| name | setup-focus-operating-system |
| description | Create an ADHD-friendly focus operating system across phone, computer, calendar, tasks, workspace, routines, and Codex apprentice workflows. |
Setup Focus Operating System
Use this skill when the user wants help turning their tools and environment into a trusted external brain.
Inputs
- Current goal and bottleneck.
- Calendar/task tools.
- Phone and computer friction points.
- Work surfaces and environment constraints.
- Existing routines.
- User-approved source windows.
Workflow
Follow the source-derived order. Do not skip to generic planning before the subtract steps are handled.
- Subtract phone distraction. Make the phone point at the calendar/task system, not feeds.
- Subtract environment friction. Put the physical/digital workspace on rails.
- Add clarity. Put one short-term goal into the trusted system where it is always visible.
- Add prioritization. Name the single bottleneck stopping the goal.
- Add time. Apply do-it-now-or-schedule-it to every open loop.
- Add execution. Shrink the active task to the first visible step and reframe self-talk.
- Multiply routines. Protect simple morning/evening blocks that are fun and stick-to-able.
- Multiply repair. Celebrate completion, diagnose misses, and turn repeated friction into skills.
- Ask for approval before executing any external change.
Source-Derived Protocol
Use this checklist as the default. If the user has not completed a prerequisite, make that the next recommended action.
1. Phone Setup
Draft a reversible phone setup:
- Home screen: one primary calendar widget, not a grid of apps.
- Second surface: screen-time or usage widget for awareness.
- Dock/core four: only apps that support the user's goal, tasks, AI, or intentional motivation.
- Impulse apps: remove from home screen, delete if unnecessary, or bury behind friction.
- Notifications: audit app-by-app; keep only true urgent channels.
- Focus blocks: block distracting apps during morning, evening, and deep-work windows.
Done criteria:
- Opening the phone tells the user what to do now.
- No social/feed app is one tap from the home screen.
- Notifications are near-zero except urgent people/team channels.
2. Environment Setup
Draft a physical/digital environment setup:
- Desk/chair: remove ergonomic avoidance friction.
- Always-visible system: calendar plus tasks visible on a second monitor, pinned browser, or startup surface.
- Goal cue: put the active short-term goal where it cannot be missed.
- One-press triggers: make the next work surface easy to open.
- Distraction cleanup: remove or move visual clutter from the default work area.
- Lighting/energy cue: define the first environmental action that starts the day.
Done criteria:
- The workspace cues the next action without relying on memory.
- Calendar/tasks are visible before entertainment or inbox.
- The user can start the first work block in one or two actions.
3. Clarity Setup
Draft the trusted system:
- Choose one primary system, preferably calendar plus tasks.
- Create one short-term goal, ideally three months or less.
- Put the goal as an all-day or multi-day visible calendar event.
- Add the goal to the UI/control-plane state so every daily brief sees it.
- If the goal is unclear, invert: ask what the user does not want.
Done criteria:
- The user can answer: "What am I aiming at right now?"
- The goal is visible in the system, not only in their head.
4. Prioritization Setup
Run the bottleneck algorithm:
- State the goal.
- Ask: "What is stopping this?"
- List missing assets, skills, decisions, people, constraints, or proof.
- Pick the one bottleneck most likely to move the goal.
- Ignore or park non-bottlenecks unless they are urgent obligations.
Done criteria:
- The user has one named bottleneck.
- The next plan attacks that bottleneck before lower-leverage tasks.
5. Time Setup
Run the opt-out time algorithm:
- For every open loop, ask: "Can this be done now in under 10 minutes?"
- If yes, mark
do_now.
- If no, assign a concrete time window and mark
schedule.
- If someone else can do it, mark
delegate and draft the ask.
- If it does not serve the goal and has no real deadline, mark
park with a review trigger.
- Keep separate lanes for incoming/open loops and scheduled commitments.
Done criteria:
- No important task floats without a lane.
- Every scheduled task has a when/where.
6. Execution Setup
Draft the start-on-demand script:
- Convert the task into the smallest first physical or digital action.
- Replace "I have to" with "I choose/get to/want to because..."
- Attach the immediate benefit, not only the distant payoff.
- If the user missed, diagnose the system: cue, scope, environment, time, energy, or motivation.
- Add a visible self-talk cue if the user spirals after misses.
Done criteria:
- The user can start in less than two minutes.
- The plan includes a recovery script for missed execution.
7. Routine Setup
Draft simple protected routines:
- Evening routine first; it sets up the morning.
- Morning routine begins with an easy, likable step.
- Protect morning/evening "my time" blocks on the calendar.
- Block distracting apps during those windows.
- Pick tomorrow's one needle-mover the night before.
- Treat 4-5 successful weekdays as a win, not perfection failure.
Done criteria:
- Morning and evening blocks exist as draft calendar blocks.
- Each routine starts with a step the user is willing to do.
- The routine creates freedom, not rigidity.
8. Repair And Compound
Draft the repair loop:
- Mark completed setup visibly.
- Celebrate completion before adding the next demand.
- Identify one repeated breakdown.
- Turn that breakdown into a reusable Codex skill, checklist, automation, or environment change.
Done criteria:
- The user leaves with one win and one next system improvement.
Output Format
# Focus Operating System
## Goal
## Bottleneck
## Current Module
## Prerequisite Gaps
## Phone Setup Checklist
## Environment Setup Checklist
## Calendar And Goal Setup
## Bottleneck And Priority
## Open Loop Schedule
## Execution Script
## Routine Blocks
## Repair Loop
## Codex Apprentice Workflows
## Approval Needed
## First Test
Calendar integration (the headline ADHD job)
When calendar tools are available, this is where the system becomes real. Use the user's
context and traces (goal, bottleneck, open loops, and — with approval — their actual
calendar) to organize time the way the course teaches. Always propose as a draft in the
Codex Channel first; only create/modify events after explicit approval.
Apply the course's moves to the calendar:
- Clarity → goal event. Create one always-visible, short-term goal event (e.g. an
all-day/multi-day event titled
GOAL · <goal>), high-contrast, so it can't be missed.
- Prioritization → bottleneck. Put the single bottleneck in the goal event's notes.
- Time → schedule open loops. For each open loop not done now, propose a concrete time
block (opt-out). Do-now items get flagged, not scheduled.
- Routines → protected blocks. Propose recurring morning/evening "my time" blocks that
are un-schedulable, starting with an easy first step.
Read the calendar only with approval; surface a diff of proposed events before writing.
Guardrails
- Prefer small reversible setup changes.
- Do not remove access, delete data, send messages, create tasks, or change calendar events without approval.
- Read the calendar only after the user approves; never write events without an explicit go-ahead.
- Label recommendations as drafts until approved.
- Do not make medical claims.
