The problem

Your day doesn't come pre-sorted into "tasks," "habits," and "expenses." You just have things to keep track of pick up dry cleaning, go to the gym, the $40 you spent on it. But every app you'd use to manage that assumes otherwise. So you end up with three apps open at once: a to-do list, a habit tracker, and a budgeting app each holding a third of your day, none of them talking to each other.

That fragmentation isn't a minor inconvenience. It means:

• Duplicate entry. A recurring bill lives in your budgeting app and, separately, as a reminder in your to-do list, because neither app understands it's the same thing viewed two ways.

• Context switching. Checking "what do I need to do, keep up, and not overspend on today" means opening three apps and mentally stitching the answer together yourself.

• The wrong tool for gray-area items. A gym habit you're paying a monthly fee for isn't a task, a habit, or an expense on its own it's all three, and most apps force you to pick one.