Straight answers about ADHD and starting
These are the questions people actually type. The answers are meant to be useful on their own, whether or not you ever use Navis. Where Navis is relevant it is named at the end of an answer rather than woven through it, so you can skip that part.
This page is not medical advice and none of it is a diagnosis. Navis is a planner, not a medical device, and if ADHD is affecting your life the person to talk to is a doctor.
Why is it so hard to start a task when you have ADHD?
Because the difficulty is not in knowing what to do. It sits in the step between deciding and moving, which is a function of the brain's reward and attention systems rather than of willpower or planning. A task with no immediate reward and a vague first step gives that system nothing to lock onto, so nothing happens, and the longer nothing happens the larger the task becomes.
This is why Navis pays you the moment you press Start rather than when you finish, and why it shows one task instead of a list. The reward has to arrive before the work, because the work is what needs starting.
What is task paralysis and how do you get out of it?
Task paralysis is being unable to begin despite knowing exactly what needs doing and wanting to do it. It is common with ADHD and it usually gets worse the more options are visible, because every option is a decision and every decision is a chance to stall.
The way out that tends to work is removing the choice. Have something else pick one thing, make the first step small enough to be embarrassing, and start a timer on it. Navis does exactly that: it chooses, it starts, and the screen shows one task and nothing else.
Do streaks help people with ADHD?
For most people they do the opposite. A streak is only motivating while it is intact. The day it breaks, the thing that was pulling you forward becomes a reason to stop, and with ADHD the missed day is not a question of if.
Navis has no streaks and nothing that resets to zero. A missed day costs nothing, because what stops people is rarely the missed day and almost always what the app says about it.
What is the best way to block distracting apps during study?
It depends on the device, and the honest answer is not the same on all of them. On Android an app can watch which app is in front and cover it, which is real blocking. On a computer a browser extension can block sites. On iPhone and iPad only a native app with Apple's Screen Time entitlement can hold other apps shut, so a website cannot do it at all.
Navis blocks apps on Android and sites on a computer. On iPhone it uses Focus mode, a lock screen card and repeated reminders instead, and says so plainly rather than implying it blocks anything.
Why do timers not work for me?
Often because the timer is visible. A countdown is a number, and a number you can check is a number you check, which is a small interruption repeated a hundred times. The other common reason is that the timer starts and nothing else changes, so the phone is still the phone.
Navis hides the countdown during a session, puts a progress bar on the lock screen for when you genuinely want it, and changes the phone at the same time: Do Not Disturb on, chosen apps shut where it can, reminders while it runs.
How long should an ADHD study session be?
Shorter than most advice suggests, at least at first. Twenty-five minutes is the usual starting point, not because it is optimal but because it is short enough to agree to. The right length is the longest one you will actually begin, and that number goes up on its own once beginning stops being the hard part.
Navis offers 25, 50 and 90 minutes and remembers what you pick. Going over is fine and counts.
Is there a free ADHD planner app?
Several, with different trade-offs. Most free planners are lists with reminders, which help if your problem is remembering. If your problem is starting, a list is not the missing piece and can make things worse by presenting twelve decisions at once.
Navis is free while in beta, works in a browser without installing anything, and is built around starting rather than listing.
What is body doubling and does it work?
Body doubling is working alongside somebody else, in person or not, so that starting and staying are slightly less optional. Many people with ADHD find it one of the more reliable interventions, and there is a straightforward reason: it adds a small social cost to stopping, which is exactly the pressure that is missing when working alone.
Navis has sessions you can run with a friend, agreed by both and rescheduled by either.
Can an app replace ADHD medication or therapy?
No, and anything claiming otherwise is worth closing. Tools change how much friction sits between you and a task. They do not treat a condition, and they are not a substitute for talking to a doctor about one.
Navis is a planner. It is not a medical device, it diagnoses nothing, and it treats nothing.
What should an ADHD app never do?
Punish. Guilt is the most common design mistake in this category: the red badge, the broken streak, the weekly summary of what you did not do. It works for a fortnight and then people stop opening the app, because opening it feels bad.
Navis has no red, no penalties and no language about falling behind. It is blunt about a situation and never about the person, which is a distinction worth holding onto.
Still stuck?
If the thing you are stuck on is starting rather than deciding, that is the specific problem Navis is built for. It is free while in beta and runs in a browser, so there is nothing to install to find out.