Where Amazing Marvin shines
Amazing Marvin calls itself the to-do app that works with your brain, not against it, and it was built for ADHD from the start. Its big idea is choice: more than 300 settings, so you switch on only what helps and hide the rest.
There’s a lot to pick from. Day planning with time blocking and a calendar view, habits, goals, and a Procrastination Wizard that walks you through a task you’re stuck on, step by step. It runs on the web, Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android. Have a look at amazingmarvin.com.
If you’ve tried simple apps and they never fitted, and you enjoy shaping your own system, Marvin may be the one.
Where Yoodoo is different
Yoodoo takes the opposite bet. Instead of 300 choices, it makes the choices for you, so it works on the first morning.
Your tasks and meetings sit on one timeline, and the free gaps are right there. Ask Yoodoo plans your day when you just say it, and breaks big tasks into tiny steps. The app blocker locks the apps that eat your mornings, on a schedule or when you start focusing. We couldn’t find one in Marvin. And habits forgive an off day, so one miss doesn’t wipe your streak.
When your day falls apart
This is where we’ve spent most of our time. Fix my day notices when something runs over or doesn’t start, asks you one question, and fits the rest of today around what really happened. Meetings and locked things stay put. Your most important task is protected. What doesn’t fit goes to Anytime or tomorrow. It’s one tap, in Lite, the free version.
We couldn’t find a one-tap re-plan like that on Marvin’s pages. With 300+ settings there may be a way to build something close, which is very Marvin.
Price
Amazing Marvin is $8 a month, or $96 a year. There’s a 14-day trial with no card needed, and no free plan after it.
Yoodoo Pro is $59.99 a year (with 7 days free), $7.99 a month, or $149.99 once. After the trial, Lite is free for good, with the timeline’s Day view, Fix my day and the focus timer. See Pro.
Switching from Amazing Marvin
- Brain dump your lists. Bring what still matters, star the important bits.
- Bring your calendar in, so your meetings are the fixed points.
- Break the big thing into steps when you’re stuck.
- Ask Yoodoo each morning and let it place your day.
Then, when the day slips, tap Fix my day.