Software I use, gadgets I love, and other things I recommend.

I get asked a lot about the things I use to build software, stay productive, or buy to fool myself into thinking I‘m being productive when I‘m really just procrastinating. Here‘s a big list of all of my favorite stuff.

Workstation

  • 16” MacBook Pro, M1 Max, 32GB RAM (2021)

    I was using an Intel-based 13” MacBook Pro prior to this and the difference is night and day. I can‘t believe how much faster this thing is. I‘m also a huge fan of the new keyboard. While travelling, this is the perfect machine for work, and it fits on an airline seat table.

  • Apple Airpods Max

    I‘m not an audiophile, but I do like to listen to music while I work. These are the best headphones I‘ve ever owned and travelled with. Before this I had the Bose QuietComfort 35 II and they were great, but these are better.

Development tools

  • VSCode

    I first started coding in BBEdit, then moved to Sublime Text, then Atom, Vim, and finally VSCode. I‘m not sure if I‘ll ever switch again. It‘s just too good.

  • iTerm2

    I‘m honestly not even sure what features I get with this that aren‘t just part of the macOS Terminal but it‘s what I use.

  • DataGrip

    I‘ve tried a lot of different SQL clients and this is the one I keep coming back to. It‘s a memory hog, but the features are great and its super reliable.

Design

  • Figma

    I started learning design in Photoshop while in High School (circa 2005), then moved to Sketch around 2012, and now Figma. Figma is the best.

Health & Fitness

  • Whoop

    I‘ve been using Whoop for a since mid 2022. The data is great, but the best part is the sleep tracking. I‘ve learned a lot about my sleep and how to improve it. TL;DR: Drink less alcohol.

  • Apple Watch Ultra

    This is definitely not a Pro level product, regardless of the marketing. I like it a lot, it‘s got good weight and a reasonable feature set, but the quality of the pro-level features are inversely propertional to how much Apple spent on marketing them. I‘ll write a review of this soon.

  • Manta Eye-mask

    As I‘ve gotten older (now mid 30s) I‘ve found that I need to protect my sleep more. A friend recommended this eye mask and I love it. It‘s super comfortable and blocks out all light. Literally, all light. My sleep quality has improved by 12% since using it.

  • Happy Ears

    Sleeping in a hotel or on a plane is hard, but as a light sleeper, even getting a solid night of sleep in an inner city apartment can be a challenge. These ear plugs are comfortable, reusable, and block out a lot of noise.

  • Jones Hovercraft

    I love snowboarding. I‘ve been doing it since I was 18 and I‘ve got a number of boards in my quiver. This is my favorite. It‘s a directional board with a big nose and a short tail. It‘s great for powder, but also handles groomers and choppy snow really well. I‘ve got a 2020 model that picked up at the start of the pandemic for a steep discount, but it is well worth retail price for how much fun it is.

Productivity

  • Arc

    Arc is a web browser, built by The Browser Company Of New York, which honestly has such a cool ring to it, I just had to try it. I love how it handles tabs and the built-in ad blocker is great. They have a neat iOS app that bookmarks what you‘re reading on your phone so that you can open it on your laptop.

  • Raycast

    Raycast is probably the most underrated productivity tool out there. It‘s like Alfred, but for everything.

  • Superhuman

    I‘ve tried a lot of email clients, and after 5 years of using Superhuman I think I‘m finally ready to say that it‘s the best. I love the keyboard shortcuts, the speed, and the ability to snooze emails and automatically remind me if I don‘t get a reply.

  • SavvyCal

    Great tool for scheduling meetings while protecting my calendar and making sure I still have lots of time for deep work during the week.