TaskTackler App on Freakonomics
People I (Mostly) Admire
This week, Steve Levitt of Freakonomics interviewed TaskTackler founder Marina Nitze about how she stays organized, in addition to her professional successes as Chief Technology Officer of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and now in foster care.
The interview covers how I use the TaskTackler app to organize my entire life, including:
Prioritizing personal goals, like being a good wife and a good friend, alongside professional targets
Optimizing downtime with the Work/Leisure toggle. Instead of flopping on the couch after a day of work, Leisure mode lets me make progress on fun and personal goals, such as watching movies recommended by friends, reading, or making progress on my Animal Crossing island.
Optimizing flow based on mood. The original inspiration behind TaskTackler was my frustrated observation that when I was perfectly caffeinated and ready to take on the world, I gravitated towards whatever task was right in front of me – which tended to be low-value tasks like folding the laundry or clearing emails, which I could just as easily have accomplished when I was more tired and less focused. But the reverse is not true; there are some tasks, particularly around reading and writing for work, that I can only accomplish when I’m feeling sharp. Therefore, TaskTackler lets me organize my tasks by temperament, hiding tasks that aren’t a match for my current mood while still letting me be productive even when I’m falling asleep.
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