Mark: Okay, Michelle. Five-word review of every productivity app you've ever tried. Michelle: Downloaded. Used once. Forgot. Felt guilty. Mark: Perfect. That guilt is exactly what we're talking about today. It's the ghost that haunts modern work, and it’s at the very heart of the book we're diving into: Work Simply by Carson Tate. Michelle: Carson Tate… the name sounds familiar. Is she one of those life-hack gurus? Mark: Not at all, and that's what makes this so interesting. She's a major consultant for Fortune 500 companies, but her background isn't in business, it's in psychology and organizational development. She comes at this not as a time-management expert, but as someone who understands how our brains are actually wired. Michelle: Ah, so it's less about the planner and more about the person. I like that. Mark: Exactly. And her whole philosophy was born from a moment of profound personal crisis. A complete and total burnout that brought her to her knees. Michelle: Oh, I know that feeling. I think we all do. That feeling of running on a hamster wheel that's on fire. Mark: Well, her story is one of the most vivid illustrations of that I've ever read. It’s what makes this book feel so urgent and real.

Michelle: Okay, you've got my attention. What happened to her? Mark: So, Carson Tate was the definition of a high-achiever. Juggling multiple businesses, finishing a master's degree, and she'd just had her first child, a daughter named EC. She was determined not to let motherhood slow her down. She worked through her pregnancy, was back at her desk almost immediately, and just kept pushing. Michelle: That sounds… exhausting. And incredibly familiar to a lot of people. Mark: It was. The breaking point came on December 26th, just after her daughter's first birthday. She describes sitting on the floor of her house, surrounded by Christmas wrapping paper, and feeling this bone-deep exhaustion. She couldn't even remember the last year. She tried to recall specific moments from her daughter's first year of life—the first smile, the first laugh—and it was all a blur. A complete blank. Michelle: Wow. That's heartbreaking. That's the ultimate fear for any working parent, that you're so busy providing for them that you miss them. Mark: Precisely. And the irony was crushing. Her company, the one she was killing herself to build, was called 'Working Simply.' She was teaching others how to be more efficient and purposeful, while her own life was a chaotic, unsustainable mess. She quotes this saying, "We teach what we need to learn the most." Michelle: That hits hard. But hold on, we've all been told the solution is better 'time management.' Get a better planner, use a new app, prioritize your to-do list with color-coded stickers. Why didn't that work for her? Mark: Because, as she argues, the entire concept of time management is a myth. It's a one-size-fits-all solution to a problem that is deeply personal and complex. She tells this great story about a client of hers, a managing partner at a top consulting firm named Andi. Michelle: Let me guess, Andi had all the planners and apps? Mark: Oh, you have no idea. After having her son, Andi's life started spinning out of control. She was missing deadlines, her work quality was slipping. So she did what we all do: she bought the books, enrolled in online seminars, made endless to-do lists, and even blocked her calendar in fifteen-minute increments. Michelle: And it didn't work. Mark: It made things worse! She was more stressed than ever because she was failing at her job and failing at the system that was supposed to fix her. The problem wasn't Andi. The problem was the system. It wasn't designed for how her brain actually worked. Michelle: Okay, that's a huge claim. That the entire industry of planners and apps is fundamentally flawed. What's the alternative then? If we can't manage our time, what are we supposed to manage? Mark: Ourselves. Or more specifically, our attention and our energy. And the key to doing that, according to Tate, isn't a new tool. It's a piece of self-knowledge. It's about understanding your personal Productivity Style.

Michelle: Productivity Style. That sounds like a personality test for your to-do list. Is this like a Myers-Briggs for work? Mark: That's a great way to put it! It's very similar in spirit. The idea is based on the Herrmann Whole Brain Model, which is a well-established framework in psychology. It suggests our brains have different preferred modes of thinking. Tate adapts this and boils it down to four distinct Productivity Styles. She calls them the Prioritizer, the Planner, the Arranger, and the Visualizer. Michelle: Okay, break those down for me. I'm already trying to guess which one I am. Mark: I bet you are. So, first, you have the Prioritizer. This is your classic, logical, analytical thinker. They're driven by data and facts. Their motto is "cut to the chase." They want the bottom line, and they get frustrated by small talk and meandering meetings. They're your Spock. Michelle: Got it. Efficient, maybe a little bit robotic. What's next? Mark: Next is the Planner. Planners are all about organization, details, and sequence. They love a well-made to-do list, a detailed project plan, and a color-coded calendar. They thrive on predictability and process. Think of a celebrity chef like Anthony Bourdain, who, as the book notes, was a classic Planner. He meticulously planned his vacation menus in advance because he needed that structure to feel in control. Michelle: That's fascinating. I can see how a Prioritizer and a Planner might get along, but they're definitely different. Who's the third? Mark: The third is the Arranger. Arrangers are the most people-focused. They're intuitive, empathetic, and collaborative. They make decisions based on their gut and how it will impact the team. They're the ones who start an email with "Hope you had a great weekend!" because that personal connection is vital to them. They read the room, not just the report. Michelle: Ah, the office diplomat. The one who keeps the peace. I know a few of those. And the last one? The Visualizer? Mark: The Visualizer. These are your big-picture, holistic thinkers. They're innovative and can synthesize a lot of complex ideas at once, but they struggle with linear, step-by-step details. They need to see the whole forest, not just the individual trees. This is where the story of Brigham, a CEO of an event management company, is so perfect. Michelle: Tell me about Brigham. Mark: Brigham was drowning. He was the CEO, but he was stuck in meetings all day, with no time for creative thinking. A client recommended a super-detailed task-management app. He tried it, and it was a disaster. It felt like a cage. Why? Because Brigham is a Visualizer. He doesn't think in lists; he thinks in maps and connections. Michelle: So what did he do? Mark: He deleted the app from his phone and installed two massive whiteboards in the company meeting room. He started mind-mapping his entire week on these boards. He could see how everything connected, move pieces around, and when he felt stuck, he'd just grab a marker and let ideas flow. The tool—the whiteboard—finally matched his brain's operating system. Michelle: That is such a powerful story. It's not that the app was bad; it was just bad for him. It’s like being left-handed and being forced to use right-handed scissors your whole life. You'd think you were just clumsy. Mark: Exactly! And that's the book's central revelation. We're not lazy or disorganized. We're just using the wrong scissors. A Prioritizer trying to use a Visualizer's mind map will feel lost. A Visualizer trying to use a Planner's minute-by-minute schedule will feel suffocated. Michelle: So which style is the best? I'm guessing everyone wants to be the innovative Visualizer or the hyper-efficient Prioritizer. Mark: That's the trap! Tate argues there is no "best" style. A team made up of only Visualizers would have amazing ideas but would never ship a product. A team of only Planners would be perfectly organized but might miss the big picture and fail to innovate. The goal is to have a diversity of styles and, most importantly, for you to know your own style so you can build a system that serves you, not the other way around.

Michelle: You know, what's really sticking with me is that this reframes the whole conversation. The goal isn't to find a new app or a magic planner. It's about giving ourselves permission to work the way our brains are already built to work. Mark: It's a fundamental shift from self-criticism to self-awareness. For decades, the productivity industry has sold us a single model of success: be more logical, be more organized, be more like a machine. This book says, no, be more like you. If you're an Arranger, you need collaboration. If you're a Visualizer, you need space to dream. Those aren't weaknesses; they're your strengths. Michelle: And it extends beyond just you at your desk. It explains so much about workplace conflict. That boss who only sends one-word emails? Probably a Prioritizer. That colleague who needs to talk everything through? An Arranger. It’s not that they’re trying to be difficult; they’re just speaking their native productivity language. Mark: Absolutely. And when you understand that, you can adapt. You can give your Prioritizer boss the bullet points they need. You can schedule a quick chat with your Arranger colleague instead of sending a cold email. It's about building bridges between these cognitive styles instead of judging them. Michelle: So for anyone listening who feels like they're drowning in to-do lists and feeling that guilt we talked about at the beginning, what's the first step? Mark: It's simple. For the next week, just observe yourself without judgment. When do you feel most energized and in flow? When do you feel most frustrated and stuck? Are you reaching for a spreadsheet or a whiteboard? Are you dying to talk it out with someone, or do you just want the facts? That's your first clue to discovering your own style. Michelle: I love that. It’s not about doing more, but about noticing more. We're so curious to hear what styles you all think you are. Drop us a comment on our socials and tell us if you're a Prioritizer, Planner, Arranger, or Visualizer. Let's see what our Aibrary community is made of. Mark: This is Aibrary, signing off.