What the research says

In Tide: The Brain Dump, the visible timer, and the anchor's why on screen during Focus.

Barkley's executive-function model argues that people with EF deficits are best helped by putting information into the physical environment at the point of performance — lists, timers, cues — rather than relying on internal recall. CBT programmes for adult ADHD (Safren; Solanto; Ramsay & Rostain) use external task lists and planning as core modules.

• Barkley — EF and self-regulation in ADHD (factsheet)
• Safren et al. 2010, JAMA — CBT for adult ADHD RCT
• Matsumoto et al. 2024, BMJ Mental Health — CBT components network meta-analysis (organisational strategies)

In Tide: “Break it down” makes 3–7 steps; the first is deliberately almost trivial.

Steel's meta-analysis of procrastination (691 correlations) finds task aversiveness, low self-efficacy and impulsiveness are the strongest predictors. Bandura & Schunk showed proximal subgoals raise self-efficacy and interest more than distant goals. The strongest related evidence is for if-then plans (implementation intentions: meta-analytic d = 0.65; normalised inhibition in children with ADHD) — Tide's steps are small sub-tasks, not yet if-then plans, so we borrow the direction of that evidence, not its effect size.

• Steel 2007, Psychological Bulletin
• Gollwitzer & Sheeran 2006 — implementation intentions meta-analysis
• Gawrilow & Gollwitzer 2008, Cognitive Therapy and Research

In Tide: Wins never reset. Yesterday's tasks are re-chosen, not marked overdue. Weekly minimums count cumulatively.

Silverman & Barasch (seven studies) found that displaying a broken streak reduces subsequent engagement regardless of actual behaviour, most strongly when the break feels self-caused. Lally et al. found that missing a single day did not materially affect habit formation. Dai, Milkman & Riis showed temporal landmarks (“fresh starts”) increase aspirational behaviour. In one small clinic sample (N = 30), perfectionism was the most-endorsed cognitive distortion in adults with ADHD, which makes streak-breaking a plausible shame trigger.

• Silverman & Barasch 2023, Journal of Consumer Research
• Lally et al. 2010, European Journal of Social Psychology
• Strohmeier et al. 2016, Psychiatry Research
• Dai, Milkman & Riis 2014, Management Science

In Tide: The Focus timer shows time as a shrinking ring, not just digits.

Time-perception deficits in ADHD are established meta-analytically, across the lifespan. Evidence that a visual timer specifically helps adults does not yet exist: the best study is a small within-subject trial of 44 typically developing 7–9-year-olds, where a visual timer reduced anticipatory anxiety and off-task behaviour, most for children with higher ADHD-trait scores.

• Marx, Cortese et al. 2022, JAACAP — perceptual timing in ADHD (meta-analysis, 55 studies)
• Metcalfe et al. 2024, Developmental Neuropsychology — time perception across the lifespan (meta-analysis)
• Hallez & Vallier 2025 — visual timer study (typically developing children)

In Tide: The evening WhatsApp reflection asks for one win; the weekly recap replays them.

Seligman's “three good things” exercise — three good things nightly for one week — raised wellbeing for up to six months; Tide asks for one, a lighter dose no study has tested. Amabile & Kramer's diary study found perceived progress on meaningful work is the strongest predictor of a good day. A cross-sectional study of adults with ADHD found lower self-compassion explained part of their poorer mental health; that is why the prompts never mention what was missed. No study tests a weekly recap.

• Seligman et al. 2005, American Psychologist
• Beaton et al. 2022, Journal of Clinical Psychology — self-compassion in ADHD

In Tide: Morning brief and routine nudges on WhatsApp.

The one randomised trial of SMS reminders in adults with ADHD found no effect on module completion, logins or practice; reminders only produced faster logins and more time in some modules early on. A meta-analysis of text-message health interventions finds a modest overall effect (d ≈ 0.33) and that personalised messages with individualised or decreasing frequency beat fixed schedules. Tide's companion currently runs on a fixed daily schedule, which that evidence argues against — it is in a small beta for that reason.

• Nordby et al. 2022, Frontiers in Digital Health
• Head et al. 2013 — text-messaging interventions meta-analysis

In Tide: Each anchor has a why; it appears on the Focus screen.

Writing about a task's personal relevance raised interest and performance, especially for low-expectancy students (Hulleman & Harackiewicz). Evidence that re-displaying it during work sustains effort is thin; Barkley notes cues alone are “only partially successful” without more immediate rewards — which is what the Wins log tries to be.

• Hulleman & Harackiewicz 2009, Science

In Tide: Today holds three. The fourth is refused, kindly.

No study tests a cap of three. Working-memory capacity is roughly four items (Cowan), lower under load, and CBT programmes teach prioritising a few A-tasks over a long list. “Three” is a heuristic from the productivity canon that fits that evidence; it is not itself a finding.

• Cowan 2001, Behavioral and Brain Sciences

In Tide: “I am someone who…” statements attached to anchors.

The “votes” metaphor is James Clear's. Identity-based motivation (Oyserman) and self-perception theory support the direction behaviour → identity; Verplanken & Sui find identity consolidates after repeated behaviour rather than triggering it. Useful for maintenance, unproven as a starter. Tide keeps identity statements optional and phrased as behaviour (“someone who shows up”), not traits.

• Verplanken & Sui 2019, Frontiers in Psychology