An ADHD task manager for graduate students and researchers

Why research work is hard with ADHD

The original study of the planning fallacy was done on students writing a thesis. They predicted when they would finish, and on average they took longer than even their own "worst case" guess.¹ That is the starting point for everyone. ADHD adds weaker time perception on top.²

Research also has almost no near-term rewards. People with ADHD respond more to rewards that come soon.³ A degree in three years is about as far away as a reward gets.

Where it gets hard

• Unstructured days. No classes, no shifts, only "work on your research".
• Reading as avoidance. One more paper always feels productive and is rarely the task.
• Hyperfocus on the wrong part. A day spent perfecting one figure while the chapter waits.
• Advisor meetings as the only deadline. Two weeks of nothing, then two nights of panic.

A day with NoRush

One possible day, as an example.

1. 9:30 AMNew tab. Plan: write 150 words of methods, fix figure 2, reply to your advisor.
2. 9:35 AMStart 25 minutes on the methods section. The bubble sits on your reference manager and on the journal site.
3. 10:00 AMThe bubble opens: "Did you finish?" Not yet. You add 15 minutes.
4. 11:40 AMA paper mentions a method worth checking. Alt+K, "look up bootstrapping approach", Shift+Enter. It goes to Later and you keep writing.
5. 3:00 PMAfter 90 focused minutes on the figure, NoRush suggests a break.
6. 5:50 PMA heads-up: ten minutes left in your day. You close it, and the new tab becomes a quiet evening scene.

The features that matter most for graduate students

• Alt+K capture saves the interesting tangent without following it.
• Close the day gives open-ended work an ending.
• Break reminders interrupt a three-hour hyperfocus on one figure.
• Tiny steps for the chapter you have been avoiding for a month.

Three things that help, with or without NoRush

• Set a daily minimum that is almost embarrassing. 150 words. On most days you will pass it. On bad days you will still have written.
• Create nearer deadlines with real people. A weekly writing group, or a promise to send your advisor a page every Friday.
• Separate reading days from writing days. When both are allowed, reading always wins.

Where NoRush is not the right tool

NoRush lives in your browser. If you write in a desktop app such as Word, or a LaTeX editor outside the browser, the bubble will not appear there, though the new tab and reminders still work. It is not a reference manager or a project planner for a whole thesis.