App review
Sunsama — the gentle, guided time-blocker
A day planner that combines tasks, calendar, intention. Enforces a gentle morning planning + evening review ritual. Explicit anti-overload philosophy.
What it is
Sunsama imposes a guided daily planning ritual:
- In the morning: “Hey. Here are your tasks and your calendar. Pick what you want to accomplish today. Heads up — if you over-fill, we’ll warn you.”
- In the evening: “How did it go? What worked? What are you carrying to tomorrow?”
You can feed it from Gmail, Calendar, Slack, Trello, Notion — everything lands in one place.
For whom
Great if you’re a freelancer or knowledge worker with ADHD drowning across 5 apps (email, calendar, Slack, Notion…) and you can absorb $20/month for a system that actually holds together.
Not for everyone: if you don’t have 30 min/day for the ritual, Sunsama will frustrate you.
ADHD-optimal setup
- Use the 14-day free trial to test the ritual.
- Connect just one input source at first (Google Calendar). Don’t plug everything in.
- First morning: set 3 tasks max. Sunsama will suggest more — resist.
- Evening: 5-min review minimum. That’s where the system earns its keep.
- Accept that 30-40% of things slip to tomorrow. Normal.
Verdict
The best “coach app” for ADHDers who can afford it and want daily structure. Not magic, but honest in its anti-overload philosophy. Price is the real blocker.
Cheaper alternatives:
- Motion ($34/month): more AI-driven, less gentle ritual.
- Reclaim.ai ($8/month): auto-planning without the ritual.
- Todoist + Google Calendar + discipline: free if you have the discipline (often the crux).