Dodot — A To-Do App That Doesn't Pretend to Be Anything Else

The mid-2020s to-do app tax

Every to-do app I tried in 2024-2025 wanted to become something bigger. They'd start as a simple checklist, then add a habit tracker, then a mood log, then a journaling feature, then an AI assistant, then a gamified XP system. By the time you were two months in, you were spending more time configuring the app than checking off tasks.

Dodot is a small reaction to that pattern.

What the app refuses to do

It refuses to:

• Track streaks.
• Award badges.
• Ask you how you feel today.
• Suggest tasks based on your patterns.
• Send motivational notifications.

It is a list of things you said you'd do. It shows them. You can check them off. That's it.

What it does add

One thing only — goals. A task can optionally be attached to a longer-term goal ("read 12 books this year" or "ship 3 apps this quarter"). Completing the task ticks down the goal counter. Goals don't have streaks or progress charts. They have a number and a deadline.

The goal layer exists because pure to-do apps have a different problem: you finish everything for today, but you can't tell whether you're moving toward something larger. Goals close that loop without growing the surface area.

Why this design works for me

My own use of Dodot is unusual — I check it three or four times a day, but I rarely spend more than 10 seconds in it at a time. The interface is structured for that. Open, scan, check, close.

The apps that try to capture your attention are working against your time. The ones that try to release you quickly are working with it. Dodot is in the second category.