An AI planner that writes into your to do list

An AI planner is good at the thinking part of planning. You describe your week, it asks the right questions, and together you land on what actually needs doing. The weak spot is what happens next. The plan stays in the chat, the chat scrolls away, and by Wednesday it is gone. The fix is simple: let the plan land as a few todos on a list you already open.

Plan in the conversation, keep it on the list

A conversation is a good place to think out loud. A list is a good place to remember. Mixing them up is where plans get lost. So split the work. Use the agent to talk through the day or the week. Then ask it to write the result as todos on your list, where you will see them tomorrow without searching for anything.

This works with an agent that can reach your list, such as Claude with a connector. It is the same idea as an AI to do list: the agent does the typing, you keep the deciding.

Planning a day

In the morning you say:

"Today I have two hours free in the afternoon. I need to finish the quote for the Lindqvist job, and I should do something about the gutter. What is realistic?"

You talk it through. The quote is the thing with a deadline. The gutter is a weekend job, but you could at least order the part. Then you say "put that on my list, star the quote". The list gets:

• Finish Lindqvist quote (starred)
• Order gutter bracket

Two todos, not a timetable. You do not need the agent to decide that the quote happens at 14:00. You need to not forget it.

Planning a week

On Sunday evening you say:

"Help me plan the week. Monday and Tuesday are full of work. Wednesday I pick up the kids. I want to get the tax papers done and start on the spare room."

The agent asks what "start on the spare room" means. You decide it means clearing the desk and taking old things to recycling. Then it writes:

• Gather tax papers (starred)
• Submit tax return
• Clear the spare room desk
• Recycling run with old things from spare room

The day-by-day part stays in your head, or in your calendar if you use one. The list holds the concrete things. On Thursday you ask "what is still open from Sunday's plan?" and the agent reads it back.

Use stars for what matters

A plan with everything marked important is not a plan. Keep stars for one or two todos a day, or three or four a week. Stars stay at the top of the list, so they are what you see first. If you ask the agent to star things, say which ones. It should not decide on its own that something is urgent.

If you like a stricter rule, the Ivy Lee method fits well here: pick the six most important things for tomorrow, in order, and nothing more.

What to keep out of the list

• Times and appointments. A simple to do list app has no calendar and no due dates. A meeting at 10:00 belongs in a calendar.
• The whole reasoning. Why you chose this order is fine to forget. If one detail matters, put it in the note under that todo.
• Vague goals. "Get healthier" is not a todo. "Book a check-up" is.
• Everything you might do someday. A plan is what you intend to do soon. The rest can wait until it is real.
• Reminders. The list will not ping you, and the agent will not either. If a thing needs an alarm, set one.

Closing the loop

A plan is only useful if you check it against what happened. At the end of the day or the week, tell the agent what you finished. It checks those off, and only those. Then ask what is left and decide: keep it for next week, or tell the agent to delete it because it no longer matters. Deleting is always your call.

Over time this gives you a list that reflects real plans, not wishful thinking, and an AI planner that is a conversation you have once a day, not another app to keep up with. If a week goes badly, that is information too: next Sunday, plan fewer things and see if more of them get done.

Where to go from here

Very Simple Todo is a simple to do list app that works well as the place your plans land: one row to add, a checkbox, a star, a note under any row and a home-screen widget, with no reminders or due dates. Your agent connects in Claude or any MCP client. It costs $0.99 a month, and the first month is free.