About
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ZigZagBrain started from a simple observation: most productivity tools require exactly the capacities that ADHD makes hardest.
What's wrong with mainstream productivity apps
A to-do list assumes you can break a task down, estimate how long it takes, decide what to start with, and stick to it. A calendar assumes a reliable sense of time. A points system assumes delayed rewards motivate you.
Those are precisely the four things ADHD complicates. The result: the tool meant to help becomes one more source of guilt — a list that keeps growing, reminders you dismiss, a streak you break.
What we do differently
ZigZagBrain starts from a different question. Not "what do you need to do today?" but "where are you, right now?"
- One thing on screen. No endless list, no overwhelming overview.
- You tap a button describing your state — I'm stuck scrolling, I'm overwhelmed, I'm shut down — and the app hands you the next step.
- The steps are deliberately tiny. The goal isn't to finish the task. It's to start it.
- No pressure. Streaks freeze instead of breaking, and every counter can be hidden if you'd rather not see them.
- No friction to begin. No required account, no download, no twelve-screen onboarding.
Who's behind it
ZigZagBrain is published by ABC OPTIM, a French company based in Paris.
The app is designed with input from people who live with ADHD — including on the team. The mechanics didn't come from a whiteboard: they come from what actually works when you've been stuck staring at a task for forty minutes.
What it's grounded in
The features draw on established frameworks in psychology and neuroscience:
- The window of tolerance (Dan Siegel) for emotional regulation — recognising hyperarousal and hypoarousal, and knowing what helps you get back into your zone.
- Work on executive function and ADHD (Russell Barkley, Thomas Brown) for understanding why task initiation is the central sticking point.
- The role of stimulation-seeking in compulsive scrolling, and the idea of substituting a concrete alternative rather than trying to go without.
ZigZagBrain is not a medical device. It's a day-to-day self-support tool. It doesn't diagnose anything and replaces neither medical care nor professional support. If you recognise yourself in what we describe and it's weighing on your life, talk to a doctor. CHADD is a good starting point in the US.
The model
ZigZagBrain is free and ad-free. We don't sell data — that's incompatible with a product built on its users' trust.
Get in touch
A bug, an idea, a note about how it's going for you — all of it helps, and we read everything: contact@abc-optim.com