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Donna shows one screen on your first open of the day: the day and date, up to three Outcomes, and one proposed first step. You can answer it three ways: tap “i’m in” to start that step, tap “pull a different thread” for a different step, or type or speak anything to skip it. Donna builds the brief overnight from your day, your active Outcomes, anything you set down the evening before, and your recent rhythm. It appears once a day. No brief appears until you have at least one Outcome. On your first morning, the app opens straight to the canvas.

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What the brief shows

  • A quiet open. The day and date, an opening line Donna wrote overnight, and sometimes one observation. If there is nothing real to say, Donna leaves the line out.
  • Worth your attention today. Up to three Outcomes, each with a short note on where it stands.
  • One opening move. One proposed first step, concrete enough to start on. If Donna has no concrete step to propose, this part is left out and the brief is the quiet open and the Outcomes.
The morning brief: the day and date, an opening line, three Outcomes worth attention, and one proposed first step. The morning brief: the day and date, an opening line, three Outcomes worth attention, and one proposed first step. After you have seen the brief, it closes. The canvas is back for the rest of the day.

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How you respond

  • i’m in. Tap to start the opening move.
  • pull a different thread. Tap to pass on this step. Donna offers another angle.
  • Type or speak anything. The brief closes and the conversation starts from what you said.
Skipping the brief keeps the overnight work. What Donna worked out still shapes the conversation you start instead.
The brief proposes one starting point. Donna does not produce a full schedule for the day, and everything after the brief is a conversation you drive.

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After days away

If you open the brief after days away, it reads the same as any other day. The opening line does not mention the gap, and there is no pile of missed items to catch up on.

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On a hard morning

If you are running on empty, the brief shrinks to a single gentle line, something like “rough one. one thing or nothing, your call,” and one small offer. The two controls are “just this one” and “not now.” Tapping “not now” closes the brief and carries nothing forward. See Bad days.

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Reach-outs between conversations

Between conversations, Donna can also reach out. Reach-outs follow these rules:
  • quiet hours are respected
  • there is a minimum gap between reach-outs
  • Donna backs off while you are low, or while you already have something unanswered
Settings, under personalization, “reaching out,” controls all of this, including a toggle that turns reach-outs off entirely. See Check-ins and nudges. If the trouble is the routine around the brief, a fixed morning sequence that falls apart on a hard morning, the guide on an ADHD morning routine covers building one that resizes to the morning you woke up into.

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Frequently asked questions

Donna builds the brief overnight from your day, your active Outcomes, what you set down the evening before, and your recent rhythm, then proposes one first step. See “What the brief shows” above.
No. The brief proposes one first step and no schedule. The rest of the day is a conversation you drive.
Sometimes. The brief itself appears once a day, when you open the app, and is not pushed to you. Between conversations Donna can reach out under the rules above: quiet hours, a minimum gap, and backing off while you are low or have something unanswered. Settings, under personalization, “reaching out,” controls all of it, including a toggle that turns reach-outs off entirely. See Check-ins and nudges.
The brief shrinks to one line and two controls, “just this one” and “not now.” Tapping “not now” closes the brief and carries nothing forward. See “On a hard morning” above.
The brief starts from the current day. Its opening line does not mention how long you were away, and there is no catch-up pile of missed items.

Next: working an Action

The work view you land in after you start the opening move.

Go deeper: An ADHD morning routine

The full guide to building a morning routine around the brief.