This is an electronic version of a "bring forward" filing system that has been around for many decades. An older friend of mine showed me his "bring forward" file: it has a file for each month and also a file for each of the coming four weeks (labeled 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 because some months have five weeks).
He just puts things - like bills, for instance - in the appropriate folder depending on when they're due. And then once a week or month has passed, it gets rotated to the back of the box. It's a great approach; a digital version would replicate the same concept and would be particularly useful if it incorporated the notion of attached documents such as invoices.
Perhaps it's harder to keep track of week numbers. I'm implementing the concept in Asana using their calendar project view. I put stuff in the calendar view as tasks and then in a board view of the same project, those tasks are simply in my backlog column.
I would second that, although I like how big and bold the options are in the app.
I also think the website design needs a bit of work. The typography is a bit all over the place, the "dissolving" clock at the bottom (with stains on top of the app) is a good idea not well executed, and the page itself is quite overloaded, compared to the simplicity of the app's interface.
But it seems they have launched very recently so there is definitely room for improvement. I would mostly simplify things, which is the core idea of the app anyway.
Seconded. It kind of looks like one of those domain parking pages with the random links.
And I say this not to be particularly rude, but as someone who literally did exactly this on a website once. The draft landing page had a bunch of multicolored drawers with text in them, and when I was done, I was like, “wait..... dammit.”
Went with a more standard landing page layout for the next draft and felt a lot better.
Looks like an interesting idea, I'll give it a try.
My first thought is this a perfect concept for family planning type stuff. Not planning TO HAVE a family, but planners FOR families or small groups or whatever. It's a perfect place to drop things like vacations or other stuff that will happen in a few months, but we all need to know about.
Could use something like "This Weekend" in that list as well. Maybe between "Today" and "Tomorrow" and before "This Week" or maybe after?
OK, tried it out already (because I'm procrastinating). Good concept I like it, simple and clean. I don't love the colors. Also when I go to add something to one of the things I'd rather just click in the lines rather than have to hit the big + at the bottom of the screen.
Really wanted to second the idea of a “this weekend” and “next weekend.” Having very full weeks, that’s sorta how things get broken down for me. Stuff I can sneak in during the week, but really, stuff I’ll spent time on Saturday doing. And with the US’s normal “Saturday is this week, Sunday is next week,” I’m not sure where I should put things.
Even if it was a thing I could turn on for me as a bonus timeframe. Or not. I like software with opinions. :) Nice work!
I'm really unsure about the colors, other than I don't love them. I'm bad color suggestions! I also don't hate them, but I did notice them right away, they just don't look great.
When an app is uploaded to the app store, it is compiled for every different device separately. You likely have a higher resolution phone/device than the OP, so there's more image data on your version
The concept is very appealing to me. I have always avoided the use of planners that expect you to set exact times for completion. It just seems so unreasonable that anyone would be able to be that precise all the time about everything.
I did find two typos under the FAQ that you will probably want to correct.
"Why use Stongweek?" needs and "r" in there and in the answer to the question you also make the same spelling error. Purely coincidental or maybe cut and pastey.
This is alright but Todoist (and likely others) more or less already has ways to do this sort of thing. The typical procrastinator simply keeps pushing the unsavoury todos until they accumulate and then it’s game over.
In the end, my problem is not really prioritisation, but the anxiety and inner conflict that comes from feeling the external obligation to do something. I’ve dealt with it with meditation at times but it’s a continuous struggle, like dieting.
I wish there was a way of selling tasks to my brain. Something that could turn items from “YOU HAVE TO DO THIS!!” to “hey, wouldn’t it be cool to do this?”
"I wish there was a way of selling tasks to my brain. Something that could turn items from “YOU HAVE TO DO THIS!!” to “hey, wouldn’t it be cool to do this?” "
Keep an eye out for future updates! I know what you mean.
I actually had to-doist and it was one of the things that inspired me to want to make this app. I hate pushing to-dos back over and over again.
If I know I'm going to push something back a bunch, I'd rather just mark it "This Year."
About the app itself, I would love for it to be available also as a widget so that I can see the next few upcoming tasks in the pull-down menu.
To be most useful the widget should allow you to select what to show. E.g. can choose just next upcoming thing, or next n number of things or whole day etc
Can U suggest a feature that I’ve been looking for in a TODO app for a long time. Tasks that are periodic but not urgent. Like changing the filters on your heating system every 6 months, adding fertilizer to the garden every 3 months, etc. Then when you have some time to spare you can easily see these kinds of tasks that you normally forget.
I assumed this was a common feature, but I just use Google Assistant to do this. "Remind me to change my filters every 6 months at 10 AM."
I think my longest term reminder is for renewing my secondary citizenship passport (~10 years I think), though I do have this backed up with a Google Calendar event just in case.
My problem with this kind of calendar reminder is, if I don't act on it immediately, it's gone forever and I notice it, at best, next time it's "time" to change the furnace filter.
It would be super helpful to me to have a calendar reminder that succinctly said "you said you wanted to do this every 6 months, and now it's 23 days overdue" (and then when I finally do the thing, schedule the next one for 6 months after that day, not 6 months after I was supposed to do it in the first place).
Various "habit tracker" apps do this pretty well, but they don't fit in with my calendar.
> "you said you wanted to do this every 6 months, and now it's 23 days overdue" (and then when I finally do the thing, schedule the next one for 6 months after that day, not 6 months after I was supposed to do it in the first place).
org-mode with its agenda does this beautifully. But then that only really runs in emacs.
This gets close but I don’t think it will then allow you to easily see which of these periodic tasks you can work when you have a few hours to spare today.
Yeah, that's fair, I usually don't look at them in a list. I know they show up in Google Calendar, so maybe you can view them their? Regardless, this is a great idea for a Todo app feature.
I use Due on iOS for this, it will also nag you on a given interval until you complete the action. OmniFocus also supports recurring actions, but IMO not as elegantly as Due.
I found the paper version of the bullet journal very effective because every day you have to think about what you can really do. Organizing with daily, weekly, monthly prevents mixing deadlines which is the root for me of pushing back on tasks because I don’t have clarity to decide what can be done now.
This looks very nice... I like the idea of each task having its own log and not mixing deadlines! Will definitely give it a try after I upgrade to iOS 14...
While it's tempting to think "mmh, another todo app?" - I must say that as a professional procrastinator and prolific never-to-be-read-again note taker, I'm drawn to the concept. Clear and concise. Might just work!
This looks pretty good and I'll give it a shot, I've been fairly keen on disabling notifications in general so the lack of them here is more of a selling point because I don't feel like I'm handicapping myself.
For anyone interested here is the TOS[0]. I always like to read them before I install/use something, especially if the something is free.
The support email is a gmail account, which I guess is fine. The TOS looked rushed/boilerplate with little updates. Apparently the app may collect your location, and there’s also errors like:
> Our servers are located in. If you are accessing our Services from outside
And
> No purpose in this notice will require us keeping your personal information for longer than __________.
At least these issues can be fixed:
> 11. DO WE MAKE UPDATES TO THIS NOTICE?
In Short: Yes, we will update this notice as necessary
As an aside, I’d be interested to know if the tasks/user entered data stays local to the device or if it is sent/synced to some server(s)?
Edit:
As another aside, my adblockers prevented the TOS iframe from loading and it appears they were blocking this, apparently WIX related, url: www-strongweekapp-com.filesusr.com
Thanks for the feedback. I'll have to update the TOS to be more clear. For the record, the app doesn't collect location.
I think you're totally right to distrust TOS. Most have some really BS conditions, especially for free stuff. In this though, it was just an oversight on my part.
This is an interesting concept and reminds me of some of the best parts of Covey and Michael Hyatt planners.
Two small suggestions: let me add a new task by tapping anywhere on the screen (e.g., tap Today than tap anywhere in the middle of the screen), and support swiping back. It feels a little claustrophobic. The data model makes a lot of sense though.
Wow, I thought about it the other day, I never understood why we organize our work in tasks or todos and so on when we fundamentally try to organize what we're going to work on in the next days, months, sprint, half, whatever.
I like the idea. I have some personal preference on the interface:
1) rather than having to click to see all my todos, I prefer to have them on front page (Today: ..... Tomorrow: ......This week:......) either collapsed list or a flat list; or Have a tab to switch between today/thisweek/thisyear.
2) need to have swiping for going back. Swiping is so much better than click.
3) when 'add new', the large proportion of screen is showing a selection user will mostly not going to interact. It was a bit confusing at first sight.
I don't know if that's really a either/or question with scheduling timespans and due dates, and warrants a separate app.
When I add a task to Todoist, the suggested due dates are "Today", "Tomorrow" and "Next week", which already fills my need for rough grained due dates (since as a procrastinator I rarely even think about next month or next year in terms of todos). I highly suspect that it's not the only to-do list app that does it like that.
This is a great idea, and I wonder if there is a complementary product of a calendar that has a similar scale - detailed by the hour for the next three days, then by the day, week, and month as things go out further. It would be an interesting way to see your future calendar at the right level of granularity (though of course with the ability to zoom in).
as someone that uses the "notes" app built into my iOS and OSX devices, what utility would I get out of this?
I just go and write "ok" as a prefix for every bullet point that I complete
I feel like I procrastinate, but I mean not really? My ideas are converted to money within weeks, which is the general goal for me, whereas most people I know squirrel around for months or years on just the name of their website or brand or limited liability company, or do some other completely ineffective thing with ineffective people and can't tell.
Whether its money, administrative, or other goals or juggling family or other obligations, what benefit would I get from this app, or other note taking apps?
Can anyone relate to what I wrote and also gained outsized benefits from structuring their notes in one of these other ways?
I tried many different ways to structuring tasks. On paper and then with apps.
The problem with just using notes and having a gigantic list of things to do is that, the structure should relieve us and help make quick choices. I procrastinated for many years and I found that, the root cause was for me because everything was piling up. Different deadlines mixed in a list got me stuck on what to do next because there was so much things to do.
Using the app from this post or others could help because they are build this way but you could do the same thing on paper, structuring tasks from deadline ranges in mind help you to make faster choices and actually see what have been postponed and since when.
Between the family obligations, what you have to do for friends, administrative paperwork, things that pop in your mind and disappear 2 minutes later to come back in mind once it's too late, tasks or ideas for work, all of that have different context and may not be mixed in the same list, with the same deadline on even in the same app.
I found that everything work related like bugs and features etc goes into trello for example or a simple .txt file sometimes.
Personally I saw a clear improvement in the amount of things that I got done before using Bullet Journal method and after. I struggled for many years and I adapted it to make it my own and I rarely postpone things compared to before and it makes me feel less crappy as well ...
I found that the "notes" app for the iPhone is perfectly suited for what it is, to takes notes.
It surprise me that you don't even use the "reminder" iOS app for the checkmark built-in instead of writing "ok" when it's done.
After all the most important thing is finding a system that fit us and make us more productive and we might have different needs and ways we like to get organized (judging by the number of app for productivity in the App Store ...)
The part that stood out to me was getting stuck on what to do next!
When I worked for other people as a programmer I loved it when the product manager would queue up tickets for me and I could just knock them out within two weeks. I dont have that now.
In the game Dead Rising, it is open world-ish, in a mall, but all the tasks and side quests have time limits on them, really helping prioritize
> we might have different needs and ways we like to get organized (judging by the number of app for productivity in the App Store ...)
or it is an unsolved problem
or it is too easy of a problem to develop for. Isn't this every mobile app tutorial ever, swear I’ve seen them creep into system design prep too
He just puts things - like bills, for instance - in the appropriate folder depending on when they're due. And then once a week or month has passed, it gets rotated to the back of the box. It's a great approach; a digital version would replicate the same concept and would be particularly useful if it incorporated the notion of attached documents such as invoices.