This article encompasses lots of the reasons why I dislike traditional todo apps as well.
Unlike the author I did end up creating my own solution which solves a lot of the problems suggested by using a tree structure instead of a list structure. I have found it works better for my productivity than any other app as it encourages breaking tasks down into smaller chunks which are then easy to complete and build momentum as OP suggests.
I also did this. I decided after a few false starts that I was simply never going to commit to use a todo system that someone else made, so I wrote my own.
The tree-of-tasks idea is great and exactly what I did.
I probably won’t ever release it since I’m under no delusions that I’m creating something novel, but I love seeing how others approach the problem and taking ideas to incorporate into my system.
I made it integrate with my PS1 variable so that it's useful from the terminal; my terminal prompt includes the current task, the same way it includes the git branch.
(There's a GUI I'm working on too, at the moment).
Got hugged to death? 404 now.
Edit: lol, did you implement a referral block from HN at the JS level...? That seems silly, you've already sent the data...
The innovation is modelling projects as a tree that can be broken down into smaller chunks. You can nest as deeply as you like and therefore break down even the most complex ideas into actionable steps.
That's what I used to do too. It works great but I wrapped it up in an app for myself so that I could include scheduling, favouriting to plan my day and some other UX enhancements over a .txt file.
Unlike the author I did end up creating my own solution which solves a lot of the problems suggested by using a tree structure instead of a list structure. I have found it works better for my productivity than any other app as it encourages breaking tasks down into smaller chunks which are then easy to complete and build momentum as OP suggests.
It’s available at https://tatask.com
I’m always open to feedback on improving it too.