The problem with typical TODO lists is common to many productivity apps: one size does not fit all. People with different interests, lifestyles, job functions, and organizational constraints will need radically different workflows and software to support those workflows.
For example, in my day job at a big tech company, I am often blocked from doing some TODO item because I'm waiting for someone else to do something (code review, ACL approval, respond to support ticket, etc). So I don't want my TODO app to show me items that are currently blocked. This constraint in my workflow is mostly just an artifact of the way big tech companies operate, not a universal feature of work. Other professionals doubtless face other constraints.
I have a theory that the solution to this problem is for professionals (not just software engineers!) to write their own productivity apps. With a good framework, it is easy to write quite useful mini-apps that reflect your specific needs - think a spreadsheet, but with much nicer, custom user interface. I built such a framework for my own needs, and I am slowly rolling it out to the world, check it out if you're interested:
https://webwidgets.io/
> I have a theory that the solution to this problem is for professionals (not just software engineers!) to write their own productivity apps
I agree with this in theory -- I love tools, tooling, and composition-based frameworks to roll your own tools. And I enjoy what you've done so far, especially the spaced repetition character system, which reminds me of my days learning kanji.
For me, at least, the risks I foresee are (1) I would be on the hook for maintaining the app if something goes wrong, (2) I would have to spend a lot of work making it look nice enough that it wouldn't bug me, and (3) I don't know if it would be flexible enough to accommodate changes in my workflow in the future.
I would love to see, for example, a tutorial on how to roll you own to-do app in 10 minutes and deploy it.
For example, in my day job at a big tech company, I am often blocked from doing some TODO item because I'm waiting for someone else to do something (code review, ACL approval, respond to support ticket, etc). So I don't want my TODO app to show me items that are currently blocked. This constraint in my workflow is mostly just an artifact of the way big tech companies operate, not a universal feature of work. Other professionals doubtless face other constraints.
I have a theory that the solution to this problem is for professionals (not just software engineers!) to write their own productivity apps. With a good framework, it is easy to write quite useful mini-apps that reflect your specific needs - think a spreadsheet, but with much nicer, custom user interface. I built such a framework for my own needs, and I am slowly rolling it out to the world, check it out if you're interested: https://webwidgets.io/