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Need collaborators for ADHD management system called Poppins

10 points by crawfordcomeaux ↗ HN
TL;DR - I'm building myself an ADHD management system that, if it works, I'll be expanding on for others to use. I'm typically only productive in collaborative groups, so I'm looking for coders interested in helping out. I haven't decided on a language yet, but would feel most comfortable in python or javascript. Here's the initial repo:

http://github.com/crawfordcomeaux/Poppins

Background: I've attempted to baby-step my way through addressing my different ADHD-related issues/habits (ie. "executive functions") with and without the help of friends/family/coaches/counselors to no avail. After conducting a SWOT analysis of Crawford with friends/family, I took the list of weaknesses and drew lines from the issues that reinforce others (eg. disorganization reinforces perpetual tardiness). What I wound up with was two well-connected clusters of weaknesses and a few standalones. The disconnected issues were all related to personal interaction with others, which I've improved on over the years, and the clusters were all executive functions.

Hypothesis: Without an extremely strong support system, any attempts to tackle an executive function that's supported by other issues are likely to fail. In the absence of a strong support system, clustered issues need to each be address concurrently while addressing the negative side effects that stem from trying to change multiple habits at once.

Additional Problem: I'm a tech-savvy coder without any self-discipline and a rebellious streak. I'll rebel against things that get in my way, even if it's for my own good, unless it's just not worth the effort. How that translates to the project is that all components must be "sufficiently" protected from me (ie. takes longer than 3-5 mins for me to bypass the system).

Check out the GitHub repo for more information.

6 comments

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dylanhassinger
My advice: downsize the idea mercilessly so you don't need help. Get it live. then expand features / collaborators.

"The key to productivity is doing small batches to completion" -Pat Flynn

crawfordcomeaux
I've given the full overview, but the plan for developing it is to do exactly that. Sadly, even the simplest things are hard for me to complete without collaboration. That's why I'm looking for help.
Charles1
I think I see what you might be getting at. As I to have had thoughts along these lines. I think DylanHassinger has a point, but I can see where you are coming from. To some extent the first stage of this project exists in the time management tools that already exist, but are not well suited to the ADHD mind and a rebellious streak. I also think this set of tools need to be embeddable (I would want them near me almost all the time, and I want them to be part of the tools I use, and the toys I play with. So they can not be abandoned.

I will take a look at github. But I think it is going to take a considerable effort to find the people who will put in the effort to be part of a team early on.

Charles Puffer

mythriel
Have u done some market research? Would ppl use such a system? Try maybe to get a list of 200 ppl that would use it and after that build it, maybe more devs will be interested in joining once a base customer list is set.
dholowiski
Very interesting, very ambitious. As someone with adhd, the best advice I could give is to find someone who doesn't have adhd to help out, or manage the project.

I'd like to help but my coding skills are a few orders of magnitude too low for this kind of a project (and I'd probably forget about it in a week anyway).

If you need beta testers or any feedback, I'd be happy to help.

FYI, that rebellious streak is probably Odd (oppositional defiant disorder), which just about everyone with adhd also has.

josephpmay
This is brilliant, not just for people with ADHD, but for anybody who gets easily distracted. Though my programming experience outside of Java is limited, I'd love to help.

Idea: I could see it being extremely beneficial to eventually have an API so that nanny functions could be built into other applications