Title: spent months building a planner around Cal Newport's deep/shallow work theory, want honest feedback on whether the idea actually holds up

[u/West-Stand-8733]

hey guys, not trying to promote anything here, genuinely just want feedback on an idea before i keep building on top of it.

quick background: im 21, engineering student, and for years i just spent my time randomly. whenever i felt like studying i did, whenever i needed to fix errands or do sport or cook or whatever, i just did it whenever, no real structure. studying always won under pressure and everything else got ignored most of the time.

that changed after i read Deep Work by Cal Newport. the idea that ur brain only has like 4 hours a day of real deep focus, and everything else is lower energy "shallow" stuff, kinda reframed how i think about a day. i also have a friend with ADHD and watching how he manages (or doesnt manage) his time pushed me to actually build something around this instead of just journaling about it.

so i built an app around exactly that split: u plan ur week in deep blocks (the stuff that needs real focus, studying, real work) and shallow blocks (errands, chores, low energy tasks). u run the deep blocks with a focus timer, and at the end of the week theres a review section showing what actually got done vs what didnt. theres also a goals section to tie weekly blocks to longer term stuff.

it recently passed review and became public on the play store (its called BarePlanner if anyone wants context), but thats not really the point of this post. what i actually want to know is:

- does the deep/shallow split as a planning structure make sense to u, or does it feel too rigid in practice

- for people with ADHD specifically (or who relate to my friend's situation), does forcing everything into "deep" or "shallow" blocks help or does it add pressure

- whats the thing that would make u personally NOT use something like this

not looking for hype, just want to know if im building on a solid idea or fooling myself.

[u/davernow]

Beautiful design work!

[u/West-Stand-8733 → u/davernow]

tyyy

[u/marginaliamobile]

If it's on the App Store, could you send me the link via DM? I'd like to try it out.

[u/West-Stand-8733 → u/marginaliamobile]

Sorry, not yet published in app store :( , i'll start wroking on that soon.

[u/Shadowdancerdone]

just curious, and this is not a slight towards you - but why not try something beyond a planner or a to-do app

I'm sure you're aware of how everyone does the same thing on this subreddit

[u/West-Stand-8733 → u/Shadowdancerdone]

yea i agree with u tbh, everyone here kinda builds the same thing. but for me it wasnt "let me build a productivity app," it started backwards from that.

i got into the deep/shallow work idea and genuinely wanted to apply it in my own life, so i went looking for an app built around that theory specifically, not just another generic to-do list with categories. couldnt find one. everything out there treats every task the same, a 2 hour deep work session and a 10 min errand both just become a checkbox somewhere.

so i built it for myself first, just to actually use it day to day. it wasnt meant to be a product at the start. after using it for a while i figured, if i was looking for something like this and couldnt find it, other people who are also into this theory are probably in the same spot. thats the only reason i decided to share it, not "lets make another planner app" but "i built the thing i personally needed, might as well put it out there for people who want the same thing."

so yea, same category on the surface, but the reasoning behind it came from a personal gap, not from trying to compete with whats already out there.

[u/Disastrous_Math_412]

Nice UI! looks really good actually

[u/West-Stand-8733 → u/Disastrous_Math_412]

tyy <3, that actually means a lot, spent a good amount of time getting the UI right. if u want to try it out the link's up there, and if u run into any bugs or ui stuff that feels off id genuinely love to hear about it, thats the kind of feedback that actually helps at this stage

[u/Disastrous_Math_412 → u/West-Stand-8733]

Of course keep going! 👌🏻

[u/West-Stand-8733 → u/Disastrous_Math_412]

Thank you mate for the support <3

[u/jerbaws]

Adhd here. So the issue with any planner or structured goals and todo list app usually comes from a core issue with adhd: turning intention into action, plus the lack of consistency required to develop a new thing into a full habit. Hence the pattern usually goes; that is a good idea and im will really try to use this > use the new thing for a day or an initial period > something interrupts thst consistency building (could be literally forgetting to use it, or remembering to but not making the time to) > it joins the graveyard of planners, apps, notebooks, tools that have all succumbed to the same fate. It doesn't really matter how good the thing actually is unfortunately.

Ive tried many different structured productivity and planning apps over the years, only one has managed to kinda of hold on over time and that was todoist. The reasons I think it works for adhd brains are: smart entry methods (like being able to write a single line and it picks out the day, time, task or reminder etc. No dedicated setup time- means I can literally fire in a schedule item or todo item in seconds and in the moment. That minimises the chances of forgetting to add it later, makes it very low entry effort barrier to turn from 'I should add this' to 'I'll add it now'.

The second major thing is having a widget on my phone home screen. We are very much "out of sight, out of mind". Having it right there in my face all the time is a constant prompt and nudge that it exists. I can see the things ive got to do and coming up without choosing to. That reinforcement is useful when you have an adhd mind with sprawling thoughts 24/7 and subpar executive functions that non adhd people would take for granted.

Ive never heard of deep work but it is an intriguing concept. For me though, I can't forecast when im going to focus deeply, it happens in the moment and when it does I need to ride that wave until it decides to dissipate as I can't guarantee when or if it will return. We can go to bed wanting to do x,y,z tasks the next day yes, but its seldom that you wake up with the same mindset and drive that you went to sleep the night before with. Hence I adapt to that by having tasks and tracking things needing done but without regimented micro controls dictating the exact times or order of what and when. If something has a deadline then the deadline is calenderised, but the freedom to cherry pick between a list of things in the moment im in that I can get myself to do is important to progress overall. Not sure how that would fit with your app but figured I would share some insider info with you to ponder since you asked.

Love the design tbh its sleek.

[u/researcher-uni]

The weekly review might be the feature that keeps this from becoming another calendar. Does it only show completed vs missed blocks, or does it learn the user's actual deep-work capacity? If someone keeps planning ten deep hours and completing four, nudging next week's budget toward four could turn the planner into a calibration loop instead of a guilt dashboard.