Why 4:00 am?

The first version of Penciletin started its day at midnight because that’s just how most calendars work. But that was awkward. Once upon a time, I worked the overnight shift. If I ever went to bed before 3:00 am would just mess up my sleep schedule and make me useless the next day. So I would go to the 24 hour grocery store at 2:00 am.

There is always going to be a time that is difficult for the user interface. I could have kept it at midnight so that it looks like Apple’s calendar, but I moved it to 4:00 am for the people like me working graveyard.

Welcome

Penciletin is a labor of love. I needed a productivity app that would help me plan ordinary days. Some days are full of things to do with friends and places to go. Other days are clean the bathroom kinds of days. If I want a clean bathroom, then I’m just going to have to clean it myself. Penciletin is the app to remind me to do that.

There are dozens of things that need to be done each day or week or month, and keeping on top of them was a pain in the ass. I tried using a to-do list, but I kept running into the problem that it was sorted by priority, without considering when things could get done. So by the time I got to picking up dry cleaning, it was already closed.

I tried using a calendar app for that, but they are not designed for that kind of thing, and wouldn’t it be nice if it did it automatically. That’s where machine learning steps in. Now I have an app that will plan my day for me, but it’s easy to override when it is wrong. I built Penciletin for me, and decided to share it with you. I hope it helps you as much as it has me.