Splitting my to-do list across multiple apps even made me more productive

For me, segmenting my apps has proven useful. And I don’t just mean using a to-do app that’s separate from my notes app. In fact, I now use multiple apps just for my to-do list, and it’s even helped me get more done.

For years I used TickTick to keep me organized. The free app’s ability to repeatedly snooze reminders and set recurring tasks has been very important for my procrastination.

But over the past twelve months there have also been some developments that have caused my usual system to start to fail. I went from working full-time to freelancing for multiple sites. I started doing more house chores and grocery shopping because my medical costs significantly limited my budget for deliveries and extra help.

At the same time, my health became much worse, causing my fatigue and brain fog to increase, resulting in more delayed tasks. To treat my worsening chronic pain and chronic migraines, I was given additional medications that further affected my mental clarity and forgetfulness.

This is the context I found myself in: burned out and with my existing systems for dealing with my ADHD failing. I started avoiding the notifications I got from TickTick as more and more tasks were being ignored.

Meanwhile, the things I was trying to mentally track were falling by the wayside. I fell behind on chores, I kept forgetting to make appointments, and I felt like there was no way to take control of the situation. Switching to another to-do list app didn’t feel like the right choice either.

I’d like to say that I intuitively realized that separating my tasks across different apps would alleviate some of the notification fatigue I was experiencing, but I stumbled upon this by chance. It started when I tried Donetick, which has become one of my favorite self-hosted apps.

The app is aimed at chore management, and since I write about self-hosted apps for work, I thought it was worth trying out. Ultimately, I realized that this allowed me to keep up with these household tasks in a less overwhelming way.

Although I have set these tasks to automatically repeat at certain intervals based on the completion date, I have not set reminders for most of them. Instead, I checked the app weekly to see if anything needed to be done over the weekend.

Suddenly I could perform my tasks in a way I hadn’t before. Things I used to fear forgetting, like remembering the last time I changed the litter box sand, were no longer a problem.

I still had to manage my energy and pain levels, so there were weekends when I had to skip or postpone certain tasks. But I didn’t feel this constant shame and overwhelm from tasks that were difficult for me to prioritize.

The final piece of the puzzle fell into place when I tried out another app, Jotty Page. This was another self-hosted app I tried out for work that supports checklists, Kanban boards, and notes.

I decided to add some of my personal tasks to the app, as well as shopping lists, some work tasks that required time tracking, and a few hobby projects. The clean interface made it easy for me to do this, and I reserved it for tasks that weren’t urgent.

For example, some of my personal tasks focused on things I need to do in the coming weeks. This included the car service I had been putting off for months, the electrician quote I had yet to request after weeks, and lists of items I needed to buy for the house and my renovation projects.

These tasks are so important that I have to put them somewhere so I can check when I have a moment. But they’re not so urgent that I have to lump them in with the more time-sensitive tasks I add to TickTick.

Whenever I tried to add these types of lists or tasks to TickTick in the past, I found myself overwhelmed. This was because they appeared with the same high-priority tasks that I had struggled to complete, creating a general sense of dread when I opened the app.

Because I separated my app functions, TickTick no longer felt like a source of anxiety, and I was even able to start adding helpful reminders to the app again. In the meantime, Donetick takes away the mental burden of trying to remember the last time I changed the cat fountain filter or changed their litter box sand.

Since each app does things differently, I don’t feel like I’m replicating the same functionality across apps. However, separating the types of tasks I use for each app makes things easier overall.

While I don’t think this system would necessarily work for everyone, if you feel like me, it might be time to shake things up. Instead of trying apps that promise to do everything and leave you overwhelmed, try spreading your tasks across apps with different strengths.