Built for ADHD + social anxiety

Skip the reflection.
Get the step.

ClearStep is a CBT-based app that gives you one clear instruction at a time. No journaling prompts. No "how does that make you feel?" Just the next thing to do.

Launching on iOS & Android — July 30, 2026

Free to download.

Today's step
Set a timer for 5 minutes. Clear only the kitchen counter. Start when you're ready.
Done Skip for now
Why an app

Therapy is out of reach for most people.

CBT works. Getting to it is the hard part — and that gap is exactly what keeps people stuck in the loop instead of working through it.

Wait

Waitlists run for months

By the time an appointment comes up, the motivation or crisis that pushed you to book it has often already passed.

Cost

Sessions add up fast

Weekly therapy is priced out of reach for a lot of the people who'd benefit from it most.

Door

Walking in is its own barrier

For social anxiety specifically, booking a call or sitting in a waiting room can be the hardest step in the whole process — before the help even starts.

Fit

Generic support doesn't stick

Most tools that are accessible aren't built for how ADHD and social anxiety actually show up day to day, so they get abandoned.

The loop

Knowing what to do was never the problem.

ADHD and social anxiety feed each other. Most CBT apps treat them as separate issues and hand you a blank page to figure it out on your own. That's exactly where the loop wins.

01

Starting feels impossible

Not laziness — a brain that struggles to initiate tasks without urgency or immediate reward. Job hunting, cleaning, admin all stall at the same point: the start.

02

Avoidance shrinks your options

A situation feels exposing, so you route around it — the job you don't apply for, the plans you skip. Each avoidance quietly narrows what feels possible next time.

03

Rejection sensitivity amplifies it

A small social slip gets read as proof something is wrong with you, which makes the next situation feel even riskier to approach.

04

Low motivation sets back in

Less exposure and more self-criticism drain the energy needed to start again — and the loop resets.

How it works

The app talks first. You just follow the thread.

Every interaction ends in one concrete action — never an open question you have to sit with.

Task initiation "Cleaning the flat feels overwhelming."
Set a timer for 5 minutes. Clear only the kitchen counter. Start when ready.
Graded exposure Avoidance, one size smaller at a time.
Today's challenge: stand outside your front door for 3 minutes. No further. Come back when done.
After a hard moment A quick tap, not an essay.
How did that feel? Overwhelmed · Kept it together · Not sure — tap one, get your next move.
Why it's different

Other apps ask. ClearStep tells.

Typical CBT app

  • "How are you feeling about that?"
  • Long journaling entries with a blank text box
  • 20-minute guided modules
  • Generic anxiety content, not ADHD-specific
  • You decide what to work on today

ClearStep

  • Tap a mood, get a directed next step
  • Two-minute check-ins, no typing required
  • One instruction, one action, done
  • Built around ADHD patterns: RSD, time blindness, avoidance
  • The app decides — you just follow it
What's next

This is version one.

ClearStep launches with the core loop working end to end. Everything below is what's planned next, roughly in order.

Phase 1Jul 2026

Launch Jul 30, 2026

ClearStep goes live on iOS and Android. Task initiation steps, graded exposure for avoidance, and tap-based check-ins — the full core loop, free to download.

Phase 2Fall 2026

The ClearStep newsletter Planned

A short, regular email — one practical step plus something real about ADHD or social anxiety, written the same way the app talks: no fluff, nothing to overthink. Built for people who want the mindset even on days they don't open the app.

Phase 3Early 2027

Steps that learn your patterns Planned

Right now every user starts from the same place. Next, ClearStep starts noticing what actually works for you — which steps you complete, which you skip, what time of day motivation dips — and adjusts what it suggests.

Phase 42027

Home screen widget Planned

Today's step, visible without opening the app — built for time blindness, so the next action is sitting right there instead of one more thing to remember to check.

Phase 5Later

A quieter kind of community Planned

An optional, moderated space to share small wins with people who get it — built to feel safe for something as sensitive as RSD, not another comment section to brace yourself for.

Dates and features may shift based on what launch users actually need — this is a plan, not a promise.

i

A support tool, not a replacement

ClearStep is designed with clinical advisors and built to recognise when a situation needs more than an app — and to point you toward real help when it does. It does not replace therapy or psychiatric care.

Why I built this

Built from the inside, not from a textbook.

I was diagnosed with ADHD and social anxiety as an adult — later than most, and after years of not having a name for why certain things felt so much harder than they seemed to for everyone else.

Once I had the diagnosis, I went looking for tools that could actually help day to day. What I found were apps built around journaling, reflection, and open-ended questions — useful for some people, but exactly the kind of thing my brain struggles to engage with. I didn't need something to ask me how I felt. I needed something to tell me what to do next.

ClearStep is the tool I wished existed: no blank pages, no long sessions, just a clear next step, built around how ADHD and social anxiety actually show up day to day. If that sounds familiar, I built this for you.

— Founder, ClearStep
iOS & Android — July 30, 2026

Be first to download ClearStep

Free to download. Leave your email and we'll send you the link the moment ClearStep goes live on the App Store and Google Play.

A few extras

Tools worth knowing about

A short list of things that pair well with the kind of structure ClearStep is built around — not required, just useful if you're building out a toolkit.

Time management
Time Timer

A visual countdown timer often recommended for ADHD-related time blindness — you can see time passing instead of reading a number.

View on Amazon →
Sensory
Weighted blanket

Deep pressure is commonly recommended by occupational therapists to help with restlessness and settling — often used as a wind-down cue before sleep.

View on Amazon →
Fidget tool
Fidget ring or cube

Research has linked fidgeting to improved focus in ADHD. A discreet ring or cube works in meetings or calls without drawing attention.

View on Amazon →
Reading
Driven to Distraction

By Dr. Edward Hallowell and Dr. John Ratey — one of the more widely-referenced books on how ADHD actually works.

View on Amazon →
Reading
Taking Charge of Adult ADHD

By Dr. Russell Barkley, a leading ADHD researcher — a more clinical, evidence-based look at adult ADHD.

View on Amazon →

Links above are Amazon affiliate links — if you buy through them, ClearStep may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

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