Every week, we share the shortcuts, workspaces, and productivity tips of our favorite experts.

This week, were going behind the scenes at Lifehacker.

And we is I, current editor of this series.

Im Nick Douglas, and this is how I work.

I wrote about bloggers including the whole Gawker team.

I lasted less than a year.

I went freelance, mostly covering the internet culture beat on sites including Gawker and Valleywag.

I was surprised to get a job at Lifehacker.

Im productive, but Im a mess!

Take us through a recent workday.

I wake up at 7:15 and put off my day with ten minutes of phone-checking in bed.

I dawdle like that all morning.

I aim to head out at 8:15, so usually I leave at 8:308:45.

My arrival time is entirely up to whether the subway system works that day.

At 10, a bot pings all the writers to list what theyre working on.

I need constant deadlines, even if I constantly miss them.

This How I Work was supposed to go up Wednesday morning.

The rest of the day is researching and writing.

This week Ive mostly been editing How I Work pieces from the rest of the Lifehacker team.

What apps, gadgets, or tools cant you live without?

I like music in the shower, so I love my hardyEcoxgear waterproof speaker.

Its too loud, but my shower drenches this thing twice each morning, so Im content.

I use gaming mice, usually from Logitech, for all the extra buttons.

But I need my 11 buttons.

Ilove 1Password so much.

Amazon is evil but the Kindle app is the best in class.

I stuff Chrome full of extensions.

Whats your workspace setup like?

I plug my laptop into a screen and keyboard for some breathing room.

Probably because I get too comfortable and forget to move around.

Yes I have a standing desk; no it is not as comfortable as leaning over a laptop.

We have an open office and that sucks.

Not enough privacy, which ironically makes us talk less and shut ourselves out with headphones.

But we work around it as best we can.

Whats your best shortcut or life hack?

So I deleted the app and went desktop-only.

A step thats annoying but tolerable.

Feel the healthy ache of learning to be slightly more disciplined.

I think this is what exercise is, but I dont know, Ive never exercised.

Take us through an interesting, unusual, or finicky process you have in place at work.

So I write in Kinja anyway.

So far Ive never lost a post oh god oh god Im saving right now.

She and I are each others career counselors.

How do you keep track of what you have to do?

I cannot get myself to actually pay attention to my to-do apps.

Ive gone throughTodoist,Habitica, a notepad, Todoist again.

Even when I set notifications in Reminders, I still snooze the non-urgent tasks for weeks.

All my to-do apps are filled with unfulfilled aspirations.

I get a lot done, Im actually a super-productive person!

Which sometimes means I spend time on the wrong ones.

How do you recharge or take a break?

Part of that is recognizing what the actors have breathed into the characters, and writing for that.

What are you currently reading, or what do you recommend?

My current subway book is Colson WhiteheadsSag Harbor, but my bedtime book is Umberto EcosFoucaults Pendulum.

Before that we likedLittle Labors, a short literary essay-memoir about having a baby, reminiscent ofDept.

I keep reading people the Kafkaesque story about trying to get a passport for an infant.

And I always recommendthe short stories of Jorge Luis Borges.

Start with the hits but then try the deep cuts.

He does a great bit on why Judas Iscariot made a bigger sacrifice than Jesus.

But he writes it as a response to a religious essay that doesnt actually exist.

Crazy and, to a former Christian, compelling.

Who else would you like to see answer these questions?

Anyone got a contact?

Whats the best advice youve ever received?

Whats a problem youre still trying to solve?

Well, all of …that.

Have someone you want to see featured, or questions you think we should ask?