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.