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Eight tasks.That's all you get.

You prioritize ruthlessly. WSJF auto-scoring shows you what matters most. No infinite backlogs. No overwhelm. Just your eight things that actually move the needle.

07:03

Why eight?

Because your brain handles about 7±2 items before it drowns. With WSJF auto-ranking, you always know exactly where to put your tentacles.

Seize the day

Inspired by the Ivy Lee Method: pick your top tasks, then let WSJF auto-rank them so you always start with what matters most.

Next in line

Your trusted pipeline, borrowed from Getting Things Done. As you finish tasks, the next highest-scored one flows in automatically.

Park it

A GTD-style Someday/Maybe list. Ideas swim here safely until they become relevant – nothing lost, nothing in your way.

Auto-scored priorities

WSJF from the Scaled Agile Framework: (Business Value + Time Criticality + Risk Reduction) ÷ Effort. One formula, zero guesswork.

The 8-arm rule

Rooted in Deep Work principles: limiting active tasks reduces context-switching and keeps you in flow. Eight arms, eight slots, full focus.

Fresh start, daily

Ivy Lee's core insight: reset every morning. Yesterday's unfinished tasks re-enter the ranking pool so your priorities never go stale.

The math is simple

Research shows: knowledge workers lose a significant chunk of their day to "work about work" – prioritizing, searching, context-switching.

58 %
of the workday is spent on "work about work"
Asana Anatomy of Work Index, 2021
23 min
to regain focus after a single interruption
Gloria Mark, UC Irvine, 2008
28 %
of the workweek spent managing emails & tasks
McKinsey Global Institute, 2012

Frequently asked questions

Why only eight tasks?+
Your working memory handles about 7±2 items before things slip through. Eight is the sweet spot – enough to move the needle, few enough to keep every arm on track.
What is WSJF?+
Weighted Shortest Job First is a prioritization framework. It calculates your task priority as (Business Value + Time Criticality + Risk Reduction) ÷ Effort – so you always tackle the highest-impact work first.
What happens to incomplete tasks?+
They swim back into the ranking pool during the daily reset. If they still matter, WSJF will surface them back into your Today – no arm-twisting required.
Can I use octo.do offline?+
Absolutely. octo.do is a Progressive Web App. Install it on your device and keep working offline. Your changes sync the moment you're back online.
How is octo.do different from Todoist or Asana?+
Those tools let you create infinite lists – and that's exactly the problem. octo.do forces you to pick eight. The constraint is the feature. No project boards, no gantt charts, no overwhelm. Just today's work, ranked by impact.
Is my data safe?+
Your data is encrypted in transit and at rest, hosted in the EU. We don't sell data, don't run ads, and don't use third-party trackers. Your tasks are your business – literally.
Can I try Pro before I pay?+
The free plan already gives you the full core experience – eight tasks, WSJF scoring, daily reset. Pro adds categories, analytics, and email-to-task. No credit card needed to start.
What if I have more than eight things to do?+
You probably do. That's what the Next and Someday columns are for. octo.do doesn't limit how many tasks you capture – it limits how many you commit to today. The rest wait their turn, ranked by WSJF.
Your brain wasn't built for 47 open tabs.

Eight slots. One clear priority. An octopus that keeps score while you do the actual work. Sounds fair?