List Maker Creates Career Success

Have you ever wished there was someone to help you answer the question, “what do I want to do with my life?” Alex Cavoulacos is the Founder and COO of The Muse, the site that helps you do just that.

She uses lists to help herself be more productive and organized, and to assist others reach their potential – that’s why she’s a featured list producer!

Check out Alex’s “musings” on list making:

Q. What do you make lists about?

A. Anything I can think of can be a list. I of course keep track of my to dos using a list, but I make also lists of product ideas, travel destinations, present ideas (for myself and others), design inspiration for The Muse and candidates I’m excited about. That and many more!

I’m a big believer in having a single to do list for work though.

Q. How often do you make lists?
A. Making lists is part of my day to day. I don’t start new lists every day (I think it would be counterproductive at that point) but I do add to and re-visit lists near daily. I find that writing down and capturing ideas or thoughts instead of keeping them in my brain helps me increase focus and avoid that nagging feeling that I forgot something.

Q. How do you make lists? 
A. Most of my lists are electronic. I’ve tried almost every app out there, but always end up using a the simple TextEdit application on my Mac. It syncs to iCloud so I can take my lists anywhere with me, and is versatile enough for each list to have it’s own structure. My curated lists of to dos for each day are handwritten and kept on my desk, a subset of the master electronic list.

For shared lists, I’m a huge Hackpad fan for work and use AnyList to share shopping lists, favorite wines we’ve discovered and movies to see with my boyfriend. In short, I like to use the right tool for the job vs. forcing all lists into one format.

Q. What’s #1 on your bucket list?
A. I haven’t yet made a bucket list, though I love the idea, since I’m completely focused on my start-up at the moment. I’d say that right now the #1 thing on my mind is making The Muse a success, for my team, investors, clients, and users. If we can help millions more people worldwide figure out what they want to do with their lives, and then help them get there, I’ll be really proud of what I’ve accomplished in my lifetime. And that’s what a bucket list is all about, right?

Alex Cavoulacos is the Founder & COO of The Muse, an award-winning website which helps answer the question “what do I want to do with my life?” by providing engaging job search, smart career advice and an inside look at inspiring companies. There, she leads the Product and Operations teams, creating and launching new features weekly. Alex has spoken on WNYC, at SxSW and was named one of INC’s 15 Women to Watch in Tech. Prior to founding The Muse, Alex was a management consultant at McKinsey & Company’s New York office. She graduated from Yale University, and is an alumna of Y Combinator in Silicon Valley.