About

Why I Built Alert Sign

Alert Sign evolved from recognising a pattern of missed meetings and events due to being in the zone.

In today’s workplace, it’s incredibly easy to become deeply focused on what you’re doing — working through emails, analysing spreadsheets, building presentations, writing, designing or simply trying to get something finished. 

When you’re in that zone, working from multiple extended screens or single screen, time can disappear. Meetings don’t feel close. Calendar notifications blend into everything else on screen. And then suddenly, you’re late.

What stood out to me was just how common this experience is.

Across teams and across levels, from entry-level roles to executives, I kept hearing the same things:

• “I get so focused, I lose track of time.”
• “I miss meetings because I don’t see the notification.”
• “I need something that actually cuts through.”

For people with ADHD, maintaining awareness of time while deeply focused can be particularly challenging. But this isn’t just an ADHD problem. Anyone can become absorbed in their work and miss a reminder.

Standard notifications weren’t solving the problem. They were too easy to overlook, too easy to dismiss and too easy to lose amongst everything else competing for our attention.

So I built something different.

Alert Sign acts as a digital signal system for your calendar.

When a meeting is approaching, Alert Sign cuts through the noise with a clear, highly visible alert across one — or all — of your connected screens.

It’s designed to be difficult to miss, without adding another complicated productivity system to your day.

Whether you’re someone with ADHD who benefits from stronger visual cues, someone who regularly works in deep focus, or simply someone who never wants to realise “that meeting started five minutes ago” again, Alert Sign is designed to help.

Because sometimes a little notification in the corner of your screen just isn’t enough.

The Thinking Behind It

Most productivity tools try to organise your time.

Alert Sign is built to protect it.

It’s designed for people who:

• Work in deep focus
• Move quickly between priorities
• Operate in high-demand environments
• Or need a stronger signal than a standard notification can provide

Instead of adding more noise, Alert Sign introduces a clear, visible cue on one or all connected screens. A moment you can’t miss.

Like a work zone signal.
When it appears, you act.

About Me

I’ve spent over three decades working across media, digital technology, and product leadership, building systems designed to scale and perform in real-world environments.

Alert Sign brings that experience together with something more personal.

It’s shaped by lived experience, and by ongoing conversations with colleagues, friends, and leaders across the industry who were all asking for the same thing:
A simple, reliable way to stay on track without breaking their flow.

The Goal

To create a system that:

• Keeps you in the work zone
• Steps in at the right moment
• And makes missing a meeting or reminder a thing of the past
• Keep you in control

Because in fast-moving, multitasked environments, timing signals the difference between a good leader and a successful one.

I hope you love using Alert Sign has much as I do.

David