I'm David Kadavy, Author Of Design For Hackers, And This Is How I Work

David Kadavy is a designer turned author who writes about productivity, travelling and design. His book, Design for Hackers, teaches developers and makers the necessity and principles of marrying good design with good engineering, and he certainly designs a productive life of his own. We caught up with David to learn about his favourite apps, gear and how he works.

Picture: Erika Dufour Photography

Location: Chicago, Illinois Current Gig: Author/Professor at Design for Hackers, Advisor at Timeful. One word that best describes how you work: Methodically Current mobile device: iPhone 5s (Silver) Current computer: MacBook Air

Without a doubt, number one for me is Evernote. I do everything in Evernote. I draft blog posts, write talks, brainstorm ideas and document processes in Evernote. I even write emails in Evernote, even though when I paste back to Gmail I have to reformat any bullet points that Ive made.

When I started using Evernote, I really just had a notebook called Inbox with a note called Inbox, but since then it has grown into a number of stacks, and I even have a numbering system that Im not quite sure even I can explain, but it works.

I guess it would make sense if I mention Siri, since Im actually drafting this blog post into Evernote using Siri on my iPhone, as I pace around the room.

Next would have to be Timeful, co-founded by behavioural scientist Dan Ariely. Ive been advising them on product the past several months so Im in their private beta and its really grown to be indispensable for me. It allows me to not only plan what is going on during my day and what I want to do during the day, but it also allows me to be clear about when Im actually going to do those things. A lot of times we get a sense of anxiety over traditional tools like email, to-do lists and calendars, but thats because theyre often at odds with one another.

Finally, theres Fancy Hands, which is like an on-demand personal assistant. Ive been concentrating a lot on delegating things, and its really freed up my creativity. Fancy Hands was a great way for me to not only train myself on delegating, but it has also saved me a lot of time making phone calls, booking appointments and doing research.

I try not to spend too much time at one particular workspace, because my thoughts then start to get kind of stale. At home I have an IKEA Jerker desk with an Aeron chair, and I use my split keyboard and a 24-inch Apple Cinema Display. I have a piece of tile board I got at Home Depot, which I occasionally throw on the floor in my living room for high-level thinking.

About three days a week, I go to a co-working space, and I use my mobile setup, which again includes my split keyboard, an AViiQ laptop stand and my MacBook Air. I stand most of the time at the co-working space and need to get around to converting my home workstation to standing.

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I'm David Kadavy, Author Of Design For Hackers, And This Is How I Work