Why I Built MyLister

Why I Built MyLister

A little help keeping track of everyday life.

MyLister started with a fairly ordinary problem: I kept struggling to stay organized.

My wife and I run our businesses together, and between work and home there’s always something to remember. Something to buy, someone to call, a job to finish, or a detail from a conversation that will matter later.

I’d remember something while doing something else, then have to remember it all over again when I finally had time to deal with it. I needed somewhere to put those things and find them again.

That’s where MyLister came from. It began as something to help me keep track of the day-to-day—and keep a bit of my sanity along the way.

The everyday things add up

A lot of my organization starts with a simple list.

Items I need to purchase. Things I need to do. People I need to call.

I also use a lot of notes. Often several on the same item: what someone said on the phone, a detail I need to check, or what I should do next.

Those notes mean I can come back to something and pick up where I left off, without trying to reconstruct the whole situation from memory.

And when it’s finished, I check it off. There’s something satisfying about seeing what’s done and knowing I don’t need to keep it in my head anymore.

Keeping a journal on the bees

We keep bees, and the journal has become a useful part of looking after them together.

We have ten hives. We keep a picture of each one in the journal and add pictures of the changes we make along the way. We use shortcuts to add entries for inspections, treatments, feeding, and harvesting.

My wife and I share the journal and both contribute, so we have one place to look back at what happened with each hive and when.

Keeping track of renovation work

Renovation work is another part of what my wife and I do together. For that, I use projects to keep track of the tasks, their timing, and who is responsible.

What needs to be done? When does it need to be finished? How long should it take? Who is responsible?

That’s where I use MyLister’s project features. I can organize tasks, plan the timing, and assign people. I can also record a vendor against the work they’re responsible for without having to share the project with them.

Sometimes I need to share the work with someone. Other times I just need my own record of who is doing what, without asking them to join another app.

And sometimes I print the items out. Paper still comes in handy.

Useful to me—and hopefully to you

These are just my ways of using MyLister. Your lists and projects will probably look different, and I like that.

The idea behind making it available to others is simple: if it helps me, perhaps it can help someone else too. You don’t need a business or a beehive to have things you’d rather write down than try to remember.

MyLister is still growing. We’re working on a roadmap, and there are more things we’d like to improve and add. My own day-to-day use gives me plenty of ideas, but it can’t tell me what everyone else needs.

That’s why I’d really welcome your feedback. What works for you? What feels awkward? What’s missing? I’d love to hear how you use it and what would make it more helpful.

I started building MyLister to make my own days a little easier. I hope it can do the same for yours.

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If you’re curious about the businesses my wife and I run together, you can find out more at toma.holdings and wohnen.land.