To Do Parking Stacker App

Old Bull Health Apps - Apple App Store only. Some of these are free, some are paid, and all are practical and useful. 

Why would we make a free To-Do app?

Built because we needed one, and we kept it simple because simple works.

When you use our App, your lists live on your device, no cloud storage, no cross-device logins, no accounts, no security hoops to jump through. Nothing leaves your phone. That also means there's no infrastructure to maintain, so there's no subscription to charge you for it.

No tracking. No cost. No catch.

We have had requests to add this and that functionality, things like a priority button,  and while tempting, "no". We want this to be as simple as possible for us, and to allow users to park their to-dos to avoid a continuous loop, so that they can relax like in a car park stacker. Read more below.

You can type or talk in your to-do, then mark it as work in progress (WIP) or done. Once done, it gets deleted after 30 days unless you delete it first. No cloud, no servers, no cross-device. Just on your phone, because it's personal. And MFA (Multi-factor authentication) means you have your phone with you most of the time anyway.

The science of To-Dos

1. The Zeigarnik Effect

Russian psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik discovered in 1927 that people recall uncompleted tasks roughly twice as well as completed ones. The brain maintains a persistent low-level alert for open loops, a cognitive spotlight that stays lit until the task is resolved. This is why unfinished items follow you, wake you up at 3 am.

• The Waiter Observation: In the 1920s, Zeigarnik noticed waiters in a busy café had a flawless memory for complex, unpaid orders, but once the bill was paid and the task was finished, they immediately forgot the details of the orders.

Unfinished tasks can create intrusive thoughts that interfere with new tasks and degrade performance. The constant mental "nag" of open loops consumes cognitive resources, leaving less mental space for creativity, focus, decision-making, and enjoying life. (1)

2. The Masicampo & Baumeister study (2011)

Masicampo and Roy Baumeister published a study. The finding: Creating plans produces cognitive closure effects remarkably similar to those of actual completion. Translated: you don't have to finish the task to get the mental relief.

Writing it down with a plan is enough. Even making a clear plan for when you'll complete a task can relieve that tension, freeing your attention for the work you're doing now. (2)

3. Cognitive offloading research

Working memory can only hold about four chunks of information at once, and those chunks fade within 15 to 30 seconds without active rehearsal.

Writing tasks down is a strategy called cognitive offloading, moving intentions from limited working memory onto an external surface. Offloading frees up mental bandwidth, lowering anxiety and preserving attention for deep work. (3)A A A A

2021 study in The Journal of Occupational Health Psychology found that individuals who used organisational tools such as to-do lists, calendars, and project management apps experienced lower levels of work-related stress. (4)

4. The completion/dopamine loop

Breaking complex work into smaller, independently completable segments provides regular closure experiences. Each mini-completion delivers a neurochemical reward, building motivation while preventing cognitive overload that can occur when multiple projects remain unfinished simultaneously. 

This is the "Done" column in the to-do parking stacker app. Ticking something off isn't trivial; it's a genuine neurochemical signal.

__________

To Do Parking Stacker App

Why would you do a to-do list App? Because all the Apps I have tried are over-engineered, well, for me anyway. Taking up too much admin. 

As we age, we need a place to park actions or thoughts, so we can relax or even sleep. Put your to-dos down, and they will be there tomorrow. Make it easy to use; logging in just needs the entry key, not a separate movement or button. make it easy to navigate. Big font, so I don't need my glasses. Bright coloured so I can find it. Getting it.

Only available in the Apple App store, sorry, too much overhead to run two different App stores and manage upgrades, etc. 

How to use it and what to expect.

Just type what you want to add, and press [Enter] on your keyboard. Scroll to view entries.

 

Data & Privacy

We take privacy seriously. Our To Do App Privacy Policy can be found here.

Full privacy policies will be published alongside each app release.

Disclaimer

This is a standalone app; it lives on your phone. We have no backup, no access and thus no responsibility for your lists. Do the right thing, back up your data, always.

While we use our best endeavours to make this a great, crash-free, data-loss-free experience, there are no guarantees in life.