Every 2 months I catch myself thinking: “If I had a really smart Todo system, I would literally be unstoppable.” This always leads to me trying out a bunch of Todo apps, but giving up on them after about 2 weeks. It’s always frustrating because many have great features, but they either become too complicated to use consistently or too expensive to keep paying for.

I’ve been thinking for the past couple of months about what would make up my ideal Todo productivity app. I’m about 85% sure this app doesn’t already exist, but if it does, please let me know before I try to build it myself 😭😅

Alex’s Ideal Todo / Productivity App

Note: I am not being sponsored by any of the apps that I name below. They are all apps that I’ve actually tried and just wanted to let people know about them in case they work for others.

Multi-Platform

In 2025, it makes sense for an app to work on mobile, web and desktop (with ‘mobile’ covering both Android + iOS). I’m less likely to stick with a tool if I can’t easily add tasks from anywhere. For example, I love my Supernote A6x2, but I can’t use it for capturing all my tasks and ideas because I don’t carry it everywhere I go. Tools like Todoist and TickTick worked well for me because they had apps for all platforms. My thoughts come and go quickly, and sometimes I just need a quick place to write them down!

Able to quickly add tasks

We don’t talk about this enough, but sometimes it takes one-too-many clicks to add a task to my list. I want to just be able to ‘open the app’ → ‘tap into a new task box’ → ‘immediately start writing what I want to do’. Even better if the app has a widget for my home screen! I know many apps try to make this quick by adding a permanent ‘Add Task’ notification, but I actually hate this. I already get too many notifications, so having another thing clog up my notification area is annoying. I also don’t want to enter a due date, reminder date, tags, or other extra information if I don’t need to. I’d rather those extra fields stay hidden until I choose to add them. Too many options when adding a task just creates a frustrating experience.

Set a task’s priority

I know many todo apps already do this, but I think it can be simpler. I really only need 2 priority levels: ‘Normal’ and ‘High’. Most things I do are Normal priority, but some things do become High priority. I never really used a ‘Low’ priority option; it just felt too similar to normal.

Set ‘effort amount’ for tasks

On its face, “Take out the trash” feels like a simple thing to do. But we all know that it takes different amounts of effort depending on when you’re doing it:

  • In the middle of a work-from-home day at 2pm? Just a quick 3-minute break from my computer.
  • At 11pm after I’ve spent the entire day assembling furniture and my back is killing me? Suddenly it feels like a major chore.

I want a todo app where I can mark how much effort a task will take. This effort amount can help calculate how much time the task will need. Goblin Tools had a “spiciness” system that was used to decide how much to break down a task. It’s in the same ballpark as what I’m looking for, but not quite right.

If I’m in a coding flow state where I’ve been productive for two hours straight, then tasks that would pull me out of that (like writing a recommendation letter for one of my students) would have a much higher effort score than if I was just casually checking emails.

Set due date for tasks

Most tasks have some sort of due date, so I need to be able to record that. I don’t always care about the specific time, but I do care about the date. And for tasks without a strict due date, being able to choose a “sometime in the next week” option would be helpful.

Repeatable tasks

Whether it’s a Duplicate Task button or a setting to make tasks repeat, having an easy way to reuse tasks makes me more likely to stick with the tool. For example, instead of creating “Clean my glasses” from scratch every few days, I could set it up once and have it automatically repeat when needed. Not having to recreate the same task over and over saves a lot of time.

Separating different types of tasks

I need to be able to keep track of what’s a work task versus a personal task versus a non-profit task. This separation helps me maintain healthy boundaries between different areas of my life and ensures I focus on the right priorities at the right times. For instance, I don’t want work tasks showing up when I’m trying to relax on the weekend, or personal errands distracting me during focused work hours.

Plotting my tasks against my calendar

The app Sunsama is built around this planning method, and I really enjoyed it. My work calendar drives my day-to-day. I can only do as much work as I have free time on my calendar. So it makes sense that I should be able to place my tasks on my calendar! Then I can actually see everything I plan to do in my workday.

For example: “Oh, I have 1.5 hours between my team’s standup meeting at 10:30am and my lunch break at 12pm. This would be perfect for working on that project proposal I need to finish.”

This works for weekends and evenings after work too. My weekends are more open, so I can schedule more tasks then.

Using AI to tie all of these things together

Some of you might think my requirements contradict each other - wanting simplicity but also asking for many features. I think this next part helps explain my thinking…

I want to do as little work as possible to manage the features I’ve listed. This is where AI can be a personal assistant. I could add things to my overall task list and then have AI schedule them for me in a smart way.

Here’s how I imagine this working:

  1. When I open the app, I add some tasks I need to finish in the next day or two (good thing I can add tasks from any device).
  2. The AI assistant asks for more information if needed or helps break larger tasks into smaller steps.
  3. The AI looks at my calendar and starts adding tasks based on their effort level (on my 1-5 scale, where 1 is minimal effort and 5 is maximum effort), their priority, and when they’re due.
    1. If I have standup at 10:30am and lunch at 12pm, the AI might put “Take out trash” in that gap. Even though taking out trash is a personal task, I rated it as minimal effort (1), so it would only take about 5 minutes and could easily fit in that window.
    2. Or the AI might schedule “Follow up on emails from yesterday’s client meeting” in that time because it’s high priority, moderate effort (3 on my scale), and a work task that makes sense to complete during work hours.
    3. Ideally it would also include 10-15 minute breaks after long stretches of work to keep me from burning out.
    4. I’d want to be able to review and change the schedule the AI creates, or swap in different tasks as needed.
  4. I follow the schedule the AI created.
    1. If emergency or new high-priority tasks come up (like an urgent bug fix request), the AI would adjust the rest of my day accordingly, perhaps moving less critical tasks to tomorrow.
  5. At the end of the day, I finish work.
  6. My AI assistant looks at how much work I did and suggests evening tasks.
    1. After a heavy workday with three back-to-back meetings and intense focus work, it might only suggest easy tasks like “clean my glasses” so I can relax more.
    2. After a lighter workday where I finished early, it might schedule some fun personal tasks in the evening, like “learn a new yo-yo trick,” giving me time to enjoy activities I care about while still feeling accomplished.
  7. The AI might ask me about tasks I didn’t finish today to better plan tomorrow’s schedule.
  8. Repeat the process each day.

Stretch Requirement: Voice input option for my phone

This is definitely a wish-list item, but my best ideas often come while I’m driving. It’s so frustrating not being able to quickly add a task to my list when I’m behind the wheel. I think of so many things while driving that I forget about once I park. I’d want the Todo app to activate with a keyword, understand my request, and add the task to my list. For example, I could say “Hey Todo, add task: pick up dry cleaning tomorrow afternoon” and it would create the task with the right due date. It could even ask follow-up questions if needed.

Alex Might be Delulu

Yes, I know this is a long list of requirements for my ideal Todo app, but that’s why it’s ideal. I really want an intelligent AI assistant that could organize my tasks around my daily schedule. Like I mentioned, I’ve tried many apps that include some of these features, but never found one that offers all of them (and if such an app exists, I bet it’s really expensive).

Honestly, I’ll probably start building something myself to see how it goes. I don’t think it’ll be easy at all, but it would make a fun side project for my free time.

Either way, I’m always looking for new productivity tools and would love to hear what works for other people in their daily lives! 🙂