Uses

One of my favorite things to share with others is setups! It’s fun to see what others use and share my own setup.

To make things easier, I’ve broken it into two categories: gear and software.

Gear

This is a mix of personal and work gear. Some I bought myself (new or used) and other parts were paid for by my company.

Desk Setup

Here is everything related to how my desk is set up at home.

Desk

I use a standing desk, specifically the Autonomous SmartDesk2 - Home Office.

Chair

With a work stipend, I purchased an Autonomous ErgoChair 2.

Laptop

For work, I have a MacBook Pro 16-inch and at home, I use an iMac or a 13-inch MacBook.

Laptop Stand

At home, I’m usually working with one monitor (laptop) so I use a laptop stand to not have to bend over. I invested in the Roost a while back. It’s a bit overpriced, but lightweight and does the job. Now, I might look at one of the competitors if I were to buy one today.

Keyboard

I switch between an Apple Magic Keyboard (personal) and a Kinesis Freestyle Edge (work). The Edge is a split keyboard and I am a huge fan!

Mouse

I switch between an Apple Magic Trackpad (personal) and an MX Logitech Vertical Mouse (work).

Microphone

I use Shure BETA 87A (thanks to my friends at egghead).

Microphone Boom Arm

I started streaming for work so I invested in a boom arm and went with the Rode PSA1. Big fan!

Webcam

Part of what I do for work is record videos so they let me buy a new webcam: Logitech BRIO. I am very happy with it! Works well for streaming and video meetings.

Streamdeck

Again, I stared streaming for work so they let me buy an Elegato Stream Deck 15-key.

Software

Most of this is software I use to work efficiently and productively. I’ve switched back and forth between a lot of tools, but this is what I’m using currently.

Editor and Terminal

IDE

I switched from Sublime to VS Code years ago and I can’t see myself going back. I used to use the Sublime keybindings in VS Code. However, last year I switched to the Vim keybindings. It took some time to reach the same speed, but I would say I’ve surpassed my previous speed and added a few new tricks thanks to Vim.

Terminal

I use iTerm2. A friend told me about it a while ago. I switched to it and haven’t looked back.

Theme

I switch between themes. Right now, I’m using Noctis and happy with it.

zsh and prezto

I use zsh and prezto on top of that.

Starship

I found this by luck while exploring Rust. If anything, it lets you easily customize emojis used within your terminal for different programs.

Productivity

Random desktop apps that I use for productivity or other reasons.

Notion

I am HUGE Notion fan! I pay for the personal plan to get unlimited blocks and use it both for personal and work. I use it for task/project management and structure it using the P.A.R.A. method.

Trello

Trello has a special place in my heart. I have a few boards to keep track of project ideas and other personal stuff.

ScreenFlow

Similar to the microphone from egghead, I use ScreenFlow to record and edit my videos (mostly screencasts).

Gifox 2

For PRs and showing things to friends or coworkers, I use Gifox 2. I paid for the pro version and use it on both my personal and work machine.

Stretchly

Stretchly is a handy app for reminding me to take breaks.

Clippy or Flycut

A coworker once told me about his clipboard history app. I thought it was genius and since then have used both Flycut and Clippy.

Alfred

As of writing this, I haven’t caved to buy the Alfred Powerpack (though I may…), I mainly use it because it’s faster than Spotlight on macOS and does some cool things like let you shutdown your mac by typing “shutdown.”

Rocket

I like emojis a lot. I bought Rocket and am a huge fan.

Flux

Although maOS now has a built-in dimming feature, I don’t find it to be as great as Flux so I use Flux to dim my screen/remove bluelight as the sunsets.

Keeping You Awake

Keeping You Awake is a fantastic app for preventing your mac from going to sleep.

Spectacle and Rectangle

For window management, I use Spectacle (personal) or Rectangle (work).