Last Updated on September 24, 2013 by New-Startups Team
Staying present means being right here in the exact moment focusing on what needs to be accomplished and that task alone or welcoming life once accomplishments for the day have been fulfilled. As much as entrepreneurs would like to believe multi-tasking is a part of life, there is a reason why NTSB states that texting and driving is the same as driving with a blood alcohol level three times the limit. Humans have difficulties doing two things at once, even the things we may think are automatic behavior processes.
Numerous times while building a startup we think we may think we can handle social media management at the same time field PR requests and code the last login security protocol for our applications. There is an overwhelming need to do so much at one time, when in reality something is being fed to the fires and about to fail drastically. That’s where apps like Finido come into play as a new way of managing our workday.
Finido is a smart app (iOS) that hand-selects the right tasks to bring you a stress-free life. Finido hand-selects your tasks every day according to priority, duration and importance—it intends to ensure that you work continuously but never too much, so that you do not lose touch with the moment you are living in. The smart application builds up productivity without you having to categorize tasks; rather it does it all for you so you can relax and enjoy life every day and still reach goals. Finido takes the task of picking tasks away and ensures focus to prevent the grips of multi-tasking from taking over the day.
The Finido app is all about living in the moment, thus we asked founders Christian Nauerz, Henri Boersma what that meant to them, here’s what Christian had to say:
“To us, living in the moment is not just a cool tagline that we use to promote our app. It is the core of our philosophy and the reason we worked our buts off to build Finido. We both love working and achieving our goals, but whenever we took some time off and tried to relax, we were still worrying about deadlines, other tasks, etc. We were not living the moment. But how could we? We had so many things going through our head, we never knew whether it was OK to relax or if we had to start working again because of a near deadline. This is how the idea for Finido started.”
“We wanted people to reach all their goals, but let them truly enjoy the free moments they had. One of the big issues was the fact that we wasted a lot of time worrying about the priority of tasks. We feel that when you want to work, you should be able to start right away, knowing that what you are doing is the best possible option. We also think you should not have to work 10 hours the day before a deadline, if you had a lot of free time the week before. And when you are finished with the tasks of today, you should enjoy the rest of your day without any guilt or worries, because you know you are right on schedule. How often are we worrying about things that have yet to come, about deadlines or about new challenges? The answer is: too much. It’s long been known that the amount of mental stress you carry can have a big impact on your health. With Finido, we hope people can finally live a stress-free life, without worrying about their obligations.”
Christian and Henri’s application puts forth a very insightful reason to use the application. When we work way too much we don’t let our unconscious mind do the work necessary to build insightful solutions. Knowing the priority of our tasks and being aware when it’s time to stop, take a step back and breathe to enjoy life is a key to success. Studies have shown when we take such relaxation measures that we are more likely to jump out of problems because we get nowhere when we continue to think about a problem or fulfill empty time with non-stop tasks. Entrepreneurs and creators fall victim to overwork constantly.
“The entrepreneurs and creators are a very challenging group. They have a lot of projects that take several hours and these projects are usually not done in one day. Managing small tasks is a challenge, but with complex projects that change every day and take up multiple weeks, it’s almost impossible to track your progress and keep a clear overview. The main feature of Finido is a clever algorithm that makes sure you are always working on the best task at the right moment.”
Christian goes on to say: “However, to solve the problem of the ‘always-working entrepreneur’ we stumbled upon the work of William James, a pioneering psychologist and philosopher in his time. In 1887 he wrote about how behavioral patterns shape you and the beneficial effects of doing something daily. Rather than only working when the urgency is high, for instance when there is deadline in the near future, William James argues that by working every day a little, you develop a habit which takes the effort out of effortful control. It also helps you because you can finish tasks long before deadlines, so you don’t have to stress when deadlines are near. That’s why we decided Finido should be able to split tasks up and divide them over the days you have. This way, entrepreneurs get suggestions of Finido to work for a specific amount of hours every day. When they finish this, they can still enjoy the rest of their day. Knowing that although their project is not completely finished, they finished a big part today and are on track for their deadline. A fresh mind to reflect is also important.”
Finido does this all through their minimalistic interface, making something very complicated, looking very easy. They stripped hundreds of features to focus on doing one thing very well. While many of the to-do apps on the market may see something is missing and try to add it in or fix it, but then resulted in a with too many new features and options, while not perfecting their main selling point. This is something in which Finido is different. Although they ensure us they will constantly listen to customers and fans and try to see what they would like the app to have, the main focus is on the core solution: helping people live the moment.
With the minimalistic features in mind Christian tells us further “We thought you should be proud of the fact you finished your tasks for today. You worked hard and completed all the tasks Finido suggested. So go out and enjoy the moment! What better way then to remember these moments by taking a picture and saving that in your personal library? With Finido, you can take a picture of yourself truly living your life! In the folder called ‘Moments’ you can find all these pictures with the date and amount of work you did that day added. These pictures can be shared through social media. Also, if you don’t feel like taking any pictures, but do feel proud of your achievement, you can share your workday with your friends with one click. ‘Moments’ will be released with the next update.”
The algorithm behind Finido is a complex one but the flow for the user is intended to be one of simplicity. Those with long-term tasks (like entrepreneurs) will really love Finido, but it’s an application built for everyone. A happier life will bring upon a successful future, Finido wants us to live in the moment; and the application is how it can help you do so.