An App Idea for When You Have Goals But Can't Make Yourself Care
A lightweight daily-structure app that turns vague goals into tiny next actions and tracks the basics (sleep, priorities) commenters say actually drive motivation.
I have goals I just cant seem to care
How do you be consistent and do more? Cause I was productive today. Great. Yesterday I wasn't. im not planning out my days either. Honestly barely productive at all. I didn't sleep as well as I could've yesterday and i'm up late again + tired. I'm just in my 20s though and everyone is doing way more. Could be mildly depressed? How do you get yourself to do more? I did some items, didn't complete them, i keep thinking how I should complete them. Will right after this post. So usually I feel somewhat awake, at least, given how much sleep I've had(around 5 hours) but nope. I just feel tired and a little hungry. Just sort of telling myself I will go finish up stuff while having a random sports broadcast playing I need to be more consistent but I cant seem to keep it up. I need to set goals for myself yet i'm not. What should I do tomorrow? I have things to do and I don't do them or I barely get a fraction of what I plan to get done done. Cant concretely really account for all the lost time, its still rather magnimonious even if i take steps to prohibit myself from distractions. I just.. do other stuff somehow.
The problem, in the searcher’s words
I have goals — I know what I want, I even know the steps — but I just can't seem to care enough to actually do them. I compare myself to everyone else, I write ambitious to-do lists, and then I don't touch any of it. It's not laziness exactly, it's more like nothing feels urgent or real.
People keep telling me it's sleep, or unclear priorities, or that I'm trying to overhaul my whole life in one day instead of picking 2-3 things and finishing them. Some say it might be undiagnosed ADHD or depression. None of that tells me what to actually do tomorrow morning when I look at my list and feel nothing.
I don't need another app that just gamifies checking boxes — I already know what's on the list. I need something that turns 'exercise' into '10 minutes with dumbbells,' evaluates my week instead of judging every single day, and maybe notices when I'm running on 5 hours of sleep before blaming my willpower.
What the thread shows
Eight separate commenters independently converge on the same explanations (poor sleep, no structure, unclear priorities, possible ADHD/depression, daily over-evaluation) for 'goals but no motivation,' showing the pain is common and recognizable, but no one in the thread signals they would pay for a tool to fix it.
“You're running on 5 hours of sleep, comparing yourself to everyone else, and wondering why consistency feels hard. That combination would make most people struggle.”
“I myself have struggled with it for a long time and recently learned I have ADHD which suddenly explains why I have such a difficult time with task initiation and completing tasks.”
“When there's not enough structure in real life, the higher the odds of getting trapped in fictional structures, even if it's fake characters, fake money, fake realities.”
“Instead of writing 'exercise' on your todo list. Write an action item you will actually complete. Like, 10min with dumbbells.”
Target customer
Who
Someone with clear goals (career, health, hobbies) who feels chronic apathy toward acting on them, often alongside poor sleep, undiagnosed ADHD, or low-grade depression.
Context
Hits this when they pile too many goals into a single day, judge themselves daily instead of weekly, and have no system for turning a vague goal ('exercise') into a next action they'll actually do.
What to build
- Break each goal into a 5-minutes-or-less 'next action' before it can be added to today's list
- Weekly progress review instead of daily judgment, to reduce self-criticism fatigue
- A capped 2-3 item 'must do today' list, separate from a longer wishlist
- Simple sleep/energy check-in that flags when a low-motivation day correlates with poor sleep
- Long-range goal wizard that auto-breaks one big goal into a dated step timeline
Build note — Could integrate with Apple Health/Oura for sleep correlation since multiple commenters tie motivation to sleep. Should avoid positioning as a mental-health diagnostic tool given the depression/ADHD references in the thread.
Later, if it lands
Who’s already out there
Turns to-do lists and habits into an RPG-style game with rewards and penalties for structure.
Gap: Adds game-like structure but doesn't address why the user can't 'care' in the first place — it assumes motivation to engage with the game, not the underlying apathy or sleep/priority issues commenters point to.
Self-care companion app where completing small self-care tasks grows a virtual pet.
Gap: Focused on general self-care habits, not on breaking down a specific long-range goal into a next action or replacing daily self-judgment with weekly review, as the thread requests.
General-purpose task manager with priorities, due dates, and recurring tasks.
Gap: Handles the list mechanics but not the emotional/motivational gap — it doesn't force tiny actionable steps, weekly-vs-daily evaluation, or connect low motivation to sleep/priority causes the way commenters describe needing.
Demand read
Multiple commenters independently recognize and relate to the same 'goals but no motivation' pattern, suggesting it's a common and durable frustration, but nothing in the thread indicates anyone would pay to solve it.
Worth digging into before you build
5 to considerNo idea is a sure thing at this stage — these are open questions worth checking yourself, not a verdict against building it.
Thin Source
Original post body is '[removed]'; only the title and comments are available, so OP's own description of the problem is missing — reviewer should check if the original text can be recovered.
Not Software Solvable
Commenters attribute the apathy to sleep deprivation, diet, depression, and ADHD — causes several advise fixing via a doctor or therapist, not an app.
Generic Idea
Goal/motivation tracking is a saturated category (Habitica, Finch, Todoist already exist); the thread doesn't reveal a clear differentiator.
Weak Demand
No commenter mentions paying for a tool, using a paid tool, or expressing willingness to pay — zero willingness-to-pay signal in the thread.
Sensitive Domain
Thread repeatedly touches depression and ADHD; needs editorial/mental-health-sensitivity review before publishing.