Achievement runs on five loops: time, doing, being seen, learning, and timed dopamine. Together they build the habit and a new story about who you are and what you can do. Loops runs all five on purpose, then stops them from breaking. Write the first paragraph, not the chapter. Some progress counts as done. Four rest days a month, so one bad day doesn't end a streak. A buddy who cheers. Dora, an AI coach who knows your goals and never judges. Built for ADHD. It was the highest bar.
Achievement runs on five loops: time, doing, being seen, learning, and timed dopamine. Together they build the habit, and a new story about who you are and what you can do.
Loops, the app we launch on Thursday here, runs all five on purpose, then stops them from breaking.
Matthews (Dominican University, 2015, N=267) found that writing goals down, sharing them with a friend and sending weekly progress reports moved completion from 43% to 76%. Writing alone helped. Writing plus being seen helped most. That's why accountability isn't a bolt-on feature here.
A 2020 CHI study found streaks were the top reason people abandoned them, and that missing a single day made someone 63% more likely to quit entirely. The mechanic designed to keep you engaged is the one that ends it. Hence rest days, and progress that counts when it's partial.
Hi Product Hunt 👋
I'm Matt.
If you have ADHD, you'll know the graveyard. The goals you meant, started, and quietly stopped. Not because you didn't care, you cared a lot.
The loop underneath it is familiar. The task feels too big to start. You avoid it. The guilt turns up. Tomorrow it's harder. Round it goes. And then an app tells you your 17-day streak is gone because you had one bad day, so now the app is part of the problem too.
We built Loops with a principle: you can be productive and kind to yourself, and perhaps you're more productive when you are, especially when you have ADHD.
What does this mean from a product perspective?
Some progress counts as progress. All-or-nothing thinking is one of the cruellest parts of ADHD, and every productivity app on earth reinforces it with a checkbox. Twenty minutes when you planned an hour is still twenty minutes, so Loops counts it.
Four rest days a month, no questions asked. Some days you're dysregulated and it isn't happening. Losing a streak on exactly that day is the opposite of helpful, so you don't. The streak survives and nothing is deleted.
You own what the AI remembers. Explaining yourself from the beginning, every time, is exhausting, so Dora knows your goals, your Loops and, if you let her, your journal. But a coach who knows you shouldn't be a black box. You can read everything she remembers about you, change it, delete any of it, whenever you want.
Three notifications a day, maximum, and silence when you're on track. We're probably the only app you'll install this year trying to talk to you less.
We built it for ADHD because it was the highest bar. A system that holds up for the brain that struggles most to start, to remember and to keep going holds up for anyone.
It's ADHD Awareness Month, so today is the right day for this.
Ask me anything. Tell me what you think.
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The AI is soooo good. Came up with fun ideas to help me break my goals down into bite size chunks which I’ve always struggled with. Made me a bit emosh
@matt_from_loops_work Loops looks very compelling, How effective is loops in the free version, subscription fatigue is real for me. Best of luck with today's launch.
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Love using Loops. Most ADHD apps were trying to micromanage me, but I've found Loops to be different. It understands me. Really like the AI coaching and the Loops ideas it comes up with.
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Congrats on the launch, Matt! Four rest days a month so one bad day doesn't kill a streak is such a kind idea. Love that Dora's memory is open and you can edit it. Wishing you a great launch day!
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Love this - Really helps me focus and achieve more
The AI is soooo good. Came up with fun ideas to help me break my goals down into bite size chunks which I’ve always struggled with. Made me a bit emosh
@matt_from_loops_work Loops looks very compelling, How effective is loops in the free version, subscription fatigue is real for me. Best of luck with today's launch.
Love using Loops. Most ADHD apps were trying to micromanage me, but I've found Loops to be different. It understands me. Really like the AI coaching and the Loops ideas it comes up with.
Congrats on the launch, Matt! Four rest days a month so one bad day doesn't kill a streak is such a kind idea. Love that Dora's memory is open and you can edit it. Wishing you a great launch day!
Love this - Really helps me focus and achieve more