“I know what I need to do, but I can’t start.”
Task paralysis
An ADHD planner for iPhone · Free · Offline
The ADHD to-do app that’s already set up.
Most productivity apps hand you a blank canvas and say good luck. Second Brain ships with a library of real life-admin tasks, guided morning and evening routines, and recovery flows for the days your brain just won’t start. No subscription. No account. No tracking. Just a calmer to-do list.
Who it’s for
If any of this sounds uncomfortably familiar, keep reading.
Second Brain is built for adults with ADHD, executive dysfunction, and anyone whose relationship with to-do apps is mostly guilt. Especially the people who keep downloading new productivity apps and abandoning them within a week.
“Writing out all my tasks from scratch is exhausting.”
Setup fatigue“I set up systems, then abandon them within days.”
System churn“Long task lists make me freeze up completely.”
List overwhelm“I forget tasks until it’s already too late.”
Time blindness“Low-energy days derail everything I’ve built up.”
Energy crashesHow it works
Three ideas, working together.
Second Brain isn’t a blank notebook. It’s a system that’s already been thought through — one you can start using in minutes and tune over time.
A task library, not a blank page.
Browse 20+ pre-configured life-admin tasks broken into tiny subtasks. Tap, add, done.
- Daily life · Health
- Finance · Relationships
- Home · Work · Digital
- Car · Insurance
Guided routines, one step at a time.
Flows appear when they’re relevant (e.g. morning window, 4am–11am) and walk you through each task as a single card — with a progress dot above it.
- Morning Routine
- Evening Wind-Down
- Sunday Reset
- Bare Minimum Days
Recovery flows for bad brain days.
When you’re stuck, tap a check-in and launch a short flow built for low-energy, low-capacity moments. No guilt. Just the smallest next step.
- Get Unstuck
- Reset & breathe
- Tiny wins only
Basic Morning Routine
Appears between 4:00 AM and 11:00 AM, every day.
Step 01
Sit up, feet on floor
- Push the covers aside
- Swing your legs over the edge
- Place both feet flat
Step 02
Brush your teeth
- Wet brush, apply paste
- Brush for two minutes
- Rinse and clean brush
Step 03
Take your medication
- Check what’s due
- Take with a full glass of water
- Return to its usual place
Step 04
Get dressed
- Pick an outfit
- Put it on
- Put pyjamas away
What’s inside
Small details, designed for ADHD brains.
Every choice in the app is made through one filter: does this reduce friction for someone whose brain makes "just start" feel impossible?
Recurring tasks that re-create themselves.
Complete a recurring task and the next instance is cloned automatically — subtasks and all. You never re-create something you’ve already set up once.
Guided card UI, not an endless list.
Flows show you a single task as a card with subtasks inside it. Progress dots above. Swipe or tap to advance. No overwhelming scroll.
Low, medium, high — tagged on every task.
Tasks are tagged by the effort they take, so you can match what you do to the energy you actually have on a given day.
Your current task rises to the top.
The task you’re working on moves to the top automatically, so when you come back to the app after a distraction, you don’t lose your place.
A built-in 25-minute timer.
Pomodoro-style focus sessions, right inside a task. No external app. No context switch.
Three gentle moments a day.
Morning, midday, and evening check-ins surface the right flow for that time — and offer a recovery flow if you’re having a rough one.
Your data never leaves your phone.
No account. No server. No analytics. No advertising SDKs. Everything lives in Apple’s CoreData on-device, and deleting the app deletes it all.
Free to download. No subscription.
The ADHD community distrusts heavy subscription apps for a reason. Second Brain is a one-time download.
How it compares
Why Second Brain, and not something else?
There are plenty of task apps. Most of them expect you to do the hardest part — designing the system — before you can use them. Here’s how Second Brain differs.
| Second Brain | Generic to-do apps | Notion / Obsidian | Habit trackers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ships with pre-built tasks | Yes — 20+ ready to use | No | No (templates only) | No |
| Guided routines, not blank pages | Yes — card-by-card | No | Manual setup | Habits, not routines |
| Recovery mode for bad days | Yes — dedicated flows | No | No | No |
| Works offline | Yes, fully | Varies | Partial | Varies |
| No subscription | Free download | Usually paid | Paid tiers | Usually paid |
| Zero data collection | Local-only | Cloud-based | Cloud-based | Usually cloud |
FAQ
Questions people ask.
What is Second Brain?
Second Brain is an iPhone task manager designed for adults with ADHD. Instead of asking you to build your own system from scratch, it ships with a library of pre-configured life-admin tasks, guided routines, and recovery flows for low-energy days.
Who is Second Brain for?
Adults with ADHD, people with executive dysfunction, and anyone who repeatedly forgets recurring life admin — renewing prescriptions, paying bills, household upkeep. It’s especially useful for people who’ve tried Notion, Todoist, or habit trackers and abandoned them because the setup was exhausting.
How is it different from other ADHD apps or to-do lists?
Most ADHD and productivity apps give you a blank canvas and expect you to design the whole system. Second Brain ships with the system already built: a curated task library, pre-configured routines, and recovery flows for bad days. No subscription, no account, no data collection, works offline.
Is Second Brain free?
Yes — free to download from the App Store. There is no subscription and no in-app advertising.
Does Second Brain collect my data?
No. Second Brain stores all tasks locally on your device using Apple’s CoreData framework. No account is required, no analytics are collected, and no data is transmitted to any server. Deleting the app removes all data.
What platforms does it support?
Second Brain is available on iPhone through the Apple App Store. It requires iOS 17 or later and is built with SwiftUI and CoreData.
How do recurring tasks work?
Complete a recurring task and the next instance is cloned automatically — all subtasks included. You never re-create a task you already set up once. This is the Autopilot Engine.
What is a Flow or routine?
A Flow is an ordered, time-windowed routine — for example, a morning routine that surfaces between 4am and 11am. Flows show one task at a time with a progress indicator, which reduces overwhelm and helps with task initiation.
What are recovery flows?
Short on-demand routines for low-energy days and moments of task paralysis — for example, “Get Unstuck”: three tiny steps to break out of a freeze. Triggered through in-app check-ins rather than running on a schedule.
How do I add new tasks?
Browse the built-in task library and add tasks with a tap. You can also create your own custom tasks, or add library tasks directly to a routine.
Privacy-first, by design
No account. No tracking. Your data stays on your phone.
Second Brain stores everything locally using Apple’s CoreData — there’s no server, no analytics, no ad SDKs. Delete the app, delete the data. Read the full privacy policy →
Stop forgetting. Start finishing.
Free to download. No account. Your data stays on your phone.
Download on the App Store