Creative work with ADHD often stalls in the moments around the work: the idea with nowhere to go, the task too big to start, the hour that vanished, the long stretch of opening things before you can begin. The good news? Each of these five Mac apps takes aim at exactly one of those moments.
Why the moments around the work matter
If you've ever sat down full of energy for a project and then lost the whole morning before the project even started, you already know this part. The creative work itself is often the fun bit. It's the edges that get slippery:
- An idea shows up while you're in the middle of something else, and there's nowhere quick to put it.
- The next task is clear in your head but enormous on paper, so starting feels impossible.
- You open your laptop to check one thing, and suddenly it's lunchtime.
- You know exactly what to do, and you still can't get yourself to begin.
- Before you can even start, you have to reopen a dozen files, folders and tabs, and each one is a fresh chance to wander.
Each app below is matched to one of those moments. You don't need all five. Read through, notice which moment made you nod the hardest, and start there.
1. Drafts: somewhere for the idea to land
The moment: an idea arrives in the middle of something else. Stop to file it properly and you lose the task. Ignore it and you lose the idea.
How Drafts helps: it opens to a blank page with the keyboard ready. No title, no folder, no decision. Type the thought and go back to work. Everything lands in an inbox where you can tag it, flag it or archive it later, when you have attention to spare. Actions send text onward, to Reminders, a message or a file, so a captured idea can become a task in one step. It syncs across Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, so ideas you catch away from the desk are waiting when you sit down.
Favorite trick: on the Mac, Drafts has a small capture window you can open from any app with ⇧ ⌘ 2, as long as Drafts is running. Type, save, and you're right back where you were. If that shortcut clashes with something else, you can change it in Drafts' settings. Prefer talking? Drafts supports dictation too, which is lovely for ideas that arrive faster than you can type.
2. Goblin Tools: make the first step smaller
The moment: the task is clear, but it's too big to start. "Finish the brand deck" has no obvious first move.
How Goblin Tools helps: its Magic ToDo tool takes a task and breaks it into smaller steps, and any step can be broken down again. A spiciness setting, from one to five chili peppers, hints at how hard the task feels today; more peppers means smaller steps. It's a collection of small, single-task tools made by one independent developer, mostly designed to help neurodivergent people. The website version is free, and the app runs on Macs with Apple silicon. It uses AI, so treat the list as a draft you can edit, not a set of instructions.
Two more tools worth a click:
- Compiler turns a ramble into to-dos. Brain-dump everything about the project in one messy paragraph, and it tries to pull out the actionable items for you.
- Estimator gives a rough guess at how long an activity might take. It's not exact (and it says so itself), but it's a friendly reality check before you promise yourself six things before lunch.
3. Session: time you can see
The moment: you sit down to check one thing and look up much later. Many people with ADHD describe time as hard to feel while it's passing.
How Session helps: before a session starts, you state your focus in a few words. A Pomodoro-style timer then runs, so the time you have left is always in view; Session suggests building momentum with 25-minute sessions. On the Mac, Session can block the apps and websites you choose for the length of the session, then bring them back when it ends. Its website blocker works with Safari, Chrome, Brave and Microsoft Edge. Afterwards it asks you to reflect, and over time its stats show where your focus actually went, which beats guessing.
Getting-started tip: make your stated focus tiny and specific. "Rough out three logo sketches" works much better than "branding." If you work with a team, Session can also update your Slack status when a timer starts and stops, so people know you're heads-down without you having to announce it. It syncs between Mac, iPhone and iPad.
4. FaceTime or Focusmate: a body double
The moment: you know exactly what to do, and you still can't start on your own.
How it helps: body doubling means working alongside another person who's busy with their own task. Many people with ADHD describe it as a surprisingly effective way to get going. The simplest version is already on your Mac: FaceTime a friend, keep cameras on, say what you're each working on, mute, and check in at the end.
If nobody's free, Focusmate pairs you with another person for a scheduled 25, 50 or 75 minute video session. You share your goals, work quietly, then check in. It runs in the browser, so there's nothing to install, and it has a free tier.
Good to know: it isn't only for desk work. Focusmate welcomes all kinds of tasks, from writing and art to cleaning and cooking, as long as you stay on camera. If you click with someone, you can add them as a favorite partner and book with them again, and calendar sync keeps your sessions next to everything else on your schedule.
5. Canopy CMD: less setup before you begin
The moment: before creative work can start, you have to reopen everything it needs: the design file, the reference windows, the client folder, the brief. Every one of those steps is a chance to get pulled somewhere else.
How Canopy helps: This one is ours. Canopy's workgroups let you name the windows that belong to one project. Pick the group's chip in the switcher and only its windows show; release, and the whole group comes forward. Windows you closed stay in the group marked Restore, and ⌘ ↵ reopens them all: browser windows at their page, folders, documents, and apps that weren't running yet. You can also hide other apps while you work. Canopy never moves or resizes your windows.
Easiest way in: right-click any window's card in the switcher to add it to a group. Or let Canopy do the noticing: it can spot windows you keep switching between, and sets of windows that tend to be open together, and suggest a group. Nothing is saved until you say yes, and your workgroups stay on your Mac. Our workgroups guide walks through the setup step by step.
If you'd rather use something built in, the Shortcuts app can open a set of apps and web pages in one go. It won't know which windows belong together, but it does shorten the setup.
Putting it all together
One gentle creative morning
If it helps to see how these fit, here's one way a creative morning might run:
- Bring the project back in one step (Canopy, or a shortcut).
- Break the first task down until the first step feels small (Goblin Tools).
- Start a session with that step as your focus (Session).
- Catch stray ideas without stopping (Drafts).
- If starting still won't happen, find a body double (FaceTime or Focusmate).
Notice what's missing from that list? Willpower! Each step removes a decision or a delay, so there's less standing between you and the actual work. That's a much kinder plan than "just try harder."
Try this: one moment, one week
Shiny new tools are so much fun to set up! That's exactly why it helps to add them slowly. Here's a tiny plan:
- Pick your moment. Which of the five stings most? Just one.
- Install one app. Only the app for that moment. Resist the urge to set up all five tonight.
- Give it a trigger. Tie it to something you already do: "When I open my laptop, I start a session," or "When an idea pops up, ⇧ ⌘ 2."
- Use it for five working days. Imperfectly is fine. Skipped a day? No big deal, just pick it back up.
- Check in at the end of the week. Did that moment get easier? Keep it. Didn't help? Let it go without guilt and try another.
When an app isn't the answer
A quick, honest note. Tools can ease the friction around your work, but they can also become their own distraction. Setting up the perfect system can feel so productive that it quietly replaces the work itself. If you catch yourself tweaking settings instead of making things, that's your cue to close the settings and open the project.
And some days, no app will fix it. That's okay. If focus or getting started feels hard in a way that affects your whole life, not just your workflow, a doctor or specialist is the right person to talk to, not a productivity blog.
The goal isn't a perfect system. It's fewer places where the day can quietly slip away. We wrote more about that in Your work is already open. Why is it so hard to find?
Quick answers
Do I need all five apps?
Nope! Start with the one moment that costs you the most. Plenty of people only ever need one or two of these.
Which ones can I try for free?
FaceTime comes with your Mac, the Goblin Tools website is free, and Focusmate has a free tier. Canopy is free during the beta, which runs through December 31, 2026.
Is body doubling with a stranger awkward?
It can feel a little odd the first time. The format keeps things simple, though: a quick hello, your goals, heads down, then a check-in at the end. If you'd rather ease in, FaceTime a friend first.
