The world's simplest to-do app

You've never tackled tasks like *this*  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ [Cool Tools, by The Intelligence](#) Brought to you by: [Lumen logo](=)​ I'll admit it: I'm addicted to planning. It's a sick sort of psychosis, I know. But oh, it be true: For whatever reason, I take a certain pinch of perverse pleasure in finding interesting new ways to map out my days and stay on top of my various tasks and obligations. Hey, if there's one good way to procrastinate actually doing stuff, it's planning out how much stuff you're gonna do! Today's tool is all about trying to fix that mindset — to eliminate all the counterproductive complexity around planning and make it as focused and minimal as can be. It's an effective framework for organizing your to-do list without any frills, distractions, or unnecessary layers. And, as an added bonus, you can relish in the sheer joy of thinking about it now instead of actually tackling that first real task. [JR Raphael, Author of Android Intelligence] JR Raphael​ Author of [Android Intelligence]()​ --------------------------------------------------------------- SPONSORED MESSAGE Before we get into the specifics, do you know what you can do with the right data? [Cat wearing sunglasses and caption "Talk data to me"](=)​ Tons of stuff. Determine the likelihood of a midcourt shot going in during a basketball game. Examine trends in the stock market. Unlock a personalized health plan tailored to your specific needs. If that last one is new to you, that is just because you haven’t yet heard about [Lumen](=), the company that uses cutting-edge tech to analyze your unique metabolism and customize your entire health journey — from nutrition and workouts to sleep and stress management. Using Lumen, you can take control of your health with: 📊 Real-time biofeedback 💬 Metabolic coaching and support 🤝 Google Fit, Apple Health, and Garmin integrations ➜ [Don’t miss out — Cool Tools readers can now get $100 off sitewide plus an extra 15% off.](=)​ [YOUR HEALTH IS IN YOUR HANDS ➜](=) ​ Planning, simplified Most to-do apps are complicated by nature. You've got layers upon layers of lists, priority levels, tags — all sorts of options and adjustments to obsess over. And that's not even getting into all the AI-associated flapdoodle of the moment. By the time everything is said and done, organizing your to-do list practically requires an item on your to-do list to accomplish. ➜ Today's tool turns that type of thinking on its head. It's a simple-as-can-be task planner with an absolutely incredible name: focus.txt. ⌚ It'll take you 20 seconds to figure out and start using. It really is that simple: - ​[Open the focus.txt website]( in any browser, on whatever device you've got in front of you. No downloads, no sign-ins, no hassles whatsoever. - Type any tasks on your mind into the #tasks section of the screen. - Type any notes in your noggin into the #notes section above it. And, well — that's pretty much it. [The focus.txt website, with simple plain-text sections for notes, tasks, and completed items] ​ If you're on a computer, you can use commands like Ctrl-B, Ctrl-I, and Ctrl-U to apply basic text formatting (bold, italics, and underlining, respectively). On any device, you can type %date% to auto-insert the current date, %time% to auto-insert the current time, and %check% to insert a checkmark anywhere in your text. And those are pretty much the only real "features" of note here. The entire point of focus.txt is what it doesn't do — and that's complicate your planning. You just open up your browser, type out what's on your mind, and move on with your day. The site automatically saves your info locally, within your own browser — no syncing, no signing in, and no data collection of any sort. Your list just pops back up anytime you open the focus.txt page within that same browser. If you want to download and save your list, you can hit the Download button in the site's lower-right corner. It'll then be saved as a simple plain-text file called — yup, you guessed it — focus.txt. The site works brilliantly as a custom new tab page for your browser. (You can set it as your default home page in about seven seconds on [Chrome](), [Edge](, [Firefox](=), or most any other browser — in both the mobile and the desktop versions.) But mostly, it works by simply staying out of your way and allowing you to focus on your actual to-do items instead of obsessing over the organization of your to-do list. A novel concept, even for the mushy-minded organization obsessives among us — wouldn't ya say?! 📌 Focus.txt is completely web-based; you just [open the site]( in any browser, on any device, to use it. 💰 It's 100% free. 🕶 And it stores all your info only locally — no data collection, no account creation, no privacy compromises of any sort. Now, speaking of ".txt" files — time to test your geek knowledge... ​ This Week's Cool Tools Quiz The term ".txt" refers to a classic computing file extension that represents the plain text file format. Which of the following file extension types is associated most closely with Android? Remember: NO CHEATING! Anyone can look up info on the web. Stick with the spirit of the game and test your actual knowledge without searching. It's just for fun, anyway! [.APK]() [.ARJ]() [.BMP]() [.GOOG]() Answer correctly before next Wednesday and secure your spot on the [Cool Tools Leaderboard](=)! 👉 Last week's question and answer: Before the internet, where were the words "download" and "upload" used? The words “download” and “upload” were used in [the context of military aviation](. To “download” something meant to remove it from an aircraft, while to “upload” it meant to place it on an aircraft. ARPANET, which laid the foundation for the internet, was of course a U.S. military research project. 🤚 Wait! Before you go: What'd you think of this issue? [Thumbs Up](=) [Thumbs Down]( Hit the thumbs-up or thumbs-down to cast your vote and let us know. ​ Want less email? [Update your reading preferences](=) to opt out of any individual publications or unsubscribe entirely. New here and not yet subscribed? Take two seconds to [sign up for our newsletters](): Cool Tools, Android Intelligence, or Windows Intelligence (or all three!). Hungry for even more? 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