24 Hours Later: I Used My Ugly Tool and the Trap Got Me Again

The Real Test: Did I Actually Use It?

You can build all the productivity tools in the world. But if you don't use them the next day, you just added another abandoned project to the pile.

So here's the 24-hour report on Focus Guardian:

Used it: Twice
Ideas captured: 12 in 24 hours
Times I reached for Google Keep: 0

That's the real validation. Not "does it work in theory" but "did I reach for it when I needed it?"

And I did.

What Actually Broke

Turns out there were exactly three problems with v1.0:

1. I forgot what I was working on
The "current task" field existed, but it wasn't persistent. Close the window, lose the task. Reload the page? Gone. Not helpful when you have the memory of a goldfish.

2. The colors legitimately hurt my eyes
I said I didn't care about design. That was true. But when the green background makes you squint, that's not perfectionism - that's just basic usability.

3. Captured ideas disappeared on refresh
localStorage wasn't actually saving anything. So every time I refreshed, all my brilliant ideas vanished into the void. Kind of defeats the purpose.

What I Actually Built (v2.0)

Here's what I did NOT do:

• ❌ Redesign the whole thing
• ❌ Add categories or tags
• ❌ Build the mobile version
• ❌ Create user accounts
• ❌ Research "the right way" to do localStorage

Here's what I DID do:

• ✅ Fixed the persistence (5 minutes)
• ✅ Changed colors to something less offensive (3 minutes)
• ✅ Made sure current task saves on refresh (2 minutes)
• ✅ Tested it actually works (5 minutes)

v2.0 Build Time: 15 minutes
Total Investment: 45 minutes
Tools Used: HTML, JavaScript, localStorage
Cost: $0

Total time: 15 minutes. Still ugly. Still basic. But now it actually WORKS works.

What Worked, What Broke

I shipped v1.0. Used it twice. Captured 12 ideas in the first day. Didn't touch Google Keep once. Victory, right?

Then the problems showed up:

• Current task disappeared on refresh
• Colors hurt my eyes
• Ideas vanished when I reloaded

But I fixed all three in 15 minutes. No redesign. No feature creep. Just the three things that actually broke.

Now it works. And I'm still using it.

The Perfectionism Trap (Again)

After shipping v2.0, my brain did the thing again:

"Okay but now that it works, shouldn't we make it look better?"
"What about adding priorities to the ideas?"
"Could we build a proper dashboard?"

Same trap. New disguise.

After v1.0 it was "this looks horrible."
After v2.0 it's "can't you just make it look better?"

The perfectionism never disappears. It just finds new ways to prevent you from moving on to the next thing.

What I'm Learning

The pattern is clear:

1. Build something that works
2. Trap appears: "but it could be better"
3. Get called out
4. Ship it anyway
5. Use it for real
6. Something breaks or is annoying
7. Fix ONLY that thing
8. Trap appears again: "but now it should be polished"
9. Get called out again
10. Move on to next project

The trap doesn't go away. You just get faster at catching it.

First time: Took me an hour to realize I was overthinking.
Second time: Took me 5 minutes.

That's progress.

The Real Win

It's not that the tool is perfect.
It's that the tool exists and I'm using it.

Past-me would still be in Figma designing the "perfect" idea capture system. Researching the best color palettes. Planning the mobile app. Never shipping anything.

SloppyBuilder-me has an ugly tool that captured 12 ideas in 24 hours.

Ugly but functional beats perfect but imaginary.

Every. Single. Time.

Should You Actually Build This?

If you built something and it works, use it. When something breaks, fix that thing. When the trap appears, catch it faster.

The trap never disappears. You just get better at shipping anyway.

Don't wait for v10.0. Ship v1.0. Use it. Fix what breaks. Ship v2.0. Repeat.

Bottom Line: The trap never disappears, you just catch it faster. Ship the ugly working version, use it, fix what breaks, then move on.