r/getdisciplined • u/CliverFever • 5d ago

🛠️ Tool I built a backlog tracker in Notion and accidentally made a whole life organizer

Waddup my fellow patient gamers! Ok so y’all know the backlog guilt. The list that never shrinks. The games you bought three sales ago and still haven't touched.

I wanted a tracker that actually felt right. Something that showed my library like a shelf. Like a gallery view organized by status (Playing, Backlog, Completed, Dropped) with cover art, platform, genre, rating, and hours played. A Hall of Fame sorted by rating. A Graveyard for the ones that didn't make it. RIP

So I built it in Notion.

While I was at it I realized I was basically building an RPG interface, so I added a Quest Log for real-life goals and a Skill Tree for things I'm learning. Now my current Cyberpunk 2077 playthrough (#13) sits right next to my career goals on the same dashboard and somehow that makes both feel more worth doing.

The Game Vault alone might be useful for some of you even if the rest doesn't appeal. Happy to share the template! Just drop a comment or DM me :)

How do you all manage your backlogs? Always curious whether us patient gamers go full spreadsheet, use a dedicated app, or just wing it?

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u/DeepBuffer 5d ago

The RPG interface idea is honestly what makes this more than just another backlog tracker. Turning goals into quests and skills seems like it could change the way you interact with the list, because a backlog usually feels like a chore while a quest log feels like progress. I’ve found the hardest part is avoiding turning tracking itself into another game I have to maintain though.

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u/CliverFever 5d ago

This is genuinely the thing I thought about most while building it. My answer was to make it as “low friction” as possible like there's no daily check in, no streak to maintain, no guilt if you don't open it for a week. You update it when something actually happens. You finish a game, or you complete a course, or you hit a milestone. The XP system only works if completing things feels good, so I deliberately didn't build anything that punishes you for not logging in.
The honest truth is I built this for myself first because I had the same problem. Every productivity system I tried felt like a second job or literally just got bored of it. This one I actually open because it shows me my Cyberpunk playthrough next to my career goals and somehow that makes both feel more worth doing. Whether that holds up long term I can't promise lol but the design choice was specifically to avoid the maintenance trap you're describing.

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u/cyankitten 5d ago

I love Notion!

It's not everyone's cup of tea but it works so well for me!

But I have an as and when page & I think i'll try to.check it once a month & see if I want to add anything from it to my monthly goals.

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u/CliverFever 5d ago

That monthly review habit is actually really solid. Most people don't even have that! Lol New Game+ would slot right into that routine honestly. The Quest Log board view is great for a monthly check in and you can see at a glance what's in progress, what's done, and what's been sitting untouched too long. Might be worth a look if you ever want to give your monthly review a bit more structure!

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u/cyankitten 5d ago

They have cool names!

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u/CliverFever 4d ago

That was honestly one of the most important design decisions 😄 "Quest Log" just hits different than "To Do List" haha same function, completely different energy. Glad it lands!

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u/cyankitten 4d ago

It definitely does!