Notion is either the best or worst tool for ADHD — it depends entirely on how you set it up.

Without structure, Notion becomes a graveyard of half-built databases and abandoned dashboards. With the right template, it becomes a second brain that compensates for the exact executive function gaps ADHD creates.

This guide walks you through setting up a complete ADHD-friendly Notion workspace in 30 minutes. No Notion experience required. No overengineered systems. Just the essentials that actually get used.

Why Notion Works for ADHD (When Done Right)

Everything in One Place

ADHD brains lose things — physical objects, digital files, thoughts. Notion eliminates the “where did I put that?” problem by housing tasks, notes, projects, and references in a single searchable workspace.

Low-Friction Capture

With Notion’s mobile app, web clipper, and quick-add features, capturing a thought takes seconds. And for ADHD, the speed of capture determines whether something gets recorded or lost.

Visual + Flexible

Notion supports multiple views of the same data — lists, boards, calendars, galleries. ADHD brains process information differently on different days. Having multiple views means you always have an entry point that matches your current mental state.

Automatable

Recurring tasks, template buttons, and relation properties mean less manual maintenance. The less upkeep a system needs, the more likely an ADHD brain will keep using it.

The ADHD Notion Template: Core Components

Our template has four components. That’s it. Resist the urge to add more until you’ve used these for at least two weeks.

Component 1: The Command Center (Dashboard)

Your dashboard is the single page you open every day. It shows:

  • Today’s Top 3 — Your three priority tasks, pulled from the task database
  • Brain Dump Inbox — Unprocessed thoughts from your brain dump sessions
  • Energy Check — A simple “How’s my energy?” selector (🔴 Low, 🟡 Medium, 🟢 High)
  • Quick Links — Direct links to your most-used pages

The key principle: one glance should tell you what to do next. If you have to click through three pages to find your tasks, you won’t do it.

Component 2: The Task Database

This is where all tasks live. Unlike a simple to-do list, it’s a database with these properties:

  • Status — Not Started / In Progress / Done / Dropped
  • Priority — 🔥 Must Do / ⭐ Should Do / 💭 Could Do
  • Energy Required — Low / Medium / High
  • Due Date — Optional (many ADHD tasks don’t have deadlines)
  • Project — Links to a project if applicable
  • Time Estimate — Your guess (helps with time blindness)

ADHD-Specific Views:

  1. Today — Filtered to show only tasks due today or marked as Top 3
  2. Quick Wins — Filtered to Low energy + Not Started (perfect for low-energy moments)
  3. Brain Dump — All unprocessed captures, sorted by date added
  4. By Project — Grouped by project, for when you need the big picture

Component 3: The Brain Dump Database

Separate from tasks, this is your raw thought capture system. Properties:

  • Content — The thought itself
  • Type — Task / Idea / Reference / Worry / Random
  • Processed — Checkbox (unchecked = still in inbox)
  • Action — What to do with it (filled in during processing)

The brain dump database feeds into your daily brain dump practice. Every morning, you dump. Every evening (or during your weekly reset), you process.

Component 4: The Habit Tracker

A simple database tracking 3-5 daily habits. Not 15. Not 10. Three to five.

Properties:

  • Date — Today’s date
  • Habit 1-5 — Checkboxes
  • Streak — Formula that counts consecutive days
  • Energy Level — Morning energy rating

Over time, this data reveals your patterns. You’ll see which days you have more energy, which habits stick, and which to drop.

Step-by-Step Setup (30 Minutes)

Step 1: Create the Workspace (2 Minutes)

  1. Open Notion (sign up free at notion.so if needed)
  2. In the left sidebar, create a new page called “ADHD HQ”
  3. Choose a simple icon (🧠) and skip the cover image

Step 2: Build the Task Database (10 Minutes)

  1. Inside ADHD HQ, type /database and select “Database - Full page”
  2. Name it “All Tasks”
  3. Add these properties:
    • Status (Select): Not Started, In Progress, Done, Dropped
    • Priority (Select): 🔥 Must Do, ⭐ Should Do, 💭 Could Do
    • Energy (Select): Low, Medium, High
    • Due Date (Date)
    • Time Estimate (Number, in minutes)
    • Top 3 Today (Checkbox)
  4. Create these views:
    • Today: Filter → Top 3 Today is checked OR Due Date is today
    • Quick Wins: Filter → Energy is Low AND Status is Not Started
    • All: Default, sorted by Priority

Step 3: Build the Brain Dump Database (5 Minutes)

  1. Create another full-page database called “Brain Dump”
  2. Properties:
    • Content (Title)
    • Type (Select): Task, Idea, Reference, Worry, Random
    • Processed (Checkbox)
    • Date Added (Date, default to today)
  3. Default view: Filter → Processed is unchecked, sorted by Date Added descending

Step 4: Build the Habit Tracker (5 Minutes)

  1. Create a full-page database called “Daily Habits”
  2. Properties:
    • Date (Date)
    • Habit 1 name (Checkbox) — e.g., “Morning Planner”
    • Habit 2 name (Checkbox) — e.g., “Exercise”
    • Habit 3 name (Checkbox) — e.g., “Brain Dump”
    • Energy AM (Select): 🔴🟡🟢
    • Energy PM (Select): 🔴🟡🟢
  3. Create a calendar view for visual tracking

Step 5: Build the Dashboard (8 Minutes)

  1. Go back to the ADHD HQ page
  2. Add a heading: "🎯 Today’s Top 3"
  3. Add a linked view of All Tasks → Today view
  4. Add a heading: "📥 Brain Dump Inbox"
  5. Add a linked view of Brain Dump → unprocessed view
  6. Add a heading: "✅ Habits"
  7. Add a linked view of Daily Habits → filtered to today
  8. Add a heading: "🔗 Quick Links"
  9. Add links to your most-used external tools

ADHD Notion Best Practices

The 2-Minute Rule

If something takes less than 2 minutes, do it now instead of adding it to Notion. Your task database should only hold things that need planning.

Weekly Processing Ritual

Every Sunday, spend 20 minutes in your weekly reset:

  1. Process all brain dump items
  2. Mark completed tasks as Done
  3. Review and adjust priorities for the week
  4. Check habit tracker patterns

Use Template Buttons

Create a template button for “New Day” that:

  • Adds a new row to Daily Habits with today’s date
  • Opens the Brain Dump for morning capture
  • Shows the Today task view

This reduces the daily setup from 5 clicks to 1.

Don’t Over-Design

The biggest ADHD Notion trap is spending hours making it “perfect” — custom icons, color-coded everything, nested databases. This is procrastination disguised as productivity. A ugly system you use beats a beautiful system you don’t.

Mobile Quick Capture

Set up the Notion widget on your phone home screen, pointed at the Brain Dump database. When a thought hits while you’re away from your computer, capture it in seconds.

Integrating With Your Analog Planner

Many ADHD brains work best with a hybrid system: physical planner for daily planning (the act of writing aids focus), Notion for storage and review.

Here’s how they work together:

  1. Morning: Use your printable daily planner for Top 3 and time blocking
  2. Throughout the day: Capture thoughts in Notion’s Brain Dump via mobile
  3. Evening: Transfer completed tasks to Notion, update habits
  4. Weekly: Use Notion for review and planning; print next week’s planner pages

This hybrid approach gives you the focus benefits of paper with the organization benefits of digital.

Common Notion ADHD Mistakes

Mistake 1: Too Many Databases

You need 3-4 databases, not 15. Every new database is maintenance overhead. If you catch yourself creating a “Books to Read” database, stop. Put it in Brain Dump with type “Reference.”

Mistake 2: Complex Formulas

Unless you genuinely enjoy Notion formulas, skip them. Simple properties work. The goal is to lower the barrier to using the system, not to build a spreadsheet.

Mistake 3: Relying Only on Due Dates

ADHD and deadlines have a complicated relationship. Many tasks don’t have real due dates, and artificial ones create anxiety without motivation. Use the Priority + Energy system instead of forcing everything onto a calendar.

Mistake 4: Not Having an Inbox

Without a dedicated capture point (Brain Dump), random thoughts end up scattered across pages or, worse, forgotten entirely. The inbox is non-negotiable.

Advanced: Notion + ADHD Time Management Tools

Once your basic system is running (give it 2+ weeks), consider integrating with time management tools:

  • Todoist → Notion sync via Zapier for quick capture that auto-populates your Brain Dump
  • Google Calendar embed in your dashboard for time-blocked tasks
  • Notion API + Apple Shortcuts for voice-captured brain dumps on iPhone

Get the Pre-Built Template

Don’t want to build from scratch? We’ve packaged everything described above into a ready-to-use Notion template:

  • Pre-configured Task Database with all views
  • Brain Dump with processing workflow
  • Habit Tracker with energy correlation
  • Dashboard with linked views
  • Template buttons for daily setup
  • Video walkthrough

Get the ADHD Notion Template →

Or if you prefer the analog approach, grab our free printable daily planner and use it alongside Notion.

Final Thought

Notion won’t cure ADHD. No tool will. But a well-set-up Notion workspace acts as external executive function — it remembers, prioritizes, and organizes so your brain doesn’t have to.

Build the basics. Use them imperfectly. Iterate slowly. That’s the ADHD way, and it works.

Start with our pre-built ADHD Notion template →