what's in my todo app
I use a gamified todo app that I log into daily, and have been using it for almost a year now.
The interaction with six of my friends kinda drew me in; we can have goals together, send each other encouraging messages, visit each other in our rooms and gift each other items. Each day I check off enough on my list, I send a little bird off to an adventure and then it discovers something. I also get little micropets.
What I also enjoy is that it's not strictly a productivity-focused app, it's more about selfcare. It offers soundscapes, meditations, a mood tracker, breathing exercises, physical exercises, mental health quizzes, journaling prompts and more. Initially, I used it like any other todo app, meaning I wanted to get everything on the list done in a day and wanted to build a streak. That didn't work out, like it always does, and I chose to embrace the format of the app more.
Now, I use it as a list of suggestions to do, from optional and kind things to gentle reminders of what needs doing. I used to struggle a lot with sitting around wanting to do things or knowing I needed to do stuff, but not exactly being sure what, or feeling like I'm missing something. For years, I made lists for everything. Nowadays, it's all combined in that app and not spread between different notes. I have set all goals to just continue being there until they're checked off, and they can be skipped and snoozed as well, all neatly sorted into categories.
Let me show you.
hygiene
The hygiene category reminds me to
- change the bed sheets on every Sunday
- do laundry on Saturday
- clean the bathrooms on Tuesday
- take out the trash on Saturday (or as needed)
- vacuum on Monday and Friday
- dust and wipe surfaces on Wednesday.
productivity
This holds all the stuff I consider productive.
Daily stuff is:
- spend 5 minutes tidying my home (I usually do this automatically, because I tidy up a bit first thing in the morning and before going to bed, and I always try to take stuff with me whenever I go through the apartment)
- study
- blog
- read a book or magazine
The less frequent stuff:
- water plants (Thursday)
- do a case for Noyb (Friday-Sunday)
connection
This is category is usually intended for daily reminders to reach out to people, suggestions to make plans, to remember everyone that loves you, and all that. For me, it has
- do favors for my wife
- take a stretch break (this is under connection because this is my wife and I's shared goal we do together)
nutrition
This checks my daily drinking and goals for when to eat. This takes into account that I am mostly hungry in the evening and that eating early, especially sweet or carb-y stuff, seems to spike me a lot and makes me very hungry the rest of the day. So I try to eat breakfast and lunch later, and currently working on delaying it until even later.
- drink water (3 bottles)
- breakfast after 10 am
- lunch past 1 pm
movement
All of this is daily. I don't always feel good enough physically to fully commit to a routine for weeks or months, so this is basically a platter to pick and choose from each day. Some days, I do all. Some, I only do one or none.
- go for a walk
- 20+ mins indoor cycling
- Pilates
- Yoga
calm
This is for stuff that gets me into the flow, or meditative stuff. Also daily!
- journal
- make art
gratitude
This is also a daily goal, but only holds one at the moment: "Do one thing makes me happy". It's very vague on purpose, and I count a lot of things based on the day. It gets me to go through my day and see what good things happened, practice gratitude. I check if I have treated myself well, and see if there's maybe something I'd like to do for myself.
Self-kindness
Reminders for myself. Very helpful for my chronic illness stuff! It can be hard to see rest as something productive and needed, instead of just something that holds me back. It also helps me see small good things and wins I had that day that otherwise, I would have just forgotten or downplayed again. So I get these three daily tasks:
- read a simple affirmation for myself (tapping this launches the affirmation part of the app, where I can skip through ones and find one I need for the day)
- give myself permission to rest (this one changed a lot of how I see breaks in my fitness plans!)
- name one small success from today
sleep
Still working on perfecting my sleep schedule and quality. Daily goal:
- avoid caffeine after lunch (usually, I treat this as noon, because I usually have lunch later)
- go to bed at 22:00
medication
Reminders to take some stuff. Only my injection is scheduled for every two weeks.
- Supplements daily (a general one, my extra iron stuff, Vit D during the winter)
- Endovelle daily in the evening
- Minoxidil twice daily
- Injection every two weeks on Friday
beauty
Haven't had this category for long yet! But my hair is longer now and I take great care regrowing it, together with other things I want to focus more on.
- hair oiling on Sunday
- monthly teeth bleaching
I don't put my usual skin care in there, because it's so embedded into my routine and easy to think of that I don't need it to be in there.
I love that I don't have to just do the very productive or exhausting stuff; I can just do enough. Sometimes, selfcare is all you can manage, or you procrastinate on hard stuff but do lots of other things. That should still be rewarded, and you're still making progress. I feel like this setup finally acknowledges that for me. It's not a stressor anymore, just a wide selection of things I get to do, and even self-kindness and rest count.
Most days, I don't do all of these, and it's not even an expectation. I'm just happy to see that I did stuff at all, and have an easy list of things that I can go through and see "Oh yes, that fits my mood and energy right now." and feeling like I make progress even by resting or affirming or acknowledging small wins.
Reply via email
Published