Building a Productivity App for ADHD Fatigue and Brain Fog
A body-doubling and energy-adaptive task planner that helps ADHD/fatigued freelancers break work into completable chunks and stay accountable without relying on willpower.
How can I stay productive despite constant fatigue?
I've been dealing with unknown health issues. I've been doing everything in my power to get them figured out, but due to a congested health care system, my tests are all months out. I'm tired all the time, but no amount of sleep satisfies my fatigue. I somehow need to get my work back on track. They think it may be sleep issues and/or ADHD. I can stay disciplined when it comes to my physical health. I eat healthy, exercise, and go to bed on time. For some reason, this doesn't require too much effort. Though, when it comes to any mental tasks like my work, I can not seem to push through. I'm currently self-employed as a freelance programmer and do some product design as well. So the work is very technical. I get very little done right now. My thinking isn't sharp, and my mind drifts often. How can I make myself "do the thing" while feeling like falling asleep? I've already wasted almost six months, barely moving forward. I don't want to wait any longer. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
The problem, in the searcher’s words
I'm exhausted all the time no matter how much I sleep, and it's wrecking my ability to do technical/mental work even though my physical discipline (diet, exercise, bedtime) is fine. Something that used to take an hour now takes five. My tests for ADHD/sleep issues are months out, so I need ways to 'do the thing' right now, not after a diagnosis.
Standard productivity advice (just push through, use willpower, block distractions) doesn't work when the problem is that my brain's capacity itself has dropped, not my motivation. I want workarounds for functioning through unpredictable low-energy stretches as a self-employed/freelance worker, since I can't just call in sick to my own business.
What the thread shows
Several people independently describe the same pattern — ADHD/chronic-fatigue brain fog making technical work take far longer than it should — and reach for informal coping tools (body doubling, public co-working, TV-triggered autopilot) rather than naming any purpose-built app.
“It feels like I want to do the work and am willing to put in the effort but my brain just wants to sleep all day instead so it's a battle.”
“But it's like my mental work capacity has lowered from the tiredness, something I know I could do before in an hour takes five for example.”
“it helps a lot for me to work in a public space like a coffee shop or public library. Even if I am tired, I find that being in a public space kind of forces me to do the work in front of me.”
“Use a body double as often as possible (people you know or a paid service)”
Target customer
Who
Self-employed knowledge workers (freelance programmers, designers) with undiagnosed or diagnosed ADHD/chronic fatigue who must keep producing technical work despite low, unpredictable mental energy.
Context
They hit this when generic productivity advice (discipline, routine, better environment) fails because the root cause is physiological/cognitive, and formal diagnosis or treatment is months away due to healthcare wait times.
What to build
- Scheduled live or async body-doubling sessions paired with dedicated work blocks
- Daily energy check-in that adjusts task suggestions (e.g., 15-minute micro-tasks on low-energy days)
- Pre-built task breakdown templates for technical/creative work
- Curated 'work mode' audio/video triggers tied to specific task types
- Simple session log to track energy patterns over weeks/months
Build note — Would need calendar and possibly live video/audio infrastructure for body doubling; wearable-data correlation is a nice-to-have that introduces health-data privacy handling, not a core MVP requirement.
Later, if it lands
Who’s already out there
Pairs users for scheduled live video body-doubling work sessions.
Gap: No adaptive task-sizing for low-energy days and no structured breakdown of technical work — it's pure accountability, not task planning for variable cognitive capacity.
Visual daily planner marketed specifically at ADHD users, with time-blocking and reminders.
Gap: Built around scheduling, not around real-time energy state or body-doubling accountability, which is what commenters describe actually helping them push through.
Demand read
No one in the thread states they would pay or already pays for a tool; kaidomac mentions a 'paid [body double] service' only as a hypothetical option, not a purchase. Demand here is evidenced by shared coping behavior, not spending.
Worth digging into before you build
5 to considerNo idea is a sure thing at this stage — these are open questions worth checking yourself, not a verdict against building it.
Sensitive Domain
Thread centers on undiagnosed fatigue and possible ADHD/mental health diagnosis; needs editorial review before publishing.
Not Software Solvable
The core pain — chronic fatigue and delayed medical/ADHD diagnosis — requires healthcare, not an app; productivity workarounds discussed are secondary coping, not a fix.
Weak Demand
No willingness-to-pay statements appear anywhere in the thread; all suggestions offered are free coping strategies.
Generic Idea
ADHD/focus productivity is a saturated app category (Focusmate, Tiimo, Forest, etc. already exist), making differentiation and ranking difficult.
Verify Competitors
Tiimo's feature set was inferred from general knowledge, not confirmed against the thread; verify before publishing.