"Clean the whole house." "Launch the website." "Study for finals." Tasks like these freeze you not because they are hard, but because they are vague. Your brain sees one giant blob instead of a sequence of small actions. Goblin Tools exists for exactly this problem: it is a free collection of single-task AI utilities that takes an overwhelming task and breaks it into manageable steps. Here is how to use it.
What Goblin Tools Actually Is
Goblin Tools (goblin.tools) is a set of small, simple, single-task tools designed mostly to help neurodivergent people — ADHD, autism, and anyone who finds everyday tasks overwhelming — though anyone can use them. It is free on the website, with apps for Android and Apple devices.
The suite includes Magic ToDo (task breakdown), Compiler (turns braindumps into task lists), Formalizer (rewrites text more formally), Judge (checks the tone of what you wrote), Estimator (time estimates), Chef (recipe help), and Professor (explains topics). For task breakdown, you will live inside two tools: Magic ToDo and Compiler.
Step 1: Open Magic ToDo and Paste Your Task
Go to goblin.tools and open Magic ToDo. There is no sign-up required on the web version — you land on the tool and start typing.
Type the vague, overwhelming task exactly as it sits in your head. Bad-but-perfect examples:
- "prepare for the job interview"
- "do my taxes"
- "organize my photos"
- "write a research paper"
Click the button and Magic ToDo returns a checklist of concrete sub-steps with an action-verb structure ("review common interview questions," "print two copies of your resume"). Each sub-step can be checked off in the app as you complete it.
Step 2: Set the Spiciness Level Before You Generate
Magic ToDo's standout feature is the spiciness level — a row of one to five chili peppers. It is not a difficulty setting for the task; it is a hint to the tool about how hard or stressful the task feels to *you*.
- 1 pepper: a light outline, a handful of broad steps. Good for tasks you mostly understand but have not sequenced yet.
- 3 peppers: a balanced breakdown, the default working level for most projects.
- 5 peppers: shreds the task into tiny, almost silly pieces ("stand up," "walk to the desk," "open the laptop"). This sounds absurd until you are deep in task paralysis — on bad days, absurd granularity is what gets you started.
The same task is not equally heavy for every person on every day, and the spiciness control respects that. If the first output feels too coarse or too fine, change the peppers and regenerate.
Step 3: Break Steps Down Further
The breakdown is recursive. If a generated sub-step still feels too big ("research competitors"), you can break *that step* down again into smaller pieces. Keep drilling until the first action is small enough to start without resistance.
This is the real trick: you do not need the whole plan to be perfect. You need the first step to be so small it feels ridiculous to avoid. If step one is "open the folder," you will probably end up doing step two as well.
Step 4: Add Time Estimates With the Estimator
Guessing how long things take is a separate cognitive load. The Estimator tool takes a task and gives a realistic time estimate. Run your broken-down steps (or the whole task) through it before you schedule them.
Practical workflow: break the task down in Magic ToDo at 2–3 peppers, then drop each step into the Estimator. Add the numbers up. That total is usually more honest than your gut, which either panics ("this will take forever") or lies ("twenty minutes, easy").
Step 5: Turn Braindumps Into Tasks With the Compiler
Sometimes you do not even have a single task — you have a swirling cloud of half-formed thoughts. That is what Compiler is for: paste your disorganized notes, brain dump, or dictated rambling, and it distills it into a list of actionable tasks.
If you do not like the first result, click "Turn into tasks" again for a fresh pass. Once you have the list, feed individual items into Magic ToDo for breakdown. The full workflow is:
1. Dump everything into Compiler.
2. Pick the one item that matters most today.
3. Break it down in Magic ToDo.
4. Estimate it, then start.
Step 6: Get the List Into Your Actual System
Goblin Tools is a utility, not a full task manager — it generates the plan, but you execute elsewhere. A few ways to move the list:
- Paste into Asana, Notion, or Todoist as subtasks or a bulleted list, depending on the view.
- Copy into your notes app if you work from a daily checklist.
- Use the mobile app if you want to check items off inside Goblin Tools itself, which syncs across devices (still experimental, but functional).
The Asana community has documented pasting Magic ToDo output into list views for top-level tasks, task detail panes for subtasks, or descriptions for bullet lists — the generated verb-noun structure maps cleanly to any of them.
Tips That Make It Stick
Start with the scariest task, not the easiest. Goblin Tools pays off most where the freeze is worst. Easy tasks do not need breakdown.
Use 5 peppers without shame. On low-energy days, "stand up and find the document" is a legitimate plan. The tool is designed for exactly this.
Break down the first step only, if that is all you need. You do not have to plan a whole project to start it. One tiny next action is enough.
Pair it with a timer. Breakdown removes the planning barrier; a 25-minute Pomodoro removes the starting barrier. Together they cover both failure modes.
Check the tone of hard messages with Judge. If your task list involves sending an email you are dreading, paste the draft into Judge first. It reads back the tone and potential implications so you send what you meant, not what stress wrote.
Limitations Worth Knowing
Magic ToDo decomposes tasks — it does not make decisions for you. If your real problem is choosing between options, it will helpfully break "decide" into steps like "list pros and cons" rather than giving you a verdict. Use it for execution, not deliberation.
It is also not a calendar or habit tracker. If you need recurring reminders, routines, or a daily planner, pair it with a real task manager rather than stretching Goblin Tools beyond its purpose.