This is a tool to help really get things done instead of just planning on getting things done.. It’s the key to getting to that highly sought after ‘hyper-focused’ mindset. Sometimes it’s a struggle to manage your time well and a tool that helps break up your time in blocks - aka the time blocking method - does wonders to help with that struggle. It’s free with no ads - only an option to redeem rewards after completing a task (max 2 a day) which can be turned off in the settings page so you can stay focused and feel good about getting things done. It has been recently updated to use Android’s new Material Design and the ability to sync with Google Tasks. The app attempts to simplify and take a different direction than heavy duty organizing apps. The main purpose of this app is to help you get things done by focusing on the now. It’s basically split into two parts: your ‘Planned’ items and your ‘Unplanned’ items. The unplanned tasks are so you can do a brain dump - just add in whatever tasks you think you need to get done at some point - so it works just the same as any simple todo list app. This is also where your synced Google Tasks will end up if they are not due today. You can move the tasks to the planned list at any time. This lets you focus and not have to constantly try to remember what you need to work - just write them down and forget about them. Focus only on what you want to get done right now. There is even a shortcut button (coffee cup icon) to add breaks and the duration is automatically set to some pre-configured value in the settings page. The planned list is for things you need to get done now. Today. The idea here to help focus on what you’re doing at the time and to better manage your time. You add tasks like you normally do but you also have access to a timer. If you’ve heard of the Pomodoro technique or any other technique that focuses on setting a time to complete a task then this should be familiar. It’s less rigid than Pomodoro since you determine how long you want to work on a task. It’s also a good idea to add breaks in-between your tasks. When you create a task, you estimate how long it should it take you. This is used when you start the timer. The top task is set to be the active task when the timer starts and you can see how much time you have left based on the duration you selected for the task and at what time each task will be completed. You can always re-arrange the tasks after starting the timer and if the top task changes then the previously top/active one is paused and the new top/active one is started. The actual time spent is recorded when the paused task becomes active again so you don’t lose progress. An alarm will sound (configurable in the settings page) when the current active task should be completed. You can choose to snooze(adding some minutes configured in the settings page and the alarm will play again when the task should be completed), ignore, or complete the task. When you complete the active task, the next one starts. A mix of simplicity and effectiveness is the goal. Most actions like snoozing(adding some minutes configured in the settings page to the current active task), pausing, resuming/stopping(resetting all time recorded) actions are available from the app screen, the notification tray and the widget. You can also set a reminder alarm of when you’d like to start the timer. This will bring up the app and an alarm will play (configurable in the settings page) to remind you to start. You can ignore, snooze(the alarm will play again after some minutes configured in the settings page), or start the timer. This reminder action is only visible when your timer is stopped and not when it is running or paused. If auto-repeat mode is enabled and you complete a task, a copy of that task will be created and added to the bottom of the list (the sorting order of the list is changed to ‘Manually (insert new tasks on bottom)’. This is useful for when you have to repeat some set of tasks over and over until you feel like stopping. Or if you break up a task in several time chunks, i.e you want to work on Project X for a while but in 30 minute intervals so you can add: “work on project X” for 30 minutes and a break for 5 minutes with auto-repeat on. There's also the concept of routines. A routine is simply a saved list of tasks. This is useful if you have a group of tasks that you usually do together or if you simply want to plan ahead. For example you can have a morning routine: Breakfast, shower, coffee, walk the dog. Or you know that later on today or next week you have to do some tasks and will want to start right away so plan ahead and a create a routine with those tasks already entered. That way when the time comes, you don’t waste time typing in each task and can start right away. You can also schedule your routines so they automatically get added to your Planned list at a specific time and on custom repeat intervals. See the help section in the app for more details. Setting time constraints helps focus. When you have a set amount of time to do something, you don’t waste that time doing something else. You know you get to take a breaks and not feel guilty about it - just focus on what you’re doing now. These breaks act like a reward; you start to look forward to them. We’ve all heard of how some of the best ideas come to you in the shower..or doing anything other than what you’re actually working on. This way to work has you doing that a lot more often. Once you get in the groove, it just feels like a game where you anticipate the rewards you give yourself for staying focused and getting things done.
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