Paulora: ADHD Body Double

Starting is the hard part. Paulora sits with you while you do it.

A body double is someone who works alongside you so that you actually begin. It is one of the few things that reliably helps an ADHD brain start - and it normally means booking a stranger, or asking a friend at nine on a Tuesday night.

Paulora is a voice body double. Always there, nothing to schedule, nobody watching you.

Tell her the thing you have been putting off - typed or spoken - and she breaks it into steps small enough that the first one takes under a minute. Then she stays. Out loud. While you do it.

Not another planner. Planners hand you a tidy list and walk away. Paulora stays.


SHE IS A VOICE, NOT A NOTIFICATION

She reads the step aloud, so you do not have to look at the screen to know what you are doing. She checks in while you work - not to chase you, just so the room is not empty. Talk back whenever you like and she answers. When you finish, she says so, out loud.

That presence is the whole product. Everything else is in service of it.


HOW IT WORKS

1. Say it or type it
Describe what you are avoiding, in your own words. No categories, no tags, no setup.

2. Get a first step you can start now
Three to six micro-steps. If the first one still feels too big, tap "First step too big" and she splits it again - mid-session, as many times as you need.

3. Start, with company
A sitting is five minutes - a focus timer with company. She reads the step, stays with you while you work, and counts it done when you say so.


WHAT IS IN IT

- Voice in, voice out - speak your task, talk back mid-session, or run the whole thing in text. Quiet mode turns every spoken line into on-screen text.

- "First step too big" - one tap splits a step into smaller pieces, without leaving the session.

- The two-minute deal - when you are ready to quit, she offers a deal: two more minutes, then you are free to stop. Most people do not.

- A reality check on time - guess how long it will take before you start. Afterwards she tells you what it actually took. The gap is usually the point.

- A parking lot - say "remind me to call the bank" mid-session and the thought is set aside instead of derailing you. She brings it back when you are done.

- Your done pile - a calendar of what you finished and how long each one took, kept on your device.

- No streaks to break. Disappear for nine days and come back to "good to see you", not a guilt screen. Nothing to lose by being away.


PAULORA PLUS

Free gives you five sessions a day, spoken in your phone's own voice.

Plus gives you Paulora's voice - the real one - on every session, with no daily limit. It also unlocks two more characters to work alongside: Hype, who is loud and firmly on your side, and Snark, who is dry about the whole business. Four further voices and a daytime look come with it.

Her voice costs real money every time she speaks. That is why the free tier uses your phone's, and why this is not a ninety-nine pence app.


NO ACCOUNT, NO SIGN-UP, NO ADS

There is nothing to log in to. Open the app and start. Your tasks, your name and your history stay in your device's storage - there is no account to sync them to. Paulora never records or stores your audio. Speech recognition is handled by Android's own recogniser - depending on your device and which language packs it has, Android may do that on the device or on Google's servers. No ads, no ad ID, no analytics, no tracking.

An internet connection is needed for the step breakdown and for Paulora's voice.


WHO IT IS FOR

Built for ADHD brains - procrastination, task paralysis, executive dysfunction, the overwhelm of a list you cannot start - and for anyone whose to-do list is a graveyard. The problem was never the plan, it was the starting.

Paulora is a productivity tool, not a medical one. It does not diagnose, treat or manage any condition and is not a substitute for professional care. If you are struggling, an ADHD-informed clinician is worth the wait.