Show HN: SigNull – a to-do app that separates Signal from Noise

3 points by tenga 4 months ago · 3 comments · 2 min read

Hi HN,

I’ve been struggling with productivity tools for years. Most of them help me collect more tasks, but very few help me figure out which tasks actually matter. I kept finding myself busy all day, yet not making real progress.

I borrowed a concept from engineering: Signal vs. Noise. • Signal tasks: high-impact, goal-driven work. • Noise tasks: necessary, but low-leverage (emails, reports, admin).

So I built SigNull, a minimal to-do app that enforces this distinction: • New tasks go into an Inbox, where I classify them as Signal or Noise. • Each morning it surfaces a Top-3 Signal list to focus on first. • It gives me a Noise Budget (e.g., 45 minutes/day). Once that’s used, I have to either Defer the task or Justify why it’s worth extra time. • At the end of the day, it shows my Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) so I can see if I spent my time on what really mattered.

It’s web-based, simple, and still pretty early. I’m looking for feedback: • Does the Signal/Noise distinction resonate with you? • Is the Noise Budget too rigid, or a useful forcing function? • Where might this approach fall apart in real-world workflows?

You can try it here: signull.app

Thanks!