Who is Jessica McCabe?
Jessica McCabe started the How to ADHD YouTube channel back in 2016 after spending 30+ years figuring out her own ADHD through trial and error. By late 2024, the channel hit 1.4 million subscribers, making it one of the biggest ADHD resources on the internet.
What makes Jessica different from most productivity YouTubers is she's not pretending ADHD brains work like neurotypical ones. She breaks down executive function, time blindness, and object permanence in ways that actually click. None of that 'just use a planner bro' advice that ignores how ADHD actually functions.
Her videos pull millions of views because they're honest about what sucks. She'll straight up say 'this popular productivity method doesn't work for us' and explain why. That realness built a community of people who finally found advice that doesn't make them feel broken.
Beyond YouTube, Jessica speaks at conferences, works with researchers, and advocates for better ADHD support systems. She's not a doctor or therapist, just someone who's lived it and researched the hell out of what works.
The tools below come from her videos and posts where she's shared what actually keeps her functional. Fair warning: her stack is smaller than most productivity gurus because adding too many tools becomes counterproductive when you have ADHD.
Visual Planning for an ADHD Brain
AYOA is Jessica's go-to for mind mapping and visual organization. Linear outlines don't work when your brain jumps between 12 ideas at once. AYOA's radial mind maps let her dump everything out and connect the dots later.
She uses it for video script planning. Main topic in the center, branches for each section, sub-branches for research links and examples. The visual structure helps her see the whole picture without losing track of details.
Color coding is huge. Different colors for different video series, priority levels, or stages of production. When everything looks the same, ADHD brains struggle to prioritize. Colors create instant visual cues.
The task board view helps when mind maps get overwhelming. She can switch between radial and Kanban layouts depending on what her brain needs that day. Flexibility prevents the tool from becoming another source of frustration.
Jessica's mentioned trying other mind mapping tools, but most felt either too simple (just bubbles and lines) or too complex (buried under features she'd never use). AYOA hit the sweet spot.
Flexible Notes Without the Overwhelm
xTiles replaced Notion in Jessica's workflow around 2023. Notion was too rigid, too many databases, too much setup before you could actually use it. xTiles is more like a whiteboard where you drop stuff wherever.
Research for videos lives in xTiles. Articles, quotes, statistics, random thoughts at 2am. Everything gets dumped onto tiles that she can move around as the video structure takes shape. No fighting with a predetermined template.
The drag-and-drop interface prevents blank page paralysis. When you're staring at an empty document wondering where to start, that's executive dysfunction in action. With xTiles, just drop a tile and start typing. Organize later when your brain can handle it.
Web clipper saves articles without breaking flow. Mid-research, she finds something useful and clips it straight to the relevant project. Context switching is death for ADHD focus, so minimizing tab-hopping matters.
She's talked about how tools that require too much organization upfront never stick. xTiles lets her be messy first, structured later. That's how ADHD brains actually work.
Fighting Time Blindness Daily
Sunsama is Jessica's answer to time blindness, that ADHD thing where 'I'll just check Twitter' turns into 3 hours. The app forces you to assign time estimates to every task, which sounds annoying until you realize it prevents overloading your day.
Morning planning ritual starts around 9am. She drags tasks from different sources (email, Trello, calendar) into Sunsama and time-boxes the day. Seeing '8 hours of tasks for a 6-hour workday' makes overcommitment obvious before it becomes a problem.
The daily shutdown routine at 6pm is non-negotiable. Sunsama prompts her to review what got done, move incomplete tasks to tomorrow, and reflect on the day. For ADHD brains that struggle with transitions, this ritual creates structure.
Calendar integration prevents double-booking. When she schedules a task, it blocks calendar time automatically. No more booking a meeting during 'deep work on video editing' because she forgot what was already planned.
Jessica's mentioned that Sunsama's price tag ($20/month) makes people hesitate, but for her it's worth it. Time blindness was costing her way more than $20 a month in missed deadlines and stress.
Protecting Focus from Digital Chaos
Opal blocks apps when Jessica needs to actually get work done. ADHD hyperfocus is great when aimed at the right thing, terrible when you spend 3 hours organizing your phone home screen instead of editing videos.
Scheduled blocks run during filming and editing sessions. Instagram, Twitter, YouTube (ironically) all get locked out. The phone becomes basically useless except for emergencies, which is exactly the point.
She uses the deep focus mode that makes bypassing blocks annoying on purpose. You can override it, but you have to type out a sentence explaining why. That friction is usually enough to make her realize 'checking notifications' wasn't actually urgent.
Stats show her actual phone usage patterns, which can be brutal. Seeing '4.5 hours on Instagram this week' makes the problem concrete instead of abstract. Numbers don't lie.
Jessica's talked about trying Apple's Screen Time, but found it too easy to ignore. Opal's more aggressive blocking works better for ADHD brains that need external structure, not gentle suggestions.
Catching Thoughts Before They Vanish
Apple Reminders handles quick capture. ADHD working memory is terrible, so thoughts need to get recorded immediately or they're gone forever. Reminders is always there, always fast, no thinking required.
Location-based reminders are genuinely life-changing for ADHD. 'Pick up medication' triggers when she drives past the pharmacy. 'Ask about that thing' pops up when she arrives at her friend's house. Object permanence issues mean out of sight equals forgotten, location triggers fix that.
Siri integration means hands-free capture while driving or walking. Random video idea hits while running errands, just say 'Hey Siri, remind me to research dopamine and motivation.' Done. No fumbling with apps.
She keeps it stupidly simple. One list for errands, one for video ideas, one for random life stuff. Too many lists means choosing where to put things, which creates decision paralysis, which means nothing gets captured.
People ask why she doesn't use something fancier like Todoist or Things. Answer: because opening an app, picking a project, setting a date, adding tags turns a 2-second task into a 30-second task. That friction kills the habit.
Frequently Asked Questions About Jessica McCabe's Stack
What tools does Jessica McCabe use for ADHD?
Jessica relies on 5 main tools: AYOA for visual mind mapping, xTiles for flexible note-taking, Sunsama for daily planning with time awareness, Opal for blocking distractions, and Apple Reminders for quick capture. The stack is intentionally small because managing too many productivity apps becomes counterproductive when you have ADHD.
How does Jessica McCabe manage time blindness?
Sunsama is her main weapon against time blindness. She assigns time estimates to every task, which makes it obvious when she's overcommitting. The daily shutdown ritual at 6pm creates structure for transitions. Calendar integration prevents double-booking. Basically, external systems compensate for the brain's terrible sense of time.
What note-taking app does Jessica McCabe recommend for ADHD?
xTiles replaced Notion in her workflow. Notion required too much setup and organization upfront, which doesn't match how ADHD brains actually work. xTiles lets you be messy first and organize later. The drag-and-drop interface prevents blank page paralysis, and the web clipper saves research without breaking focus.
Does Jessica McCabe use traditional to-do lists?
Kind of, but not really. She uses Apple Reminders for quick capture because it's fast and always available. But her main planning happens in Sunsama, which combines tasks with time estimates and calendar blocking. Traditional to-do lists don't account for time blindness or task switching costs, which makes them pretty useless for ADHD.
How does the How to ADHD tech stack differ from regular productivity stacks?
Way fewer tools, for starters. Most productivity YouTubers recommend 15 apps for different use cases. Jessica's stack has 5 because managing more tools than that becomes a job itself. Everything focuses on external structure (timers, blockers, location reminders) instead of willpower. The tools compensate for ADHD-specific issues like time blindness and working memory problems, not just generic 'be more productive' stuff.
What app blocker does Jessica McCabe use?
Opal, not Apple's Screen Time. Screen Time is too easy to bypass with one tap. Opal makes you type out a full sentence explaining why you need to override the block, which creates enough friction to make you reconsider. She blocks social media during filming and editing to prevent hyperfocus from landing on the wrong thing.