Tempo

Your day, on one gentle dial

Tempo's home screen is a dial that runs from the time you wake up (at the top) all the way round to bedtime. Every time block is a coloured slice: tangerine for deep work, blue for admin, green for chores, pink for self-care and so on. A needle points at the current time, the part of the day that's already gone is gently veiled, and the centre shows the time and how much of your day is left — "4h 20m of day left" says more than a clock ever does.

That's the heart of Tempo as an ADHD planner: it turns time into something you can see. If you know the feeling of looking up and finding the whole afternoon has vanished, a visual schedule is the fix. Next to the dial, a plum card shows what you're doing now and how many minutes are left, with the next block underneath, and a butter-yellow card holds the One Thing — the single task that would make today a win. Below sits a week strip so you can jump to tomorrow and plan it the same way.

Time blocking with tiny steps

Tempo is a time blocking planner first. Instead of a long to-do list, every task gets a block of time with:

• a start time and length (15, 30, 45, 60 or 90 minutes, or anything you type),
• one of eight categories — deep work, admin, chores, self-care, move, social, errands and rest,
• the energy it needs — low, medium or high,
• optional tiny steps: "open the doc", "write three bullet points", "put on shoes".

Tiny steps matter more than they look. Starting is usually the hardest part of a task, and a first step that feels almost silly is far easier to begin than "write the report". Tick the steps off right on the timeline and the block shows 2/4, 3/4, done.

The timeline under the dial lists the day in order, with free gaps marked ("Free · 45 min") and a Fill button that adds a block right there. Each block has a big tick circle and a menu with Focus on this, Snooze 15 min, Move to tomorrow, Skip it today, Back to the brain dump and Delete. Skipped blocks don't count against you. Copy day copies a whole day — handy when your Mondays all look the same.

Gentle transitions (and a "running late" button)

Switching from one task to the next is one of the hardest parts of an ADHD day. Tempo nudges you twice: a wrap-up notice five minutes before a block ends ("start wrapping up — save your place, jot the next step") and a time-to-switch card when it's over, showing what comes next. Each notice offers +10 min, Done or Skip, and you can turn on a soft chime. Every block is followed by a short breather (5 minutes by default) so the plan isn't packed edge to edge.

And when the morning goes sideways — it will — tap Running late? and push the rest of today back 10, 15, 30 or 60 minutes. Blocks you've finished stay where they are; everything else moves. No rebuilding the whole plan, no guilt.

Brain dump → schedule

Tempo doubles as a brain dump app. Open the Brain dump page and write everything on your mind, one thing per line, or paste a whole list. Nothing needs a time yet. When you have a minute, give each item the energy it needs and a size (5, 15, 30 or 60 minutes); with both set it moves from Inbox to Sorted. A strip at the top shows the pipeline: Inbox → Sorted → Scheduled → Done.

Then either schedule one item — Tempo suggests the next free slot that suits its energy — or tap Auto-fit. Auto-fit places every sorted item into a free slot on the day you pick, matching high-energy work to your high-energy hours and keeping your breathers. You see the plan first and confirm it. Ideas you're not ready for go to Later · someday, out of sight but safe. If you prefer paper first, our free brain dump and time blocking guide has a printable method that works with or without the app.

Plan by energy, not just by the clock

Most planners assume you have the same energy at 3 p.m. as at 9 a.m. With ADHD that's rarely true. A few times a day Tempo asks "How's your battery?" — low, medium or high — and suggests brain-dump items that fit both your energy and the time before your next block, with a Do it now button. If you don't check in, it uses your usual energy curve from Settings (morning, afternoon, evening).

After a week of check-ins, the Wins page shows your energy by hour and your best focus window, so you can save deep work for your strong hours and put chores, email and errands in the dips.

A visual focus timer

The Focus page is a timer you can feel: a 60-minute face with a tangerine slice that shrinks back to twelve as time passes, like a kitchen timer. Pick what to focus on — the block on your dial right now, something from your brain dump, or anything you type — and a length from 10 to 60 minutes. Pause, add five minutes or finish early.

When a stray thought pops up mid-focus ("email Sam!"), type it into Park a thought and it goes straight to your brain dump without breaking your flow. Finished sessions land in a focus log with a weekly chart. If you like the Pomodoro idea but find 25 minutes too rigid, this is the friendlier version.

The One Thing and the shutdown ritual

Every day has a One Thing — the single task that would make the day a win. Set it in the morning (or the night before), tick it when it's done, and the month view puts a star on that day.

Around the end of your workday Tempo invites you to a shutdown ritual: five calm minutes to look at today's wins and focus time, move unfinished blocks to tomorrow in one tick, pick tomorrow's One Thing, empty anything still buzzing into the brain dump and note how the day felt. Then you're off the clock. Your shutdown streak shows on the Wins page — a small nudge to stop working at a sensible hour.

Routines, the week and the month

Six routines are ready to drop onto any day: Morning launch, Deep-work day, Low-energy day, Evening wind-down, Weekend reset and Study session. Each one copies its blocks — with their tiny steps — onto the day you pick, and you can edit them or build your own. If you're working on a morning routine, our guide to morning routine ideas pairs well with the Morning launch routine.

The Plan page shows the week as seven mini timelines (with the share of blocks done and a star for each One Thing) and the month with a progress ring on every day. Tap any day to open it on the dial and plan ahead.

Wins: proof you did things

ADHD brains are great at remembering what didn't get done. The wins jar fixes the balance: every finished block drops a marble into a jar in its category colour. Next to it: blocks done this week, focus time, your One Thing hit rate and your shutdown streak, plus charts of focus minutes and plan completion over 14 days.

Who Tempo is for

Tempo is for adults with ADHD — diagnosed, suspected or simply "my brain works like this" — and for anyone who finds ordinary planners overwhelming: people who work from home, students juggling classes, parents running a household, freelancers without a boss's schedule. It's an ADHD app for adults that stays gentle: no red "failed" marks, skipped blocks don't count against you, and a Low-stim theme turns down the colours and switches off every animation on busy-brain days.

A typical day with Tempo

1. Morning: open the dial, set the One Thing, add the Morning launch routine.
2. Brain dump: five minutes emptying your head, a minute sorting, then Auto-fit.
3. During the day: follow the needle, use the focus timer for the hard block, park stray thoughts, tick blocks off.
4. When it slips: tap Running late? and carry on.
5. Evening: the shutdown ritual, and tomorrow is already half planned.

Print and export

Print a day sheet with the dial, the timeline and tick boxes, the week, your brain-dump list or your review. Export time blocks and brain-dump items to CSV (Excel or Google Sheets), and import a CSV with a preview that skips duplicates.

Privacy and devices

Tempo has no account and no ads. Your plans stay on your own devices. Link your phone and computer once with a 6-digit code or a QR scan and they stay in step, end-to-end encrypted — plan your day on the laptop, tick blocks off on the phone. Tempo installs like an app on iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac and Chromebook and works offline. Three themes: Daylight, Night owl and Low-stim.

What you get

• The Tempo app through a private link, for phone, tablet and computer.
• An 11-page Start Here guide: install steps for every device, how to link devices, every page explained with screenshots.
• A bonus printables pack: a time-blocked day sheet, brain dump & sort, the week ahead, an energy tracker, a focus log, a shutdown ritual sheet and a routine builder, plus six color-in boards (One Thing a day, the wins jar, 100 focus dials, a dopamine menu, "when I'm stuck" cards, a shutdown month) and five wallpapers.

Good to know

Tempo is a planning tool, not a medical product — it doesn't diagnose or treat ADHD. It's a one-time purchase with free updates. Want to plan your money the same gentle way? See Flow, the ADHD budget planner, and for daily habits, Hoop.