We all know the struggle: too much structure kills flexibility, but too little structure tanks productivity.
A structured day plan sounds great in theory. But in practice? We either abandon the plan entirely or lose the flexibility to handle what life throws at us.
If you’ve ever tried blocking out your entire day in Google Calendar or Apple Calendar, you know the frustration. The moment something shifts, you spend more time reorganizing your calendar than actually getting things done.
What I Actually Needed was not a Calendar
I wanted a tool that could structure my day down to the minute while remaining effortless to adjust. That’s why I built the Mono Task App.
Here’s how it works: I maintain a library of fully structured day templates for different situations. One for working from home (where I really need that structure). Another for studio days with my team. Plus weekend templates and lifestyle-focused days.
Every morning, I simply pull up the right template and follow the schedule. When things inevitably change—and they always do—I can adjust activity durations or move time blocks in seconds. My day stays structured without becoming rigid.
Structure That Adapts
I rarely end the day following my original plan exactly. And that’s the point. I needed a tool that keeps me both accountable and flexible—not one that forces me to choose between the two.
How Does It Actually Work?
The core principle is simple: I didn’t want to manage start and end times for each individual activity. That’s tedious and time-consuming. Instead, I wanted to focus on one thing at a time—which is exactly what Mono Task is designed for.
Here’s the structure: I create sequences of activities, each with its own duration. These activities live inside time blocks, and this is where it gets interesting—only the time block has a start time.
Once I anchor a time block, all the activities inside it schedule themselves automatically. They flow. Change the duration of one activity, and everything after it shifts accordingly. It’s remarkably simple, yet completely different from a traditional calendar.
For those quick tasks that just need to be checked off—like “reply to Sarah’s email” or “order printer ink”—I sprinkle them between activities. This gives me the flexibility to handle traditional to-do items without breaking my flow.
The Single-Tasking Shift
Yes, this requires following a single-tasking approach. No more juggling five things simultaneously. No more mental spiraling about everything else on today’s list.
The result? I’m not only more productive—I’m more relaxed and mentally lighter.
This has been the best thing I’ve ever created for myself. It works for me. It works for thousands of Mono Task App users. Maybe it’ll work for you too.