How Notion Transformed My Life and My ADHD

I’m not here to tell you how to “fix” your ADHD, or to try and convince you that there’s a one-size-fits-all solution for your overwhelm: I’m here to tell you about an incredible tool that you can start using today and design to fit you, your brain, and your life exactly how you need it. Let’s dive into the story of how Notion changed my life as a person with ADHD!

How Notion Transformed My Life and My ADHD

The struggle of falling behind as a high achiever

For most of my life, I truly believed I just wasn’t an organized person, and could never, would never be.

After being diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 6, I spent the next 30 years of my life in a perpetual state of disarray and overwhelm, constantly wondering what task I might’ve forgotten about the day before, or what appointment I blanked on last week.

And don’t get me wrong: I tried ALL the planners, tools, and strategies out there (yes, including every damn last one from the Target aisle)—but nothing ever stuck. 

Despite being a high-achieving, creative person, I couldn’t find a system that worked with my brain instead of against it, and found myself drowning in a never ending struggle to keep up. To stay afloat. To simply keep my head above the water in a sea of infinite to-do’s that never got checked off.

I felt scattered, behind, and frustrated, especially when it came to managing work, executing ideas, and keeping track of day-to-day responsibilities. 

But little did I know. . .

Everything would change when I discovered Notion in 2022.

My first foray into the world of systems

Something clicked in my brain the very first time I tried Notion. It was flexible, visual, and adaptable in a way that nothing else I’d tried was—I could build systems to match the way my brain actually works, rather than forcing it to conform to systems that didn’t. 

At first, it was nothing more than making little systems for myself. . . just enough to keep my life from falling apart, if I’m honest. 

But as I kept experimenting, I realized I could do more than survive: with the right system, I could finally thrive.

Notion became my haven to track tasks, manage goals, and organize thoughts. Suddenly, I wasn’t dropping balls left and right—I was juggling ‘em like a pro. I wasn’t second-guessing myself every day. My brain finally had a second home; somewhere to store all the spinning tabs in my mind.

And then the magic really began.

Not only did Notion make me a stellar employee again, becoming the kind of organized team member I never thought I could be: it also gave me the time, space, and confidence to start my own business.

Braelyn starting her own business(es)?!

When I launched Thrive Coworking for Women in 2018, I was still stuck in burnout—bombarded with tasks, overwhelmed by quick growth, and completely lost as to how to keep the business running. It wasn’t until I got my life together with Notion that I was finally able to scale, support thousands of women, and run my business without a looming fear of failure at every loss of momentum.

But what really changed everything was when I launched a second business in June 2023, creating ADHD-friendly Notion templates designed to support people just like me. And this time, I did it with systems, automation, and neurodivergent-friendly elements baked in from the very start.

A journey to creating neurodivergent-friendly systems

Today, I’ve helped hundreds (soon thousands!) of ADHD entrepreneurs, students, and creatives take back control of their lives with Notion systems that actually make sense to neurodivergent brains.

I’m no longer the person who “just can’t keep it together:” I’m a thriving business owner, content creator, ADHD coach, and systems designer. I make systems that change lives—because I’ve lived the transformation myself. 

What I love most is that Notion didn’t just help me organize my business—it helped me rebuild my identity.

Notion gave me my time back. 

It gave me clarity.

It gave me a sense of capability I never thought I’d feel.

And now? I get to help you feel that way, too.

Why I Fell In Love With Notion In the First Place

Listen, I know that a lot of this might sound cheesy. I do! But I’m not one of those people that’s going to bait you into buying my products by telling you that “this one thing changed my life!!” Not if I don’t mean it wholeheartedly, anyway.

And I do—mean it wholeheartedly. Notion didn’t transform my life and my business because it was some perfect, magical, effortless tool that just flew into my brain like a little fairy godmother, waving her magic wand to fix everything immediately. Notion transformed my life and business because I figured out how to make it work for me. For my brain that might function a little differently than a neurotypical one.

Now I know you’re just itching to know what made Notion so special when I first found it, and why I’ve actually stuck with it years later (first time that’s ever happened in my life LOL). So allow me to tell you the two main reasons why Notion is different than any other tool I’ve come across, and why it’s the tool that’ll change everything for you, too:

It’s robust and comprehensive, but still easy to use.

What I love about Notion is that it can do just about anything I want it to—track to-do’s, calculate sums and totals, automate tasks, organize my ideas, give me different ways of looking at things, and so much more. Often times I’ll come across a robust tool like this and immediatelyyyy turn the other way, because it seems WAY too difficult to use. 

And while there’s definitely a little bit of a learning curve to Notion (like there is for any modern technology, tbh), everything just eventually starts to. . . make sense. It becomes easy to use, simple to navigate, and like a fifth limb that you know your way around with your eyes closed. Anybody can use Notion, whether you’re looking for a simple list tracker or a complex system filled with databases!

If you ARE stuck trying to set up your Notion for the first time, be sure to grab my ADHD-Friendly Notion Setup Checklist. It’s totally free and ready to use immediately!

It changes & evolves with you

I honestly don’t even know why I tried using paper planners for so long, because if there’s one thing I know about myself, it’s that I need to be able to change my mind, adjust, and flex things as I go. I’m never going to know for sure what my day looks like, or what type of layout will work for my brain 6 months from now—I needed something that could adapt with me, rather than stop working after a week or two and force me to go buy yet another planner.

With customizable layouts, flexible designs, and easy drag-and-drop builders, it’s almost effortless to switch up your Notion setup, whether you just need something a little new + novel or you want to completely change how your system looks/works. Everything can be moved, rearranged, and reorganized as often as you want!

For example: sometimes my brain loooves to see an overview of my upcoming tasks & events on a calendar. Give me specific dates, times, and due dates and I will feel totally in control of everything in my life. 

But other times, looking at a calendar just feels like too much, and I need a simple Kanban board or basic list instead!

And who knows? Maybe in a few months, I’ll want to totally redo my color palette, rearrange my dashboard, and switch to a timeline view.

With Notion, I never feel stuck or committed to one thing—and that’s SO freeing as a person with ADHD.

So what do you think? Notion sounds pretty rad, right? ;) Before you dive too deep into a complicated system (though be my guest if you’re ready for that!), I’d recommend starting with a Simple Starter Dashboard. I’ve created this one to help you get familiar with Notion and figure out how you best like to manage your tasks, projects, and ideas—all in one, easy-to-navigate place.

Happy Notion’ing!