A model-per-task playbook for an ordinary work week

Choosing a model for each task sounds like more work than choosing one and sticking with it. It can be a short habit: ask what the task needs, then pick.

Here is a playbook for five ordinary tasks. It names no specific model on purpose. Lineups change; the questions don't.

Task 1: Triage, sorting a pile of notes or messages.

What matters: speed and cost. Mistakes are cheap, because you'll look again. A lighter, faster option is often the natural fit.

Task 2: First draft, a summary, a follow-up or an outline.

What matters: tone and structure. You'll edit it anyway, so pick for the kind of writing you want and accept that it's a draft.

Task 3: Long reading, a stack of notes or a long thread.

What matters: staying accurate across a lot of material. This is where a stronger option may earn its cost. Spot-check two claims against the source before you trust the summary.

Task 4: Anything that changes something, such as editing shared files or sending messages.

What matters: caution. Use the option you trust most for the steps that can't be undone, and keep the irreversible action behind your own yes.

Task 5: Final check, one more look before it goes out.

What matters: a fresh pair of eyes. You might prefer a different model for the review than the one that wrote the draft. Whether it's worth the cost is your call, and it's a small experiment to run once.

A rule of thumb.

Spend where a mistake is expensive or hard to undo; save where it's cheap and easy to reverse.

A hypothetical week (illustrative only).

Monday: triage the weekend's notes with a lighter option. Tuesday: a first draft of a client update, chosen for tone. Wednesday: long reading for a planning document with a stronger option, plus two spot-checks. Thursday: edits to shared files with the option you trust most, and your yes before anything is sent. Friday: a review pass with a different model to see whether it adds anything, with the cost noted.

Write down your defaults.

After a week you'll have a list: the tasks, the option you chose for each, and whether you'd choose it again. That list is your playbook. Revisit it when your work changes.

Where Octuo fits.

Octuo is a personal assistant and one starting point for work across AI, tools and specialist services, and it coordinates the supported tools and services you connect and authorize. Model choice is part of that: Octuo gives you access to many models from different providers, and you decide which one handles what, task by task. Cost is previewed before and reported after every turn, so the price of a choice is visible when you make it. Octuo is available for macOS.