ADHD & Productivity

Why regular notifications fail developers with ADHD

macOS notification center groups alerts into oblivion. Focus Mode swallows them. A toast appears for 4 seconds while you are mid-thought, and it is gone before your brain registers it. For developers with ADHD — or anyone who hyperfocuses — pull-based systems (checking a todo app, reading terminal output) do not work. You need push-based systems that put information directly in your line of sight.

syncfu is a push-based notification overlay. It renders as a native floating panel on your screen — always on top, across all Spaces — with action buttons so you can respond without context-switching. Combined with an AI agent, it becomes a smart second brain that reminds you of the right thing at the right time.

Smart reminders vs dumb timers

Break reminder apps like Stretchly and Workrave use fixed intervals: every 25 minutes, take a break. That ignores your actual work rhythm. An AI agent paired with syncfu does better:

• Context-aware breaks. The agent tracks your activity patterns and suggests breaks based on actual work duration — not a 25-minute clock. Deep focus for 90 minutes? Take a longer break. Just returned from lunch? No interruption needed.
• Escalating reminders. First reminder is subtle (low priority, auto-dismiss). If you do not acknowledge it, the next one escalates to high priority with a persistent overlay and action buttons.
• Meeting prep. Your calendar guardian agent knows you have a standup in 5 minutes and you are mid-commit. It shows an overlay: “Standup in 5 min — want to push first?” with Push and Skip buttons.

Medication reminders that require confirmation

This is where --wait and --timeout never shine. A medication reminder should not disappear after 8 seconds. It should stay on your screen, above everything, until you explicitly confirm:

syncfu send -t "Medication" -p critical -i pill \
  --timeout never \
  -a "taken:Took it" -a "skip:Skip:danger" \
  --wait "Time to take your medication"

# Overlay stays on screen until you click
# stdout: "taken" or "skip"
# Script can log the response for tracking

Critical priority adds a pulsing glow border so the notification is visually distinct from everything else on your screen. Combined with --timeout never, it will not auto-dismiss.

Focus sessions with live progress

Build a visual pomodoro-style focus timer using syncfu progress bars. The agent updates the overlay in real time so you always know where you are in your session:

# Start a 90-minute focus session with ring progress
ID=$(syncfu send -t "Focus Session" \
  --progress 0.0 --progress-style ring \
  --progress-label "0 of 90 min" \
  --timeout never --json "Deep work — stay focused" | jq -r .id)

# Update every 5 minutes from a background script
for i in $(seq 5 5 90); do
  sleep 300
  FRAC=$(echo "scale=2; $i/90" | bc)
  syncfu update $ID --progress $FRAC \
    --progress-label "$i of 90 min"
done

syncfu update $ID --progress 1.0 --body "Session complete! Take a break."

The AI second brain pattern

Instead of you checking a todo app, your AI agent checks your world and tells you what matters now. The /remind skill file already exists for Claude Code — it manages reminders in markdown and pushes overlays at the right moment:

# Claude Code skill: /remind
# Agent manages tasks, pushes overlay when something needs attention

syncfu send -t "Follow up" -s remind -p high \
  -a "done:Done:primary" -a "snooze:Snooze 1h:secondary" \
  "You said you'd reply to Sarah's email by today — it's 4pm"

# Agent knows CONTEXT: not just "4pm reminder" but WHY it matters

This is fundamentally different from Todoist sending a push notification at a clock time. The agent understands your schedule, your commitments, and your current activity — then reaches you through syncfu at the right moment with the right context.

SaaS tools this replaces

Frequently asked questions

Related

• About syncfu — the ADHD story behind the tool
• Priority levels — how critical, high, normal, and low priorities work
• Replace SaaS — Stretchly, Todoist reminders, and other tools AI agents can replace