Productivity app based on your energy level
I've struggled for a while with generic productivity advice — wake up early, deep work in the morning, Pomodoro everything. None of it really matched how my energy actually moves through the day. Some days I'm sharp at 11am, some days not until 4pm, and no fixed schedule ever accounted for that.
I'm working on an idea to fix this for myself — an app that would learn your actual energy pattern from quick daily check-ins, then build your schedule around when you're actually sharp instead of a generic routine.
It's still just an idea at this point, nothing built yet. I put together a simple page to see if this is a problem for other people too, or if it's just me.
Does this resonate with anyone, or do you already have a system that works for you?
Link to the Landind Page: https://patrk1.github.io/Wavelength-Landing-Page/wavelength-landing.html
This resonates deeply because the traditional "9-to-5 morning person" advice completely ignores biological chronotypes and modern cognitive burnout. For founders, creators, and developers whose output relies on deep, complex focus, forcing a schedule on a low-energy brain is a recipe for frustration and poor code. Tracking actual cognitive ebbs and flows to automate a dynamic calendar is a massive step up from rigid, manual time-blocking.
Your landing page approach is exactly the right move for 0-to-1 validation before writing a single line of code. However, the true test for a productivity tool like this isn't just getting an email signup—it is the friction of the daily check-in. Users struggling with productivity are notoriously bad at maintaining manual tracking habits.
If this is going to succeed, how do you plan to make the data collection frictionless? For example, are you thinking about passive tracking (like monitoring keyboard activity or cursor velocity), or keeping it to a 2-second, one-click phone widget notification when energy shifts?
Really appreciate this — you're hitting the exact tension I keep coming back to. Going with the lightweight end for now: a quick, low-friction check-in (thinking widget/notification style, few seconds) rather than passive tracking like keyboard/cursor monitoring. Passive signals are tempting for accuracy, but they add privacy concerns and platform complexity I don't want to take on for the first version (later on if truly demanded we could make the data collection frictionless)— and honestly, a lot of "energy" is subjective in a way keystroke velocity won't fully capture anyway.
The bet is: if the check-in is genuinely fast enough and the schedule suggestions feel useful quickly, the friction becomes worth it. That's exactly what I'm trying to validate right now — if you'd want to try it, there's a landing page linked in the post, would love to have you as an early tester and get your take once there's something to poke at.
Love this angle, most productivity apps ignore energy cycles completely and just push time-blocking. How are you detecting energy level — self-report or something passive?
Thanks! Going with self-report for now — a quick daily/weekly check-in (aiming for 10-15 seconds max). Passive detection (wearables etc.) would be more "accurate" but adds a lot of complexity and assumes everyone has the right device. Starting simple, might explore passive signals later once the core loop works.
If this sounds like something you'd use, feel free to fill out the landing page — link in the post, once we complete the app, we would love to have you as an early tester!
I like the concept because it focuses on how people actually work instead of assuming everyone follows the same schedule. One feature I'd find useful is the ability to tag different types of work (creative, meetings, admin, learning) and see which tasks naturally fit different energy levels over time.
Really like this — tagging work type alongside energy level would let the AI actually learn patterns like "creative work fits your Tuesday morning energy" instead of just generic high/low suggestions. Adding this to the roadmap, might not be in v1 but definitely want to build toward it.
If you'd be interested in trying it out, there's a landing page you can sign up on — link in thepost, once we complete the app, we would love your feedback as it comes together!
This resonates with me. Most productivity advice assumes everyone functions the same way, but my energy changes from day to day. I've had days where I couldn't focus until late afternoon, and forcing myself into a rigid schedule just made me feel unproductive.
I'd be interested in something that adapts to my actual energy instead of expecting me to adapt to it. My only concern would be making sure it doesn't become another app that requires a lot of manual tracking. If the daily check-ins stay quick and the recommendations genuinely improve over time, I'd definitely give it a try.
Hey Justinne, thanks so much — this means a lot! You've actually nailed the exact concern I'm designing around: I want the daily/weekly check-in to take like 10-15 seconds max, not feel like another tracking chore. I'm building it now so the AI does the heavy lifting on the scheduling side, not you.
Quick question if you don't mind — does your energy tend to swing more day-to-day, or more within the same day (like mornings vs. evenings)? Trying to figure out whether check-ins should be daily or more granular.
If you would use it in the future, could you sign up (FREE) in the landing page, so once we complete the beta version you could test it.
Awesome stuff, love the idea.
Thanks for the feedback! If you would like to try it in the future, you can sign up (FREE) in the landing site, so once we create the first prototype you could test the beta version. It would mean a lot to us!
Hi Patrik. It's 10 pm and I have more energy than I've had all day. I can relate to your idea.
If you haven't read When by Dan Pink, it's an interesting read that talks about energy cycles.
Moving my body outside is one of my go-to strategies that's bound to lift my mood and get me excited about the day ahead (or the day coming to a close).
Thanks for the advice! Happy to see you energized!
Thanks for the feedback, honestly it's the exact question I'm wrestling with right now. This landing page was a first pass to gauge interest, but you're right that "energy-based productivity" alone is too broad, no one wakes up looking for that, they wake up dealing with a specific problem.
I'm actually leaning toward narrowing this to a specific persona rather than keeping it generic. To be transparent: there are no real users yet, this was just testing whether the concept resonates before building anything. So no pretending there's traction — just trying to figure out where the sharpest pain actually is before I commit to building.
If you had to guess, which persona would you bet has the most acute version of this problem?
You’re thinking about it the right way — but I’d actually go one step further and sell this before you build anything.
The persona I’d bet on: founders / indie hackers who already feel they’re underperforming despite working all the time. That frustration is painful and immediate, not abstract.
If you position it as “I’ll help you consistently hit 4–6 hours of real deep work daily based on your actual energy patterns”, you can probably get people to pay (or at least commit) right now.
Really useful, thank you. The "sell before building" point lands — I think I've been treating this as a build-first thing when it should be sell-first.
On persona: I hear you on founders/indie hackers, that's a real pain point. I've been leaning toward self-improvement / people trying to reclaim focus from screens instead, mostly because that's a space I already have some credibility and audience in. Do you think that's still viable, or does the "underperforming founder" pain just hit harder because it's more acute/urgent?
Both are viable, but they behave very differently:
Self-improvement = interest
Founders/operators = urgency + willingness to pay
If you want traction fast, I’d start with founders, prove it works, then expand outward. The pain is just sharper there.
Thanks for the suggestion! My question is where can I advertise/sell it before I have a concrete product? Reddit doesn't work unfortunately
If Reddit is dead, I would validate in places where the pain already shows up in public: IH threads about underperforming, LinkedIn posts from founders talking burnout, and niche Discords for students/founders. Do 20 manual replies with one question first, not a pitch: "what do you do when your energy drops but the schedule still says deep work?" The wording people use back is your landing page copy.
The changing energy part resonates, but I’m curious about the behavior behind it.
When your energy is low at a time you expected to work, do you already change what you work on, or do you usually keep the same plan and just struggle through it?
Honestly, it depends on the day — sometimes I catch it and switch to something lighter (emails and stuff), but more often I just push through with the original plan out of habit or guilt, even though I know it's not going well. That's actually the core problem I'm trying to solve: the "switching" step requires you to notice you're in a low-energy window and have a lighter task ready to swap in, and most people (me included) don't do that consistently without a system nudging them.
Curious how you handle it , do you have a go-to way of noticing when to switch, or does it mostly catch you off guard?
I run into a version of that too, which is why the switching problem caught my attention.
I'd rather not reduce my perspective to a quick comment here, though. I'd be interested in continuing the conversation by email if you're open to it. What's the best email to reach you on?
Sure, happy to continue there. Looking forward to hearing your take. patrikvrhovina on gmail. The algorithm doesnt allow write it down directly here.
Thanks! I’ve just sent it over.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts whenever you have a chance.
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Doesn't Oura / Ultrahuman have something similar already? I
Good question! Oura/Ultrahuman themselves just show a readiness score, but there are apps like Lifestack, rivva, and Ultradia that already do wearable-based energy scheduling. The difference with what I'm building: no wearable required. It's self-reported, so anyone can use it without owning a $300 ring or watch — lower barrier to entry, though obviously less "objective" than biometric data. Curious to see if that tradeoff works for people, that's part of what I'm testing with the landing page.