I Needed to Order New Blinds. Here’s How I Actually Finished the Task Without Getting Distracted

I needed to order new blinds for the bedroom windows.

The blinds we had were perfectly good, but I tried to remove some black mould from them using mould and mildew remover. It worked remarkably well on the mould. Unfortunately, it also dissolved the blackout coating on the back of the blinds.

So, new blinds it was.

There are some people who can simply work out all the steps required for a task and then work through them in order. I am not one of those people. Ha.

“Order new blinds” might look like one perfectly manageable item on a to-do list, but it isn’t really one task. I needed to find the website I had used before, measure the windows correctly, choose the type of blind, choose a colour and finally place the order. Every one of those steps contained several more decisions and opportunities to become distracted.

This is exactly the sort of task that can remain on my list for months.

Breaking the task down with Faffalot

I added “Order new blinds” to Faffalot. I knew I wanted to use the same company as before because I had been pleased with the quality and delivery, but I couldn’t remember what the website was called. I also knew I would need to measure all three windows.

I pressed Help Me, and Faffalot helped me break the task down into three starting steps:

1. Find the website

2. Measure the windows

3. Order the new blinds

Faffalot only shows one step at a time so now it's showing me the first step: Find the website.

Immediately, I had a decision to make. Should I use my phone or my laptop? I decided the laptop would be easier, so I added another tiny step: Find laptop.

I fetched my laptop, plugged it in and began trying to remember the name of the company. Was it Blinds2go? Something like that?

Yes, it was.

I found the website and checked off both Find laptop and Find website.

Already, this was going better than it usually would.

When one simple task starts producing other tasks

The next step on my screen was Measure the windows.

I knew how to use a measuring tape, but I didn’t know exactly which parts of the windows I needed to measure. Different types of blind might require different measurements, so I added another step: Look up measuring instructions.

Then I went downstairs to find the measuring tape, carrying my phone so I wouldn’t forget what I was supposed to be doing.

While I was downstairs, I noticed that the dishes needed washing.

This is usually where everything begins to unravel. I might start washing the dishes, notice something else, wander into another room and completely forget that I had been ordering blinds. Hours later, I would find the laptop sitting open upstairs and wonder what had happened.

This time, I added Wash the dishes as another task for later. The dishes were safely captured, so my brain didn’t have to keep hold of them—and I didn’t have to abandon the blinds to deal with them immediately.

I found the measuring tape and went back upstairs.

The task became more complicated—but I didn’t lose it

My focus screen was now showing Look up measuring instructions, so I used my laptop to return to the website.

Then I realised I needed to choose the type of blind before I could measure anything, because different styles might require different measurements.

Down the rabbit hole I went.

There were far more options than there had been the last time I ordered blinds. Eventually, I chose stick-on blackout thermal blinds—but I still hadn’t selected a colour.

Faffalot showed me the next step: Choose colours.

I wasn’t ready to do that yet, so I pressed Skip. That didn’t mean abandoning the whole job. It simply let me move on to the part I could do.

I returned to the measuring instructions on my laptop. I needed to measure the visible glass in three places horizontally and three places vertically, then repeat that for all three windows.

I measured every window and recorded the sizes in Faffalot on my phone.

While I was doing it, I noticed that the windows needed cleaning. Instead of stopping to clean them, I added Clean the windows as a separate task for later.

Then I returned to the more enjoyable bit: choosing the colour.

I chose chocolate on the website, checked off Choose the colour in Faffalot, and placed the order on my laptop.

Done.

I then added Receive blinds as a future task and moved it further down my list. My main screen returned to Wash the dishes, ready for whenever I wanted to tackle that next.

The most surprising part

Ordering the blinds required far more steps than “Order new blinds” suggested.

I had to find my laptop, remember the company, find the website, find the measuring tape, look up instructions, choose the correct style, measure three windows, choose a colour and place the order. Along the way, I also noticed two unrelated jobs that needed doing.

Normally, any one of those moments could have sent me off in a completely different direction.

The crucial difference was that Faffalot kept showing me one small step at a time on my phone while I used the website on my laptop. Whenever I looked at my phone, the next step was still there, rather than a screen inviting me to start scrolling or play a game. When another job appeared, I could add it for later without abandoning the blinds. When I wasn’t ready to choose the colour, I could skip that step and keep moving.

Amazingly, I didn’t get distracted at any point and start doing something else.

I ordered the blinds.

It shouldn’t feel like an extraordinary achievement—but if your brain works like mine, you’ll understand why it does.

Faffalot is free on the App Store. It was built for people who don’t need another list telling them what to do. They need something that helps their brain work out how to start—and keeps their place when real life interrupts.

Download Faffalot free on the App Store