Getting started in five minutes

Pensova is a to-do list that blocks time for each task around everything already on your calendar. Give it a task with a rough length and it finds the time, adds a block to your calendar, Google or Outlook, and moves it when the week changes. The first time you open the app, it walks you through getting there.

1. Seven quick questions. What you want to accomplish with Pensova, which description fits you best, what you need to fit on your calendar that isn’t there today, where you keep track of your tasks today, which devices you use, how you expect to use Pensova most, and whether you want the quick start guide (about five minutes) or the full walkthrough (about ten). One tap each, with a Something else option for anything the choices miss. The answers set the order of what comes next: a parent sees the shared calendars early, a student starts with a photo of the class schedule.
2. Connect your calendar. Nothing works without it. Sign in with Google, or with Microsoft for Outlook and Microsoft 365, and approve the Calendar permissions. Both companies have verified Pensova, so the permission screen is the ordinary one with no warning. See Connecting Google Calendar or Connecting Outlook.
3. Follow the guide. It shows one step at a time at the bottom of the screen, with the thing to do next lit up: set your working hours, choose which calendars count, add a task. A step is done when you have done it, not when you tick a box. Skip any step, or end the tour, whenever you like.
4. Add a task and watch it get time. Type it in plain words: “deck for the board by Thursday, about two hours.” Review the draft and add it, and it gets time the moment it is saved. A matching event appears on your calendar. See Adding tasks.
5. Then the other ways in. A photo of a schedule, Hey Siri from your phone, and on Pro, meeting notes. Each is a step of the guide when it fits you, and each has its own article here.
6. Put it on your home screen. On an iPhone, open pensova.com in Safari, tap the three dots at the bottom right, then Share, then Add to Home Screen; keep Open as Web App on and tap Add. On Android, in Chrome tap the menu at the top right, then Add to Home screen. Pensova then opens full screen from its icon, with no browser bars. The first time, Google or Microsoft may ask you to sign in again: the home-screen app keeps its own sign-in.

What to try next

• Drag one of Pensova’s blocks to a different time, in the app or in your calendar. It stays where you put it.
• Add a task longer than any free gap, check “Can be split across days”, and watch it become several blocks.
• Bring your work calendar and the household’s calendars into the account Pensova reads, so no task is given time over them. See Seeing every calendar in one place.
• On Pro, paste the notes from your last meeting into Meeting notes, or forward the notes email to your private address, and review the drafts.

Plans and the trial: both plans start with 7 days free, checkout runs on Stripe, and nothing is charged if you cancel before the trial ends. See Billing.

Resources in the sidebar has every one of these articles, each with its video, without leaving the app, with a search box and a place to ask a question.