I Built a Simple Tree Task Tool: My 3-Step 2025 Fix

The first week of January always hits the same, doesn't it? A cocktail of optimism and low-grade panic. You’ve got your big, shiny goals for 2025 written down, but they’re staring back at you from a flat to-do list, looking less like a roadmap and more like an Everest of anxiety.

That was me every single year. I’d load up Todoist or Apple Reminders with ambitions like "Launch Side Project" or "Learn a New Skill," and they’d just sit there, mocking me. These monolithic tasks were too big to start and too vague to break down in a linear list. The result? I’d get a dopamine hit from checking off "buy oat milk" and ignore the tasks that actually mattered.

This year, I had enough. I realized the problem wasn’t my motivation; it was my tool. The world isn't a flat list, and our projects aren't either. They're layered, nested, and interconnected. So, I built a ridiculously simple web app to manage my tasks as a tree. And more importantly, I developed a 3-step system to use it. It’s my 2025 fix, and it has already changed everything.

Why Flat To-Do Lists Are Broken

Traditional to-do apps treat every task as equal. "Write Chapter 3 of my novel" sits right next to "Take out the recycling." This creates two major problems:

• Context Collapse: A task like "Finalize design mockups" is meaningless on its own. Is it for the new website? The mobile app? The client project? Without its parent project, it's just a floating piece of work, and your brain has to spend precious energy re-establishing that context every time you see it.
• The Illusion of Progress: It's easy to clear ten small, unrelated tasks and feel productive. But did you make any real headway on your big goals? Often, the answer is no. Flat lists encourage you to tackle the low-hanging (and often low-impact) fruit, leaving the big, important projects to languish.

We don’t think in lists; we think in projects that have sub-projects that have individual tasks. We need a system that reflects this natural hierarchy.

Introducing the Tree: A More Natural Way to Think

Imagine your biggest goal for 2025 is a tree trunk. Let's say it's "Launch My SaaS Product." You can't just "do" that. It's not a single action. But you can break it down into major branches:

• Market Research
• Product Development
• Marketing & Launch

Each of those branches can sprout smaller branches. "Product Development" might split into "Backend API," "Frontend UI," and "Database Setup." And "Frontend UI" can be broken down further into the actual leaves—the tiny, actionable tasks you can complete in one session: "Design login page," "Code navigation bar," "Choose color palette."

Suddenly, the impossible goal of "Launch My SaaS Product" becomes a clear, manageable path. All you have to do is focus on one leaf at a time. This is the core idea behind my simple tool and the 3-step fix I now live by.

My 3-Step 2025 Fix for Overwhelm

The tool itself is just a facilitator. The real magic is in the process. It’s a simple, three-step ritual that turns chaotic ambitions into an executable plan.

Step 1: The Brain Dump - Capture the Forest

First, get everything out of your head. Don't filter, don't organize, just capture. What are the big things you want to accomplish this year? These are your tree trunks. My initial brain dump looked something like this:

• Launch SaaS Product
• Get Marathon-Ready
• Renovate the Kitchen
• Read 24 Books

These are the high-level outcomes. They are not actionable, and that's the point. At this stage, you are just defining the major areas of your life you want to focus on. They become the root nodes in your task tree.

Step 2: The Breakdown - Grow the Branches

This is where the magic happens. Take each trunk, one by one, and break it down into the next logical layer of sub-tasks. Then, take those sub-tasks and break them down again. Keep going until you can't break a task down any further. This final, indivisible task is a "leaf."

Let's take "Get Marathon-Ready":

• Get Marathon-Ready (Trunk)
  • Research & Planning (Branch)
    • Find a 20-week training plan (Leaf)
    • Buy proper running shoes (Leaf)
    • Register for a target marathon (Leaf)
  • Training Execution (Branch)
    • Phase 1: Base Building (Weeks 1-4) (Sub-Branch)
      • Complete Week 1, Run 1 (Leaf)
      • Complete Week 1, Run 2 (Leaf)
      • ...and so on
    • Phase 2: Build-Up (Weeks 5-16) (Sub-Branch)
    • Phase 3: Taper & Race (Weeks 17-20) (Sub-Branch)
  • Nutrition & Recovery (Branch)
    • Research pre-run nutrition (Leaf)
    • Develop a stretching routine (Leaf)

The goal isn't to do the work now; it's to create a complete map. This process itself is incredibly calming. You're replacing a vague, scary goal with a detailed, step-by-step plan.

Step 3: The Focus - Pick the Leaves

This is the simplest, most powerful rule of the system: You only ever work on the leaves.

Your daily to-do list is no longer a random assortment of tasks. It's simply the collection of leaf nodes from across all your project trees. You don't have to think about "Training Execution" or even "Phase 1." You just have to look at your tree and see the next available leaf: "Complete Week 1, Run 1."

This eliminates decision fatigue. Your map is already drawn. All you have to do is take the next step. When you complete a leaf, you check it off (or "prune" it). This action feels fantastic because you can see exactly how it contributes to the larger branch and, ultimately, the trunk. You're not just checking a box; you're watching your tree grow and your goals get closer.

You Don't Need to Be a Coder

While I built my own simple tool because I enjoy that sort of thing, you absolutely do not need to. You can implement this system right now with tools you already have:

• A simple text file: Use tabs or spaces to create indentation, just like the marathon example above.
• Outliner apps: Tools like Dynalist, Workflowy, or even the outline view in Notion are perfect for this. They are literally built for creating hierarchical lists.
• Mind-mapping software: Apps like XMind or MindNode are a visual representation of a tree structure.

The tool doesn't matter. The hierarchical mindset is the breakthrough.

The Takeaway: Clarity Over Chaos

Switching from a flat list to a tree structure hasn't just made me more productive; it's made me calmer. My goals for 2025 no longer feel like a mountain of debt. They feel like a series of well-marked trails, and I just need to focus on walking the path right in front of me.

The beauty of this system is its scalability. It works for planning your day, your week, your year, or even your five-year plan. It turns overwhelming chaos into structured clarity.

If you're feeling stuck with your resolutions, give it a try. Open a blank document, do a brain dump of your biggest goals, and start breaking them down. Stop looking at the forest and just focus on picking one leaf. You might be surprised how quickly you start to make progress.