I have ADHD. My problem isn't managing tasks — I have six abandoned systems for that. Notion setups, Todoist phases, paper planners with four filled pages.
My problem is the three hours of staring before I start.
The worst one lately: a two-sentence email. Took me nine days.
What actually works (for me)
Every productivity app assumes I already know what to do and just need to track it.
What works is when someone says: just do this one tiny thing first.
Not "clean the room." Pick up five things.
Not "do your taxes." Put every tax paper in one pile.
The wall isn't the task. It's the size of the first step.
So I built TinyStart
It's an iOS app for task paralysis. One job:
- Type what you're avoiding
- Get a stupidly small first step (AI breakdown, but strict — step 1 has to be a physical action under ~2 minutes)
- Hit a 2-minute timer
- Next step unlocks
- Stop early if you want — no streaks, no guilt
That's it. No onboarding hell. No life dashboard.
I'm not trying to replace todo lists. I'm trying to solve the moment before the moment — when you're staring at the thing and your brain treats it like a boss fight.
Early signal
I posted on Reddit (r/SideProject) last week. ~950 views, 4 waitlist signups in about 6 hours. I expected zero.
One comment: "Claude does this in 5 minutes." Fair. I think people might pay for the flow — timer, momentum, mobile, no shame — not the breakdown itself. Beta will tell me if I'm wrong.
Another builder reached out building something similar (waitingmode.com). We landed on the same thesis: make step 1 ridiculously small beats make the breakdown smarter. Asking someone to "narrow the task first" is just another decision they don't want to make.
What's next
- Waitlist until ~20 signups, then TestFlight
- Iterating on feedback: vague tasks ("start a startup"), AI vs rule-based clarity, whether the 2-min timer actually changes behavior
If this sounds like your brain:
Waitlist: https://tinystart.vercel.app
One email when beta opens. No spam.
Question for you
What's the longest you've stared at a task without being able to start it?
And if you've tried something that worked — what was the first step?
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