redline
Redline is a Mac application to keep a to-do list at the menu bar.
Problem: do or to do
Productivity apps are too concentrated on planning rather than on doing.
Focused work becomes harder because of distractors: notifications, feeds, frequent updates, and feature bloat.
Invisibility is another problem: as soon as you close a note-taking app, you lose focus and get fear not complying with the previous plan.
How
By radically narrowing the feature set and increasing the visible surface.
Redline has no planning; you can do one task at a time, and the app is always visible at the menu bar. There are no tags, folders, searching, and other non-essentials.
The app is action-biased — you do work, and it guides you.
who might use it
Programmers who want to overcome suffering from context switching. Redline minimises distraction by encouraging you to split tasks into smaller ones.
Designers can be overwhelmed by clients’ edits. Redline helps streamline these changes and lets you do only the necessary work.
The app can be a simple reminder that's always before your eyes, or it can be a powerful method that guides you.
The main principle is unchanged — don't overplan, split your work into smaller tasks, then focus on one thing.
features: no features
- No tagging, no folders
- No searching, no links
- Infrequent updates
- Always visible
| Others | Redline |
|---|---|
| To do | Do |
| Everything's tagged | Everything's done |
| Create folder | Create value |
| Get notification | Get calm |
| Set deadline | Set appetite |
| Many projects | One task |
Read Redline's Manifesto for more background and my thoughts on productivity.
