I Built 7 Different Apps Before Realizing They Should Have Been One

anurag chatap — Mon, 03 Aug 2026 15:28:18 +0000

I Built 7 Different Apps Before Realizing They Should Have Been One
How solving my own daily problems accidentally turned into a personal operating system.
When people ask why I built my product, they usually expect a grand business idea.
The truth is much less exciting.
I was simply tired of switching between apps.
It Started with an Expense Tracker
Like many people, I used a mobile app to track my daily expenses.
It worked well.
Until I wanted to review my finances on my laptop.
I spend most of my day in front of a computer, but every time I wanted to log or analyze an expense, I had to reach for my phone.
It felt like unnecessary friction.
So, instead of searching for another app, I built one.
At first it was just for me.
Then I added budgeting.
Custom categories.
Reports.
Eventually, I even integrated AI so I could type something like:

"Spent ₹350 on lunch."

and the expense would be categorized and saved automatically.
I thought I had solved the problem.
I hadn't.

Then I Realized My Routine Was Scattered
The next thing I wanted to track was my day.
Office work.
Gym.
Personal tasks.
Habits.
I tried several productivity apps, but none matched the workflow I wanted.
So I built another one.
Since I use both desktop and iPhone regularly, I also made it a Progressive Web App (PWA), allowing it to feel like a native application without requiring an App Store installation.
Problem solved.
Until another problem appeared.

Learning Without Measuring Is Just Guessing
I enjoy learning new technologies.
Docker.
Kubernetes.
Cloud.
AI.
Testing.
The challenge wasn't finding things to learn.
It was answering simple questions like:
What did I learn today?
How much time did I spend?
Am I making progress?

Again, I couldn't find exactly what I wanted.
So I built another tool.

Time Was Disappearing
Even after tracking my learning, I still didn't know where my day actually went.
Some days felt productive.
Others didn't.
But I had no data.
That led me to build a Pomodoro timer with analytics.
Instead of just counting sessions, I wanted to understand where my focused time was going every week.

Then Came Everything Else
As time went on, more small frustrations appeared.
I kept forgetting things, so I added a to-do list.
I wanted to remember what I accomplished at work each day, so I added a daily journal.
Later, I started paying more attention to my health.
I wanted to track:
Weight
Water intake
Calories
Macronutrients
Micronutrients
Steps
Exercise

Once again…
I built another module.

The Real Problem Wasn't Missing Features
One day I looked at everything I had created.
Expense tracker.
Learning tracker.
Routine planner.
Pomodoro.
Health tracker.
Journal.
To-do list.
Individually, they worked well.
Collectively, they were a mess.
Ironically, I had recreated the same problem I was trying to solve.
Every morning I was opening six or seven different applications just to understand my own day.
That's when something clicked.
The problem wasn't expense tracking.
Or journaling.
Or Pomodoro.
The real problem was context switching.

So I Started Again
Instead of building another feature, I merged everything into one platform.
Now a single dashboard gives me an overview of my entire day.
My expenses.
Tasks.
Learning.
Journal.
Pomodoro sessions.
Health.
Everything is connected through a single calendar.
Selecting a date instantly shows what happened on that day across every area of my life.
For the first time, it actually felt like my tools were working together instead of competing for my attention.

The Biggest Lesson
I used to think productivity meant having better tools.
Now I think productivity is about reducing friction.
Every extra app.
Every extra login.
Every context switch.
Every place where information gets scattered.
They all add mental overhead.
Sometimes the best feature isn't adding something new.
It's bringing existing things together.

What's Next?
After using this system myself for a long time, I decided to make it available for others.
The project eventually became AuraSaathi - a personal operating system that combines productivity, personal finance, learning, journaling, health tracking, and AI assistance in one place.
If you're curious, you can explore it here:
👉 https://aurasaathi.com
Whether you use my product or another combination of tools, I hope this story encourages you to think about one question:
Are your productivity tools actually helping you focus, or are they creating more work than they save?

DEV Community: anurag chatap

I Built 7 Different Apps Before Realizing They Should Have Been One