Blog
Notes on ADHD, productivity, and building a todo app that works with your brain.
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Why I built task decay: the case against keeping every todo forever
Every todo app brags about infinite capture. For ADHD brains, the backlog graveyard is actively harmful. Here's the research on unfinished goals, why guilt compounds, and the product decision Todoist can't ship.
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Time blindness is a visual problem. A timer on a cluttered list won't fix it.
ADHD time blindness doesn't get fixed by adding a timer to a list of 23 tasks. It gets fixed by clearing the surface around the timer. Here's why one task on screen is the lever, and where Ikoi's Focus mode fits.
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Todo apps aren't built for ADHD brains. Here's the specific way each one fails.
The todo-app category is architected on six assumptions that break for ADHD brains. A founder's breakdown of each failure mode, and what an app that doesn't make those assumptions looks like.
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The todo apps I deleted before I built Ikoi
Five named apps, the exact moment each one stopped working, and the structural pattern that connects them. A founder's pre-history before building yet another todo app.
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The 2-minute door opener: why the 'first step' field is the only one that matters
Most todo apps treat sub-tasks as an optional feature. Make the first 2-minute step required and you've built the only executive-function lever that actually works for ADHD brains.
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'Not today' is a feature, not a failure
Most todo apps make deferral feel like failure. Red 'overdue' tags, snooze buttons, missed-streak guilt. Building a defer button that respects the user's choice instead of punishing it.