Why I built a to-do app with one list

I was an attorney at a small litigation boutique, owned preschools with my wife, and was raising two young children. I had plenty to keep track of—and no background in software or app development.

Since high school, I had wanted to become the kind of person who organized life in writing. I bought Moleskine notebooks and nice pens. I filled the first few pages in dense handwriting, then abandoned the rest.

I kept changing the tool

I decided the notebook binding must be the problem, so I tried a spiral-bound notebook. Later, bullet journaling seemed like the missing formula. A beautiful notebook with thick paper worked for a while, but the habit gradually disappeared again.

Handwriting was also genuinely unpleasant for me: clammy hands made pages damp, and gripping pens too tightly made my fingers cramp. Eventually I accepted that paper was unlikely to become my reliable everyday system.

The powerful apps were not the answer either

I tried sophisticated productivity tools. They were capable of organizing projects, automating workflows, and separating every area of life. I admired what they could do, but I did not consistently maintain the structure.

With legal work, preschools, home responsibilities, and children, I still needed somewhere to keep everything. I eventually used Microsoft To Do and created different lists for work, business, home, and shopping.

Then I noticed what I was actually doing

Instead of spending a few seconds choosing the proper category, I put nearly everything into the default Tasks list. A reminder to answer opposing counsel might sit next to “coffee beans,” followed by a reminder to schedule someone to repair broken blinds at a preschool.

When I went shopping, I scrolled through the same list and checked off groceries. It was messy by conventional productivity standards—but it was the behavior I could sustain.

I did not need more lists. I needed one useful gesture.

What I wanted was a single master list with a quick way to move the item that mattered now toward the top. No decision about folders at the moment of capture. No requirement to maintain an elaborate taxonomy. Just add the thought, find it later, and elevate it when its time arrives.

That became On Top: one list for every task, every item to buy, and every thing to remember. Swipe right when something should move up.

Intentional simplicity

On Top is not designed to replace complex project-management software for people who thrive on that structure. Its constraint is its point. It is for people who have tried impressive systems but keep returning to the quickest available list.

The lesson I took from years of abandoned tools was straightforward: the best organizational system is not necessarily the one with the most possibilities. It is the one you will still open tomorrow.

Originally published October 15, 2022. Substantially updated August 24, 2026.