This guide shares practical planning ideas. It isn't medical advice, and ARCO isn't a treatment for ADHD. If you're looking for diagnosis or treatment, talk to a doctor.
A lot of people with ADHD describe the same problems with planners: the list grows until it's overwhelming, time is hard to feel, starting is the hardest part, and one notification can send the whole morning sideways. Tools that need daily discipline to work tend to get dropped by Wednesday.
So the setup below aims for the opposite: visual, few decisions, and as much as possible happening on its own.
1. See time, don't just list tasks
A timeline where you can see the day, with a line showing now, makes time concrete. You can see that the next thing starts in 20 minutes, and that the afternoon is already full. A list can't show you that.
2. Keep "today" short
Pick three things for today and give each a time. Everything else goes to an "anytime" list, out of sight. A short day you finish feels better than a long one you abandon, and it makes tomorrow easier to start. See how to plan your day in 5 minutes.
3. Use timers to start, not just to stop
Starting is often the hardest part. A timer turns "write the report" into "work on the report for 15 minutes", which is easier to begin. Short rounds with real breaks, like Pomodoro, suit many people better than long sessions.
4. Let your phone block the rabbit holes
Deciding not to open TikTok, again and again all day, is exhausting. Deciding once is easier. In ARCO, Blocked Hours shut the apps you pick at the times you choose, and a focus session keeps them shut until its timer ends. No in-the-moment decisions needed.
5. Build routines that come back on their own
Morning and evening routines with fixed times sit on your timeline every day, so they don't have to be remembered. Habits can be a simple check, a count (water ×8) or a timer, and a skipped day doesn't break your streak in ARCO, which takes some of the all-or-nothing pressure off.
6. Make it visible
Widgets put your timeline, tasks and habits on the Home Screen, and focus sessions show on the Lock Screen. If the plan is in front of you every time you unlock the phone, it's harder to forget.