Most productivity apps I've tried have one thing in common: they're exhausting to look at.
Too many features. Too many tabs. Too many "just set up this workflow and you'll be productive in no time" promises. After a week I'd stop opening them, and then feel guilty every time I saw the app icon.
So I built Improve You — a ruthlessly minimal daily habit tracker with a built-in Pomodoro focus timer. No task lists. No project boards. Just your core habits and a timer to actually do the work.
Here's what I learned building it.
The Problem I Was Solving (For Myself)
I didn't want to track everything. I wanted to track the 5 things that, if I do them every single day, compound into a radically better version of me over a year.
- Drink 2L water
- Read 20 pages
- Work out 45 minutes
- 2 hours of deep work
- Whatever else matters to you
That's it. No backlog. No overdue tasks. Every morning the slate resets automatically, like a daily ledger. You either did the work or you didn't. No excuses.
The Features That Actually Mattered
1. Persistent Core Habits
Habits live at the identity level. You set them once, and they appear every morning without you doing anything. No creating a new "task" every day. The system respects that these habits are who you are, not items on a to-do list.
2. Deep Work Focus Mode
A fullscreen Pomodoro timer that strips away every distraction. When you enter Focus Mode, nothing else exists. The hours you log here are tracked separately — so you can actually see how much real work you're doing versus how much you're just busy.
This was the feature I personally needed most. It's one thing to check off "deep work" as a habit. It's another to see that you only actually focused for 40 minutes today instead of the 2 hours you told yourself you'd do.
3. XP, Levels & Streaks
I know, gamification gets a bad rap. But here's the thing — it works on me.
Every completed habit earns XP. Every minute in focus mode earns XP. You level up. You unlock badges. You have a streak to protect.
The streak psychology is real. "Don't break the chain" is one of the most powerful motivators for daily behavior. The app leans into it hard.
4. Global Leaderboard (Pro)
This one surprised me — seeing your name on a leaderboard next to other people who are also grinding daily habits is oddly motivating. It makes discipline feel like a team sport.
What I Intentionally Left Out
No subtasks. No priority levels. No "snooze until tomorrow." No recurring task templates with complex scheduling.
Every feature I considered adding, I asked: does this make it easier to do the work, or just easier to feel like I'm planning to do the work?
If the answer was the latter, it didn't ship.
The Free vs Pro Decision
Free tier: track up to 5 habits, streak tracking, focus mode, XP & badges. Forever.
The free tier is genuinely useful — 5 habits is actually the right number for most people starting out. Pro unlocks unlimited habits, analytics (30-day consistency rate, longest streaks), the global leaderboard, and priority support.
I wanted the free tier to feel complete, not crippled. Nobody should have to pay just to use the core loop.
What's Next
- Mobile app (PWA first, then native)
- Weekly reflection prompts
- Habit templates for common goals (fitness, reading, creative work)
- API for nerds who want to integrate it with their own dashboards
Try It
If you're the kind of person who believes the quality of your life is determined by the quality of your daily habits — Improve You was built for you.
5 habits, free, forever. No credit card. No onboarding wizard. Just open it and start.
Built by Ashutosh Swamy — GitHub · LinkedIn
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