Creating My Perfect Task App
By Leo Babauta
As I write this, I’ve spent most of this week creating a task app that’s just about exactly the way I like it. Of course, I wrote zero lines of code — thank you Claude Code — but I’ve been shaping it into what I want, one little bit at a time.
Honestly, it’s the most fun I’ve had in a little while! Building something that you get to use all day long, that behaves the way you’d like … it’s satisfying and scratches the creative itch.
Let me tell you about my app, called zenmode, in case you’re curious (and no, I’m not selling it):
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The main view of the web app is a timeline of days, with today at the center, where you add the tasks you’d like to do each day. Adding tasks is easy, and so is moving them.
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With a keystroke, you can go into Today view, where you just see your tasks for the day. Put them in order, and get going.
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With a keystroke, you can zoom into a task to focus just on that task. You can also set a focus timer to keep you focused.
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You can quickly add tasks (or notes) with a keyboard shortcut to the Inbox or today’s date. You can quickly move tasks or notes to another date, or to the Later folder, or the Inbox.
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You can add labels to organize by project or subject (like #fitness or #toread).
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Finally, there are daily rituals (for planning and review) to get clear on your priorities and what your intentions are, and to celebrate your victories … and weekly rituals for the same thing.
Now, this might not be the perfect task app for anyone else … but I absolutely love it. The beauty is that I’ve been having a blast making it for myself, and then using it.
If you’re interested, you can try it for free — I make no promises that it’s bug-free or perfect for you, but have at it! It’s called zenmode.