• getkitai.app
• Motivation behind kitai app

Overview

• Today page (hotkey: "1" or "T") displays the tasks and reminders scheduled for today. There's also a productivity chart showing the amount of work completed over the past 21 days. You typically work and track task completion from this page, but that's not mandatory, you can switch to the Upcoming page and track from there if you prefer.
• Upcoming page (hotkey: "2" or "U") shows all tasks and reminders. Here, you can rearrange things, create new tasks, and set goals, etc.
• Done page (hotkey: "3" or "D") displays completed tasks and goals. From here, you can undo a task.
• Distraction-free mode - press "F" to hide the sidebar menu and center the layout for better focus. The menu is still accessible when you hover over it.
• Toggle graphics by pressing "P". This shows or hides secondary graphic elements like progress bars and charts.
• Switch color theme by pressing "N". You can choose between dark and light themes.

On your first use, you'll be greeted with some example goals and tasks. Feel free to play around with them to get to know the functions better, but make sure to click the "Clear tutorial" button first. This will clear all the examples and start saving your actual plans and data.

Use cases

Kitai is designed to be a lightweight personal goal tracker, but I find it useful for other things too:

• Tracking your personal goals and reminders
• Sharing the details and status of your projects with a client
• Hand off checklists
• Sharing your personal goals and progress with someone
• Working with a very small team on a project
• Tracking habits

Goals and tasks

These are the two main concepts of kitai. A goal is the result of completing its actions (tasks).

• To create a goal or a task, go to the Upcoming page and click the "New goal" or "New task" button. Enter the title and press Enter to save.
• To edit a goal or task, double-click its title, change the text, and press Enter to save.
• To delete a goal or task, double-click its title, remove all the text, and press Enter to save.
• To rearrange tasks and goals, grab it in the empty space within its boundaries and move it around.

Auto-scheduling

Kitai automatically schedules all tasks and goals, meaning every task gets assigned a due date based on the following:

• Tasks with an explicitly set due date are scheduled first, along with their dependencies (see advanced scheduling below). The algorithm also adds a risk buffer to ensure these tasks are completed on time.
• When allocating time for tasks, the first goal gets the most attention, the next gets about half as much, and so on. This is done to add some variety to your daily schedule and make it a bit more interesting. The exception to this is "focused" goals (see advanced scheduling).
• A "day" is roughly 6 hours long, starting and ending at 4:00 AM local time, making it easier for night owls to keep track of their days.
• Every day at 4:00 AM, all tasks get rescheduled. So if you didn’t finish everything today, you can pick up where you left off tomorrow. You don’t have to rearrange and plan everything over and over again.

To the right of each task's title, you'll see a due date and an estimate for the task. If you leave the due date unset (when it's coloured grey), it shows an auto-scheduled due date. When you set the due date explicitly (by clicking it), it turns yellow, and those tasks get prioritised to meet that specific deadline.

The estimate is an approximate amount of time it will take to complete a task. There are several options for estimates, and it's perfectly fine to be vague. If you're unsure whether a task takes 1.5 hours or 2 hours, just set it to 3. There are also no estimates longer than a day. This is intentional. It's always better to break a long task down rather than hope to finish it in a couple of days. Decomposing a task often reveals something interesting or unexpected about it.

Reminders and events

Reminders are just like tasks, but they aren't tied to any specific goal and don't have a time estimate. However, they can have a due date or a frequency. Reminders are generally great for repeating actions, habits, and one-off events. Under every reminder, there is a light grey strip. When you mark a reminder as "Done," a part of the strip lights up. This shows how consistently you've completed that reminder over the last 21 periods, just like a habit tracker.

Creating, editing, and deleting reminders is just like handling tasks. When you create a reminder from the "Upcoming" page, it is set to tomorrow's date by default. You can change the frequency of a reminder by clicking the dropdown next to it.

Reminders do not participate in scheduling.

Advanced scheduling

On the right side of the goal's title, there are two buttons: "Later" and "Focus."

The "Later" button postpones the goal indefinitely and excludes it from auto-scheduling. You can temporarily set goals aside like that.

The "Focus" button is the opposite; it marks the goal as the most important, and the auto-scheduling will ensure it's completed first before anything else. You can have multiple focused goals, and they will be scheduled in parallel.

Focused and postponed goals do not affect the scheduling of tasks with deadlines (due dates set), those are scheduled first, no matter what.

The last scheduling feature is "Dependent" tasks. To mark a task as dependent, click the gray circle to the left of its title. This tells the algorithm that a task must be completed before the next one can start. Generally, you wouldn’t need to mark tasks as dependent since they are scheduled in the order they appear on the list. However, if a task has a specific due date, it might be scheduled out of order, making this button useful for marking an entire chain of tasks needed to complete the last task before its deadline.

For goals, there are no due dates or dependencies. To the right of the goal title, an Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) date is shown. If you need a goal completed by a specific date, adjust your plan based on this ETA, or you can set a deadline for the last task and mark every task in the goal as dependent.

Saving and sharing

To change the name of the task board, click it's title in the header bar, enter the name and then press "Enter" when you're done to save.

By default, all your goals, tasks, and reminders are saved locally in your browser. You can keep using the app as it is, and if you need to make a backup, use the "Export data" button.

If you prefer to use it on multiple devices, you can choose to save your board online. To the right of the board's name, you'll find a small "Upload" button. Click it to save the board and get your unique links. The first link is your secret link for accessing and modifying your board from any device. Just remember, there's no syncing or merging—whichever device modifies the board last is the source of truth. The second link is a read-only link for sharing, so you can let your teammates or friends read the board.

To remove your data from the servers, simply click the "Delete" button.

FAQ

1. What should I do if I've finished everything on my to-do list for today? — Simply open the upcoming tab and continue from there. By 4 AM, any tasks will be automatically rescheduled, ensuring you're ready for whatever tomorrow brings.
2. What happens if I haven't completed everything on my list for today? — No worries, because after 4:00 AM, all your tasks will be automatically rescheduled, giving you a chance to tackle them with a fresh perspective tomorrow.
3. How can I set priorities? — Simply rearrange your goals or tasks, as the sequence you place them in reflects their priority.
4. Why is this particular set of estimates available? — The estimates vaguely resemble a Fibonacci sequence. This proves effective because as estimates get larger, the error also increases. No need to be overly precise here, the available options are just enough to make a good plan while staying flexible.
5. Why are there no estimates greater than a day? — Estimates beyond a day lose their effectiveness because they introduce more uncertainty, complexity, and distractions, making it harder to stay focused and adapt to changes in personal plans.
6. Why isn't there an "In-progress" or other statuses? — Well, it's because tracking personal tasks doesn't need a complex workflow. If you or your team require more detailed statuses, it's probably better to simplify the process or use a different tool.