Brainlist ADHD Calendar

Tired of using your notes as a calendar? Sick of every calendar that never worked? I fixed it. Every entry shows up in your list AND your calendar. Tasks get prioritized FOR you. Perfect for ADHD.

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my Story and Inspiration

I have had ADHD since I was a child, unmedicated. And I tried HUNDREDS of calendars and went back to my notes app every. single. time. Using my notes app instead just worked so much better, quickly writing something down, as frictionless as possible. I knew my brain needed a list not a sheet but things would get lost all the time and I got so sick of forgetting things that I made Brainlist. One line on the home page (similar to a line in your notes app) and every entry shows up in the list AND your calendar. This might sound banal to someone who doesn’t have a neurodivergent brain but it genuinely changed my life. I wanted to get organized and finally stick with something, and that I definitely did.

What does Brainlist do?

It helps you keep track of your daily To Dos, especially if you struggle with normal calendars you should give this one a try. It has a list view that shows all events and tasks in one timeline AND a monthly calendar view that syncs automatically. Plus reminders, and multi-stage alerts (I know. What the notes app needed.) I made importing as easy as humanly possible to remove friction when you switch from a generic calendar. And not only is there a simple list, there is an Eisenhower importance/urgency Matrix (so you can finally pick which one to do first), and a spin-the-wheel picker for when you can't decide what to start with (takes the overwhelming feeling of decision away). You can keep task entries simple OR give notes, effort (for the matrix), time estimates (for the focus session), subtasks, and reminders. With Brain Dump you quickly capture type or dictate a thought and then you can get back to it later BECAUSE it shows up at the top of the home page until you looked at it again. So it doesn't actually get buried away forever. It also automatically blocks the time you need to get to a meeting for everyone who struggles with the perception of time and it gives reminders 15 mins before you have to leave^^

How Brainlist got built

I built it with someone I met through Instagram but mid way he decided he doesn’t want to continue and gave me full rights to everything we had built together so far. There is no bad blood but being non technical I ended up having to teach myself everything. Which is why I ignored this app for so long, until Shipaton came around! After I decided to commit to shipping this, it was a lot of trial and error and countless Claude Code Sessions, while asking for feedback from my community along the way.

Challenges I ran into building Brainlist

The first and biggest one was losing the person I started with. Not being technical AT ALL and learning everything from scratch was incredibly difficult but I made it. Another thing setting me back quite some time was getting the subscription with Apple set up, all the tax forms, actually getting an Apple Developer account because I never had one before. I had features breaking all the time or not working properly, then trying not to get rejected by Apple. I found a paywall bug AFTER I already submitted so I submitted again. Right now I struggle most with thinking it is not good enough. I shipped before I was totally ready because that's what everyone tells you to do, but really it is just scary. I am scared to do marketing because it's not good enough, but then again, what does good enough even mean? I get nice, helpful feedback, no one is telling me it is bad. I think getting over this imposter syndrome will be one of the biggest challenges.

Accomplishments that I am proud of

MY FIRST EVER APP IN THE APP STORE. like actually. a real app people are downloading. Approved at the first try! It only got rejected once for more information (because there was no review history) and then ACCEPTED. I actually can’t believe it. I now have 1) an Apple Developer Account, 2) an app, 3) a community giving me feedback, 4) so many people rooting for me. Also, I did it. I finished it alone even though I wanted to quit after my partner quit but I didn’t. I took it back on and I actually went through with it.

What I learned building Brainlist

So much. Not to give up, keep pushing, eventually it’s the last build. It took me 41 builds to be ready for the App Store (41 builds AFTER the app LOOKED done). I also questioned whether or not building in public is actually worth it. But now after I did this I have my answer: It is the best thing you can possibly do! Because even though only a fraction of your followers or views will comment under every video excited to see your app, the ones who do give you the most genuine, valuable feedback in the world! And it is 100% worth it to invest the time. For me it substituted my non existing waitlist and gave me enough feedback to ship a version 2 right away! Shipping something from scratch is definitely a journey and I learned so much through it. Today it took me 3 hours to vibe code another app and get it onto TestFlight. At the beginning of this challenge I didn’t even know what TestFlight was. Incredible character and skill development.

What's next for Brainlist

First of all: ship the android version because my community is HAUNTING me. On android I will ship v2 right away, on iOS submitting v2. And then: Brainlist is gonna be your new calendar. And I’ll convince you off of it. I will start my own UGC campaign posting on a dedicated account @getbrainlist every day. A/B testing, different faces and hooks. I have dozens of video scripts planned and will start production asap. I will post at least once a day until I blow up and when I do I will start boosting the posts until I replace my 9-5 income with Brainlist. I will keep posting my progress on my Building in Public account @hopflara and see where the journey takes me.

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