Earlier this year, I decided to try out Donetick to help me with my chores. While my experience with the app was positive, I often find that I stop using many self-hosted services after some time. This is partly due to my becoming overwhelmed when switching between too many apps and my general resistance to changing my routine.
But over time, Donetick hasn’t fallen out of my app rotation. In fact, I’ve integrated it further into my weekly flow. This is due to changes in my life that require me to use it more, as well as the benefits of having an app dedicated solely to my personal tasks.
How Donetick became even more essential over time
Financial constraints meant that I needed to do more chores
While I spent a long time doing my own chores, my worsening health meant that I needed to employ someone to help me keep on top of cleaning tasks. Eventually, though, the medication costs associated with my disabilities meant that I had less disposable income to pay for help.
Since I live alone, the chores that I could previously outsource are now solely on my plate. It has been tough keeping up with things, especially since overexerting myself leads to more chronic fatigue and chronic pain — the very things that make chores difficult in the first place.
At the same time, I didn’t want these tasks to pile up. This has happened in the past, as the messiness of my apartment became worse and tidying up felt like an insurmountable challenge. So, I’ve been relying on Donetick to keep me informed of when tasks need repeating. Since the app is only focused on my chores and personal tasks, I can break down chores into smaller tasks that feel more manageable.
My changing circumstances meant that Donetick changed from a nice-to-have to something that’s essential for me to keep track of everything. As time passed, I’ve increasingly relied on it to see what needs to be done.
Donetick’s scheduling helps where my memory fails
Automated rules help keep things manageable
Even when it came to the tasks I would always do myself, it was difficult to remember how much time had passed since I last did them. This concerned me especially when it came to things like switching out the filter in my cats’ water fountain and switching out their litter sand.
With summer coming around again, I also need to stay on top of their spot-on flea treatment. This is in addition to other tasks, like regularly vacuuming, mopping the floor, and dusting. These are the types of tasks that are easier to forget than laundry or packing the dishwasher. After all, I easily notice when I’m running out of socks or coffee mugs. But three months from now, I won’t remember the exact date I gave my cats their flea treatment.
But with the scheduling tools in Donetick, these tasks no longer rely on my foggy memory. The app also lets you automatically schedule tasks based on their completion date, which means that when I’m delayed by a few days, I won’t have to worry about a sudden conflict with the next scheduled date.
I have also recently set up Home Assistant, with Donetick having a custom integration that I installed using the community store. While it will still take me some time to figure out everything the integration is capable of, I look forward to the additional functionality this will unlock.
Donetick even motivated me to set up my first Cloudflare Tunnel
I’m moving forward in my self-hosting journey
Perhaps the biggest testament to how much I enjoy Donetick is that it’s the first service that has encouraged me to try out a Cloudflare Tunnel. Because of the way the Donetick mobile app works, it requires an HTTPS connection. However, I kept encountering issues with my NAS’s built-in DDNS tool, which I had intended to use to obtain a certificate.
Eventually, I managed to set up the connection by creating a Cloudflare Tunnel, which had the added benefit of allowing me to access the service from outside my home network. But my main motivation was to start receiving push notifications on the Android app.
With this added functionality, I think Donetick is going to only increase its presence in my weekly flow of tasks. I’ve also made sure to keep notifications limited so that I don’t feel the same overwhelm that I’ve been experiencing from other task apps.
Donetick has earned its keep
I have other self-hosted apps that have stuck with me, including Immich and Homarr. But none have made quite the impression, or cemented themselves in my routine, as much as Donetick. The pleasant surprise of how useful a service can become is one of the joys of self-hosting.
If you have an app that started out as a whim but has become an essential part of your home lab, let me know in the comments!