From endless lists to action: the philosophy behind Fillin
At work, I love being organized. I feel completely in my element with Kanban boards, Scrum sprints, and using Jira every single day. In a professional setting, making everything fit together perfectly is natural, it’s essential.
But when I close my laptop, the rules change. It’s not that personal life isn't organized, running a home takes a lot of planning, too. The real difference is the direction we are going. At work, even when tasks intertwine and unexpected things happen, everyone is mostly moving together toward a shared goal. At home, you have to balance different needs, family dynamics, and goals that sometimes clash. A rigid plan doesn’t easily shatter just because life is unpredictable. It shatters because you can't force different human needs into a strict to-do list. Outside of work, being organized isn't about following a strict schedule; it's about being flexible.
As soon as I find some free time, the first thing I ask myself is: "Okay, what needs to be done now?". I really want to get things done, but then I open my personal to-do app, stare at an endless list (often organized with the same strictness I use at work), and I just get stuck. I end up procrastinating, unable to decide what to do first, and wasting what little precious time I had.
I realized that for my everyday life, I didn't need another tool just to keep a list of things I’m not doing. I needed a switch. A way to get myself unstuck.
That’s where Fillin came from.
I chose this name because the goal isn't to fill your days with anxiety, but to help you "fill in" those empty pockets of time, turning "I should" into "I’m doing it."
Right now, I'm using it myself in a very straightforward way: whenever an idea pops up, I just write it down quickly. The app doesn't ask me to plan my day down to the minute or rigidly block out tasks on a calendar.
In fact, that’s its true superpower: Fillin is designed for people who can't or don't plan their free time.
If you want to extend hyper-structured scheduling outside of work, this probably isn't the right tool for you. Fillin is for those who want to feel free from self-imposed deadlines, but still need a tool that pushes them to take action as soon as they have a moment. I'll talk more about how I built the "engine" behind this approach in future posts.
Join the journey
For now, as any indie developer knows, I'm building this app solo, but to make it genuinely useful, I need real-world feedback.
If you recognize yourself in this "organizational paralysis" and want to kickstart your momentum without the burden of planning, I'm putting together a small group of early testers.
- To join the trials: email me directly.
- To follow along: the waitlist is open at usefillin.app.
