You open your to-do app. It has 213 tasks. Just looking at it is exhausting, so you close it and do something else. The hardest part of a 40 item to-do list isn't doing the tasks, it's deciding which one to start. Focus5 keeps the whole list like other apps but hands you five at a time, one on screen with the timer already running. So you just focus on that one task only. Once you complete it, focus on the next one. No more deciding what to do next. Just focus on the five, that's it.
Hey Product Hunt 👋
I tried every to-do app, every system, Pomodoro, time blocking. None of it stuck. What stuck was a paper diary: every night I write down 5 things for tomorrow, work and home on the same list, and I aim for 3. If I do 5, that's a good day but I tried to do at least 3 daily. I did this for almost 5 years on a hardcover diary.
So, I built Focus5 because paper cannot start a timer, cannot hand me the next task, and cannot tell me where my time actually went. And most importantly, I had to keep the diary with myself all the time, so a phone app felt natural for this.
The app keeps your whole list, however long it is, then hands you 5 at a time with one task on screen. Press play and the clock counts up. This is not pomodoro 25 minute box.
Also I made an interesting feature called as Brain Dump. Talk your day or tasks or just keep rambling and app makes them in tasks, assigns the categories, dates and so on.
I hate subscriptions like everyone here, so there's a good free plan and a lifetime $29 one-time payment plan. No subscriptions. It's on Google Play and the web today, iPhone is in review right now.
PS: I just love the minimalism and clean UIs, so you might notice that in the Focus5 app. And I bet you won't see more cleaner app than this ever for task management.
I'm one person building this and using it every day. Would love your feedback, especially on whether five is the right number for you.
Wajahat