Cavatim Planning & everyday tools
Planning the week I can actually live.
Connecting long-term goals to the time that is actually available, across a planner, native apps and a private ChatGPT site.
Project statusWeb planner, native development and private ChatGPT site
How it came about
I wanted a better connection between the things I say matter and what actually ends up in my diary. A list of goals is useful, but it does not tell me where the work is going to fit. A calendar gives me the hours, but it can lose the reason for using them.
Cavatim brings those two views together. It connects longer-term goals with monthly, weekly and daily action, and puts planned work alongside existing commitments. I have explored that across the web planner, native Apple apps and a private ChatGPT site. The point is the same in each: make a plan that survives contact with an ordinary week.
The difficult part
The difficult part is the relationship between the records. If a task already belongs to a goal, planning it should preserve that connection. Completing it should count in the right place. Creating a second, similar-looking task can make the screen look right while making the underlying system wrong.
There is also a difference between proposing a sensible plan and actually saving one. I have had to pay attention to what happens after a reload, when a week changes, or when two edits start from different versions. Those are less glamorous problems than a new dashboard, but they matter more when the planner holds real commitments.
What I learnt
I have learnt to judge a planning tool by the amount of work it removes. If I have to keep explaining the same intention or repairing duplicated tasks, the tool is giving me another job.
The most useful design decision has been to keep the weekly context visible and allow work to be either timed or still waiting for a time. A plan should help me make choices about capacity. Filling every gap is not the same as making a good week.