Literally, Cue is “Cue Cards 4 Life!”
It’s an app that gets you writing cue cards for your life.
It’s an app that gives you those same cue cards to help you remember what’s most important.
Sounds pretty simple, and it is. But it works.
First, it works because you have to write the cue cards. Cue doesn’t do that for you. Nor should it.
Modern tools try to take all of the friction out of the work you do. They try to make it as efficient as possible. Sometimes that comes at the expense of being effective.
Writing up cue cards for your life involves some friction. It’s the act of writing and ordering your cue cards that then orders your mind.
Cue doesn’t take away that benefit.
But once those cue cards have been written, they then exist to remind you of the things you want your life to be about.
First, you write up some cues for your day. You know, the bullet points, the stuff you want to do during the day.
Then, you look at it occasionally, as you go about the day. It brings you back to the narrative thread that you’ve set up for your life.
Next, you see that you need some cues that come back to you further out than a day. So you get cue cards set up for the week. As you go through the week, you look at those.
On Tuesday, when you write up your daily cue card, you check the Tuesday cue card and find the things your past self wanted you to remember on Monday. Your present self looks through it, decides what to actually tackle, what to defer to another day, or week, or month, and moves the bullet point to the right cue card. Your future self will see it on one of your cue cards and make it happen.
Once a week, you can look at the cue card for that week of the month, and figure out which days you want to do all the things listed. Some cues will carry over from week to week, like paying bills or cleaning the bathroom. Others are one time things, like a doctor’s appointment.
Why cue cards though? Why not todos? Or task lists?
Cue cards is a metaphor that puts your mind in the right frame. When you’re making them, you’re outlining your life, like a speech or a play. When you check on them during each day, or when planning, you recognize that they’re suggestions, reminders, and guides to a good life. They are not a straightjacket, a commitment, or something to feel guilty about.
Cue cards let you “write your life” the way you want it to play out.
Then it’s up to you to go make it happen.