I just published Sort Stack — a to-do list solution developed using Airtable — to Gumroad. I decided to do so after getting frustrated that there weren’t any to-do list solutions out there that were compatible with my brain. You might be wondering how that’s even possible considering the hundreds of to-do list apps on the market, but I assure you, none of them work quite like this one. I’ll delve into more detail in future posts, but for the time being, I’ll tell you about its flagship feature: the sorting algorithm.
Sort Stack’s sorting algorithm uses over 30 task properties to determine the order that tasks should be listed in. The algorithm was developed over about a year of trial and error, meaning that its efficacy is proven, not hypothetical.
Sort Stack’s earliest form was a task management Airtable base that I made during the Spring 2022 term of my Junior year of college. I originally intended Sort Stack to be a full-fledged desktop and mobile app that I developed myself. However, doing so would have required me to become fluent in a programming language like Swift and to learn how to design a user interface.
My ambitions tend to exceed my abilities and this original version of Sort Stack turned out to be one such ambition; you could say that I have a bit of an Icarus streak. When I catch myself biting off more than I can chew, I replay that scene from SpongeBob where he talks Patrick down from a big job all the way down to the smallest job he could think of — a job at the Krusty Krab — to maximize his chances of winning an award like SpongeBob’s.
With my ambitions in check, I proceeded to reduce the scope of Sort Stack to the level of an Airtable base, the very same one that I had just thrown together to manage my coursework.
Much like how Sort Stack’s inception was conceived, its final form is one that stumbled into existence. I didn’t have any sort of roadmap or master plan for the kinds of features Sort Stack would have and how they would be implemented. Nevertheless, what I did have was a strong sense of what I liked and didn’t like from all of the to-do list apps I’ve used in the past, a basic knowledge of software architecture, and a “jank” allergy.
With all that preamble out of the way, I can delve into nitty-gritty details of Sort Stack, starting with my next post. Stay tuned!
P.S.
If what I’ve said so far was enough to pique your interest, feel free to check out Sort Stack for yourself here.
Sort Stack’s sorting algorithm uses over 30 task properties to determine the order that tasks should be listed in. The algorithm was developed over about a year of trial and error, meaning that its efficacy is proven, not hypothetical.
Sort Stack’s earliest form was a task management Airtable base that I made during the Spring 2022 term of my Junior year of college. I originally intended Sort Stack to be a full-fledged desktop and mobile app that I developed myself. However, doing so would have required me to become fluent in a programming language like Swift and to learn how to design a user interface.
My ambitions tend to exceed my abilities and this original version of Sort Stack turned out to be one such ambition; you could say that I have a bit of an Icarus streak. When I catch myself biting off more than I can chew, I replay that scene from SpongeBob where he talks Patrick down from a big job all the way down to the smallest job he could think of — a job at the Krusty Krab — to maximize his chances of winning an award like SpongeBob’s.
With my ambitions in check, I proceeded to reduce the scope of Sort Stack to the level of an Airtable base, the very same one that I had just thrown together to manage my coursework.
Much like how Sort Stack’s inception was conceived, its final form is one that stumbled into existence. I didn’t have any sort of roadmap or master plan for the kinds of features Sort Stack would have and how they would be implemented. Nevertheless, what I did have was a strong sense of what I liked and didn’t like from all of the to-do list apps I’ve used in the past, a basic knowledge of software architecture, and a “jank” allergy.
With all that preamble out of the way, I can delve into nitty-gritty details of Sort Stack, starting with my next post. Stay tuned!
P.S.
If what I’ve said so far was enough to pique your interest, feel free to check out Sort Stack for yourself here.