Live Sprints, in plain English
A timed cleaning burst, alone or with everyone in your household. What the phases actually do, what happens when the clock runs out, and why doing it together makes starting easier.
A short timer, a shared list, a clear stop
A sprint is a fixed-length cleaning session. You pick a duration, you pick (or accept) a list of tasks, you start the clock, and you tick things off until it ends. That's the whole shape of it. The point isn't to finish the list. The point is to start, and to stop without guilt when the timer says so.
Duration is one of three options: 15, 25, or 45 minutes. Pick whatever feels survivable today. A bad day's 15 still beats a perfect plan you never started.
Body doubling, if you haven't heard the term
Body doubling is the ADHD-known trick of doing a hard task next to someone else who's also doing a task. They don't help you, they don't watch you, they're just there. For a lot of brains, this lowers the activation cost dramatically. Starting alone feels like climbing a wall. Starting next to a flatmate or partner feels like starting.
Household sprints are designed for this. Two people in two different rooms, same timer, same list, ticking things off in real time. You're not really cleaning together. You're cleaning at the same time, and that turns out to be enough.
Six phases, from setup to summary
A sprint moves through the same six phases every time. If you're solo, two of them get skipped. If you're with your household, you'll see all six.
- 01
Config
Pick the duration, the kind (solo or household), and which tasks to include. The default list is your highest-priority chores.
- 02
Lobby (household only)
You get an invite code. Anyone in your household can join by typing it in. The lobby waits until you tap Start.
- 03
3, 2, 1
A short countdown so everyone hits Go at the same instant. Useful when two people are in two rooms.
- 04
Active
The clock runs. You tick tasks off. In a household sprint, the list updates live for everyone.
- 05
TIME'S UP
A short coral flash and a bell sound. The timer stops. Whatever you did is done, whatever you didn't is still there.
- 06
Summary
How many tasks finished, how long it took, and (in household mode) the leaderboard. Then back to your normal Today list.
Solo sprints skip the lobby and the leaderboard. The flow is config, countdown, active, summary. No invite, no waiting room, no sign-in needed.
Solo or household
When you start a sprint, the first choice is whether it's a solo run or a household one. They behave differently and they're priced differently. Solo is in every account. Household is on the Premium plan.
Solo sprint
Free- No lobby, no waiting. Tap start, the countdown runs, you're in.
- No sign-in required. Works on a fresh anonymous account.
- Personal stats on the summary screen. Tasks finished, time spent, that's it.
- Good for a quiet 15 before bed, or a 45 on a Saturday morning.
Household sprint
Premium- Lobby with an invite code so other members can join.
- Shared task list that updates live as people tick things off.
- Anyone can add a custom task mid-sprint and it appears for everyone.
- Live leaderboard during the sprint, final standings on the summary.
Why household sprints need an account
How a household sprint actually works
Once you start a household sprint, a few specific things happen that solo doesn't have. Worth knowing them upfront so the first one isn't confusing.
The invite code
Joining once it's already running
The list updates live
Mid-sprint custom tasks
What happens when the clock hits zero
A lot of people brace for something dramatic when the timer ends. Tasks getting auto-completed, the list getting wiped, anything not done becoming a black mark. None of that happens. The behaviour is much gentler than people expect.
TIME'S UP doesn't auto-complete or delete anything
The timer just stops. Whatever you finished is finished. Whatever you didn't is still there, exactly where it was, in the same state, on your normal Today list.
An incomplete sprint isn't a fail. You did 4 things instead of 7, and 4 things is 4 things. The other 3 are still on tomorrow's list waiting calmly, no penalty, no streak hit, no scolding.
The bell sound
Then the summary
The leaderboard, and why it's gentler than it looks
In a household sprint, the active screen shows a small live leaderboard. It ranks members by how many tasks they've completed in this sprint. The numbers update as people tick things off, and the final order is shown again on the summary screen.
The vibe
It's a thermometer, not a scoreboard
Tidywell ranks by tasks completed, not minutes worked or effort weighting. So the person who knocks out five small wipes will sit above the person who's halfway through a deep oven clean. That's deliberate. The leaderboard is meant to nudge momentum, not crown a winner. The teenager doing a flurry of tiny things is doing exactly the right thing.
Solo sprints don't have one