Should I use KeptMind alongside my calendar?

Yes. KeptMind manages tasks; the calendar manages time-bound commitments. The one-way sync from KeptMind into your calendar handles the handoff. Most users open KeptMind for daily Today list work and the calendar for upcoming meetings; the two-app pattern is healthy and reduces overload.

What if I am away from my phone?

Web access at app.keptmind.com mirrors the mobile experience. Capture, Today list, and reminders all work. For full functionality, the mobile app remains the primary interface, but web works for desk-based moments where pulling out the phone is inconvenient.

How to set up KeptMind in 5 minutes (ADHD-friendly onboarding)

What if voice capture is not accurate enough?

Test in your actual voice across realistic conditions (in transit, in conversation, after waking). If accuracy is below 85%, check microphone permissions and language settings. KeptMind supports custom vocabulary uploads for project names and frequently-mentioned people; adding 10-15 of these can lift accuracy 10-15%. If accuracy remains low, voice may not be the right primary capture mode for your specific voice; the text capture path is also fast.

How do I migrate from another task app?

Most users do not migrate the full backlog; they archive the old system as reference and start fresh. Re-add only items that are currently active. The fresh start usually reveals that 60-80% of the old backlog was decoration rather than active work, which is itself useful information. If you need to migrate specific high-stakes items, do so manually rather than via bulk import — the friction protects against importing chaos along with content.

KeptMind is designed to work immediately with minimal setup. You do not need to build a project hierarchy, configure categories, or spend an hour reading documentation. Here is the five-minute onboarding that gets you capturing tasks today.

Step 1: Download and create an account (1 minute)

Download KeptMind from the App Store or Google Play. Create an account with your email. That is it — no credit card required for the free tier.

The lock screen widget is the most important setup step. It makes voice capture available without unlocking your phone — the key to capturing thoughts before they disappear.

On iOS: long-press the lock screen, tap Customize, tap Add Widget, find KeptMind. On Android: long-press the home screen, tap Widgets, find KeptMind.

Step 3: Practice the hold-to-talk pattern (2 minutes)

Hold the mic button in the app or widget. Speak a thought. Release. The app transcribes and creates a task. Practice this three times with real tasks from your head.

The goal is to make this pattern automatic — so automatic that when a thought arrives, your hand reaches for the mic without conscious decision.

Step 4: Set your energy level (30 seconds)

In the app, set your current energy level (low, medium, or high). This tells the Today list which tasks to surface. On a low-energy day, you will see fewer, easier tasks. On a high-energy day, you will see the full list.

Step 5: Enable notifications (30 seconds)

Allow KeptMind to send notifications. For the free tier, this enables push reminders. For Pro, this enables escalating reminders (SMS and call) for critical tasks.

What to do in the first week

For the first week, focus on one thing: capture every thought using voice. Do not worry about organizing tasks, setting energy levels, or using advanced features. Just capture. After one week, you will have a Today list that reflects what is actually in your head — and you can start using the other features from there.

Common setup mistakes

Do not try to import all your existing tasks on day one. Start fresh. Do not set up complex categories or projects. Keep it simple. Do not skip the lock screen widget — it is the most important feature for ADHD capture.

Why setup matters more than features

KeptMind is designed for low-friction daily use, but the initial setup determines whether you reach that low-friction state or get stuck in configuration. Most ADHD adults who abandon productivity tools do so within the first two weeks, and almost always because the tool was not configured for their specific bottleneck. Spending 30 minutes on deliberate setup once produces a tool that survives bad weeks for years; skipping setup produces a tool that frustrates you within a week and gets abandoned.

The setup that matters is not feature exploration; it is removing every avoidable obstacle between a thought and the captured task. Each step below targets one specific friction point that ADHD users typically hit on day one. Skipping any of them does not break the tool; it just leaves a small obstacle that compounds across hundreds of capture moments per week.

Step-by-step setup in 30 minutes

Step 1: install the app and sign in (5 minutes). Download from the App Store or Google Play, create an account, verify email. The basics. Do not customize anything yet — get the core working before personalizing.

Step 2: enable lock-screen access (5 minutes). This is the most important single setup step for ADHD use. On iOS, add the KeptMind widget to the Lock Screen via long-press and the customize flow. On Android, add the widget to your home screen and ensure Quick Settings access is enabled. The lock-screen widget is what reduces capture time to under 12 seconds; without it, capture takes 30+ seconds and the tool will lose to "I will remember in a minute."

Step 3: configure voice capture (5 minutes). Test the voice flow once. Press the mic, say a real thought ("call dentist tomorrow morning to reschedule"), confirm the parsed task lands in your Today list with the right date. If the parsing is off, adjust language settings or microphone permissions. Most issues at this stage are permissions; check that KeptMind has microphone and speech recognition access in system settings.

Step 4: set energy preferences (5 minutes). In the app settings, configure your default energy level. Most ADHD adults benefit from "medium" as the daily default with explicit toggles to "low" or "high" on relevant days. Choose the morning prompt time — when you want the daily energy check to fire — and set it to about 30 minutes after your typical wake time.

Step 5: configure escalating reminders (5 minutes). For tasks marked critical, KeptMind supports push → SMS → call escalation. Add your phone number, verify SMS, and set escalation timing. Most users use 30 minutes (push), 10 minutes (SMS), and time-of-event (call) for critical items. Keep critical reservation strict; if everything is critical, escalation loses its meaning.

Step 6: connect calendar (5 minutes). One-way sync from KeptMind to your primary calendar — tasks you schedule appear as calendar events, but calendar events do not flood back as tasks. Enable in settings and choose the calendar account. Verify by adding one test task with a time and confirming it appears in your calendar.

What to skip in initial setup

Three features tempt configuration on day one and produce more harm than benefit. Categories and tags: do not create elaborate tag taxonomies before you have actually been using the app. The taxonomy you imagine on day one rarely matches the taxonomy you actually need on day 30. Custom views and filters: stick with the default Today view for the first month. Project hierarchies: KeptMind is intentionally flat for ADHD reasons; do not try to recreate Notion-style nested projects within it.

These features can be added later if specific needs emerge. Adding them on day one creates maintenance load that breaks the low-friction promise of the tool. The discipline of starting simple and adding only when needed is part of what makes KeptMind work for ADHD users where more elaborate tools have failed.

First-week usage pattern

Day 1: capture three thoughts by voice during the day. Do not organize anything. Day 2: open the Today list once and notice what is there. Day 3: capture five thoughts during the day. Day 4: try the lock-screen flow during a moment when typing would have been impossible. Day 5: mark a real task as critical and see whether the escalation feels appropriate. Day 6: use the energy toggle to mark low energy and observe how the visible list adapts. Day 7: review what reached "done" without you actively managing the system.

The week-one script reveals whether the setup is working. If captures are happening reliably and the Today list is producing visible action, the system is taking. If not, the friction is somewhere specific — usually capture speed (lock-screen access not working) or reminder reliability (notifications not delivering) — and worth investigating before week two.

What to do this week

Run the 30-minute setup today. Then commit to the week-one usage script for seven days. At the end of the week, evaluate honestly whether captures are reaching the Today list and whether the system is making your daily life easier rather than adding overhead. Most ADHD adults find that KeptMind delivers visible value within five days when set up properly. If the value is not visible by day seven, audit the setup against this guide — usually one specific step was missed (often lock-screen access) and fixing it produces immediate improvement. The setup is small but skipping it is the most common reason ADHD productivity apps fail their users; treating the 30 minutes as a deliberate investment is what produces the durable benefit the tool is designed to deliver.

If this article was useful, these related guides cover adjacent ground and are worth reading next:

Each of the linked articles approaches the topic from a slightly different angle, and reading two or three of them together usually produces a more complete picture than any single article can. The shared underlying neurology means that improvements in one area often unlock progress in others, which is why the topics interconnect even when they appear separate at first glance.

Frequently asked questions

What if voice capture is not accurate enough?: Test in your actual voice across realistic conditions (in transit, in conversation, after waking). If accuracy is below 85%, check microphone permissions and language settings. KeptMind supports custom vocabulary uploads for project names and frequently-mentioned people; adding 10-15 of these can lift accuracy 10-15%. If accuracy remains low, voice may not be the right primary capture mode for your specific voice; the text capture path is also fast.
How do I migrate from another task app?: Most users do not migrate the full backlog; they archive the old system as reference and start fresh. Re-add only items that are currently active. The fresh start usually reveals that 60-80% of the old backlog was decoration rather than active work, which is itself useful information. If you need to migrate specific high-stakes items, do so manually rather than via bulk import — the friction protects against importing chaos along with content.
Should I use KeptMind alongside my calendar?: Yes. KeptMind manages tasks; the calendar manages time-bound commitments. The one-way sync from KeptMind into your calendar handles the handoff. Most users open KeptMind for daily Today list work and the calendar for upcoming meetings; the two-app pattern is healthy and reduces overload.
What if I am away from my phone?: Web access at app.keptmind.com mirrors the mobile experience. Capture, Today list, and reminders all work. For full functionality, the mobile app remains the primary interface, but web works for desk-based moments where pulling out the phone is inconvenient.