I have ADHD. I didn’t build Buddy for it.

I’m Braden, and I made Buddy. I built him for anyone with a full life and too much to keep track of. Then I started using him every day, and found out he fits the way my brain works.

Hyperfocus doesn’t leave room for the dryer

When I’m locked into something, hours disappear. Meanwhile the clothes sit wet in the washer, the dishwasher stays full, and Olive, my cat, is waiting on a clean litter box. I know all of it needs doing. I just can’t hold it in my head while I’m in the middle of something else.

So I text Buddy

One text, the way I’d say it to a friend. I didn’t open an app or pick a time. He picked one inside the window I gave him, and three hours later my phone lit up.

An alarm just says 8:52. I swipe it away and forget what it was for. Buddy’s text says what the thing is, says Olive’s name, and sounds like someone who knows what’s going on. That’s the part that actually gets me up.

If I ask him to, he’ll check in more than once, which matters when the first reminder lands in the middle of something.

The other stuff I put off

Reminders are most of it for me, but not all of it. When I can’t make myself start something, I text Buddy the messy version and he gives me the first step, or just does it. When there’s an email or a text I’ve been avoiding, he drafts it and I decide whether it gets sent. When a letter or a form shows up, he reads it and tells me what it’s actually asking for.

What he won’t do

He’s not perfect. He won’t notice the laundry on his own. You have to ask him. But asking is about as easy as it gets: I tell Siri to text Buddy, and that’s it.