Two countdowns, one screen
Most countdown wallpapers count down to one date: a launch, an exam, a wedding, New Year. That's useful, and it's half the picture. The other half is the countdown that sits behind every deadline: the days you have to spend at all. Put them side by side and something clicks. The deadline stops being an arbitrary date on a calendar and becomes a share of a finite life you've decided to spend on this one thing.
That's what this wallpaper shows. The big number is your days left to spend, ticking. Under it, in amber, is your current focus, and under that, its deadline counting down: "23 days left", then "due today", then, gently, "3 days past due: reset it". The spiral of weeks beside it shows where this week sits in your whole life.
How to use the preview
Enter your birthday, type what you're working on, and pick a deadline. The preview updates as you type. Try both styles: Bloom is dark and calm, Paper is warm and bright. Then download a free still image of today if you'd like to try it on your desktop as a static background.
The days-left number is your birthday plus the lifespan you choose, 80 by default. That's a planning number: recent US life expectancy estimates are in the high 70s, and averages don't describe any one person. The deadline countdown is simply the days between today and the date you pick. Everything is calculated in your browser.
Why one focus, not a to-do list
Seize the day, and put as little trust as you can in tomorrow.Horace
A wallpaper can't hold a to-do list, and that's a feature. One focus with one date is about the most effective goal format we know of: naming the one thing and when you'll do it is what psychologists call an implementation intention, and in studies it roughly doubles follow-through compared with good intentions alone. Seeing it every time you look up from your work does the rest.
The live countdown
The $29 version is the same design, alive on your Mac or Windows desktop: the seconds tick, a new quote arrives each morning from Seneca, Marcus Aurelius and others, and when you finish a goal you change the focus and deadline from any device (there's a one-click button for your Dock or taskbar) and your wallpaper follows within a second. One payment, no subscription, 14-day refund.
If you'd rather start with just the numbers, try the free days left calculator, or see the memento mori wallpaper page for the idea behind it.