Comment by Delgan | Hacker News Reader

Comment by Delgan | Hacker News Reader

One month ago, I spent hours testing dozens of apps for "gamified todo list". I could not find any that would perfectly suits my needs (Habitica is too gamified for example).

Your app looks very promising. Polished UI. Intuitive. Unlimited habits. Simple "task -> award" principle without added complexity layers.

Something I'm having trouble finding in the apps I've tried is the distinction between "habit" and "task". An habit is something I want to do multiple time in a week. While a task is a one-shot TODO that I would like to execute at some point when I'm not procrastinating. Once done, I don't need to repeat it, but I like to be rewarded.

Your application seems to be more habit oriented. Is the notion of a one-time task something you could eventually incorporate?

I have been in the same boat of trying to gamify my to-do list. So far I have been working with progress bars and goals to try and find a way to motivate me to get things done.

I realized that the hardest thing is getting the long term goals to feel like a simple activity for today, bringing the 3+ month goal into a simple “read a few pages today” type of habit.

I also created a simple spreadsheet app that focuses specifically on the progress you made today in relation to your goal. The progress you make today is a different color. Instead of estimating how long it will take to complete the goal with your average, I use the amount done today. So after every addition page read you can see the amount of days left to finish the book go down.

I also added a little bit of motivation text that says “if you read X more pages you will be done Y days faster.

If you use the “MIT”(Most Important Task) type of system , then you could make it a daily habit to complete your top 2-3 MITs for the day.

Breaking one time tasks into small chunks that could become a habit to start on at specific times might be worth looking into. Similar to writers who write for an hour every day even when not motivated.

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