each status
3. A Weekly Review page featuring:
- Checkboxes for Wins & Lessons
- A synced calendar view of this week’s tasks
- Prompts for what to plan next
Give me clear, copy-and-pasteable Notion block instructions and a few color palette recommendations to keep it visually clean.”
Paste the above into ChatGPT to get a concise, actionable blueprint for your new Notion workspace, perfect for jumping in fast!
Thank you for being a valued subscriber! I truly appreciate each and every one of you. 🫶
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