ADHD Alarm app for iPhone and iPad

Adults with ADHD tend to have problems with time management. New technologies have great potential as time management tools, and I believe that smartphone apps can provide practical, cost-effective personalized tools for individuals with adult ADHD. Towards this goal, I have designed CP On Time based on my clinical experience with adult ADHD.

The app is designed to help those with adult ADHD get to work, school, or any other appointment in their day – or get to bed – on time every day. The app prompts the user to enter your personal bedtime, morning, or other routines, along with an estimate of time for each task in the routine, such as shower, brushing teeth, waking the children, etc. The app then asks you to enter the time of the relevant appointment (or bedtime), and how late you were the day before. Based on all of this data, we have created a formula to automatically set the alarm clock for the time that you need to start your routine, in order to be on time for your appointment or bedtime.

CP On Time was recently re-designed to enable users to set as many customized alarms as needed throughout the day. The app was developed to be flexible, to work with any schedule and to accommodate the needs of any adult with ADHD.

In using the app, you may notice several things. First, there is no snooze button. This is very important! Snooze buttons create more time confusion for adults with ADHD, and I recommend you avoid “snoozing” all together. If you need some time to lie in bed before getting up, that can be added into your morning routine, but you should not use this time to snooze. Second, after entering a routine, the app does not give you a total time for the routine. When shown the total time for a routine, most people with ADHD will be surprised at the length of time; they will go back and change the times on their routine to make the total time shorter. This is common in the underestimation of time and leads to being chronically late. Third, you may be surprised at how early you need to start a given routine! For example, is my experience that adults with ADHD often require 2+ hours in the morning to wake up, get through their routine, and get to work/school. This may seem excessive, but starting the day on time is critical to success throughout the day.

I hope this app is helpful and welcome feedback. This version of the app was created in response to user comments & input; look for my next ADHD app coming out soon!