My toolbox
A lot of creators out there share the tools they use and why and I think those posts are pretty fun! Here’s mine.
For the few years after I graduated I did most of my work bent over a laptop but I started having some pain in my wrists and I started getting more frequent headaches. I decided that maybe if I was going to be working at a desk for a lot of my career it would be worth to invest in some good ergonomic equipment.
The desk setup
60” by 30” Jarvis standing desk - Admittedly I didn’t use the standing feature of my standing desk that often at first but now I probably stand at least 3 hours a day. It’s great! It feels good to be able to move around and stretch a bit while working. The 30” depth is great for storing things at the back and having enough space for a drink, notes, etc.
MAINGEAR RTX 3080 32GB RAM Desktop - I love how small this desktop is.
AOC 24G2 24" Frameless Gaming IPS Monitor, FHD 1080P, 1ms 144Hz - This is my main monitor.
BENQ 2500Q 2560x1440 - This is my second monitor. I mount it vertically so that I can fit a couple of decently sized windows on the side while I’m working. This is great for my terminal, docs or something I am referencing often, or maybe some entertainment. For awhile I had 3 monitors, 1 of these mounted on each side but I found the 3rd monitor distracting and almost claustrophobic like I was too locked into the screens.
Macbook Air - For working on the move. I also have a switch on my desk so that I can click a button and use my laptop with my big monitor.
Monitor arms - I’d definitely recommend some monitor arms so that you can get your monitors at a comfortable height. I keep mine quiet high so that I’m “required” to sit up straight.
A mouse - I’m unopinionated on this but it’s a steelseries mouse.
Blue yeti mic - I just have it sitting on my desk. I find the mic arms get in the way often and if I’m not using the mic I just pick it up and put it at the back of my desk.
Mistel BAROCCO MD770 - Now this is important to me! My wrists have felt so much better since I got a split keyboard. I didn’t feel like learning a new key layout so I got one with the standard layout (What is it called?)
A webcam and a light - So that I can join video calls and look nice. I think big ring lights are ugly and obtrusive but I have a small square light that sits on my monitor.
IEMs - I love IEMs simply because they sit so nicely in my years and they are super comfy. These are some good starting ones: TRUTHEAR x Crinacle Zero
Big bench - I also have a 10 foot by 3 foot work bench along one wall with one seat for me and one for my partner. It’s great for crafts and storage.
The little things
Graph paper - I love those big booklets of gridded graph paper.
Phone tripod - I have a little tripod I can attach my phone to. This is such a quick and easy setup for making some quick Youtube shorts.
Water bottle
My process and software
Cronicle.me - You thought I was going to write a blog post and not plug an app? I built cronicle to encourage myself to remember one memory for each week of my life. It helps me appreciate life and encourages me to live a great life.
Bard.art - Another one? Stop it Joe. I post my artwork on Bard! And sometimes I write stories for people.
Notion - Personally I think any notes app can work really well, it’s more about how you use it. IMO the goal should be to have to use it as little as often while staying organized. I would break my notion down into a few categories:
Dump: I have a brain dump page where I just write down random thoughts quickly. I review this once every couple weeks or so and decide if I should keep and organize those thoughts or drop them.
Projects: I have a few hobbies and I like to have a page for each bigger hobby so I can keep track of goals, directions, etc. I try not to write todos in notion because I think it’s kind of bad at it and because I mostly use notion for things I want to do so when I do them I’ll just do the things I want.
Lists: Just for keeping track of stuff.
Jobs & companies: Companies I think I might want to work for.
Tools: Tools that I am not currently using but may want to, organized by purpose.
Buy things: A list of things I might want to buy. I try to only buy things if they have been on a list for awhile and am regularly reminded that I need them.
Gimli: A PDF I send to friends who take care of our dog.
Finances: I keep a basic table of my recurring subscriptions, what card they are on, and approximately how much I spend each month. I keep a second page for whenever I do a review of my finances to see how much I actually spend and save.
Life Goals: I keep track of my new years resolutions so I can see them year across year.
Home page: From here you can quickly get to my project pages and I have a list of a few habits I’m trying to build so I am regularly reminded.
Todoist
Needs: I generally use todoist for things that have to get done, not things that I want to get done. The line is blurry but that seems to be a good break up for me. For things I want to get done, I just do them when I want, as I should.
Habits - I also use todoist to build habits. I will set up a recurring reminder to do a new habit. I generally only do this for a few weeks before removing the todo.
Google Calendar
For calendar things. However, I may be kind of a weird user. I mark almost everything I have planned as an ‘all-day’ task because I find it easier to read that way. Then if I need to see more details I’ll look at the day for calendar invites, etc. I also mark down things I might want to go to so that when I’m making plans I can say ‘oh hey I was thinking of going to this that day’ and in the moment I can commit to one of them. I also mark down movie and tv show releases in my calendar; priorities.
Eagle - I use eagle for collecting inspiration for art, urban design, miniatures, and woodworking.
Google Drive - I sync my google drive with my desktop and laptop. I pretty store everything in all 3 places, including my eagle collection.
Spotify - Music - Nordic folk, liquid drum and bass, house, electronic, etc
Youtube - Music and creating content
Letterboxd - I love keep tracking of movies here
Phone - I honestly don’t like using my phone at all. Not a lot of exciting stuff here, emails, phone calls, texting, etc.
Notion - I try to only use notion on my phone to throw stuff in the brain dump page.
Google maps - Often my most used app.
Youtube - Uploading shorts from my phone.
Habits - Here is how I organize my desired habits. I mostly exclude habits I already have. Realistically habits are going to be happening at least 3 or 4 times a week but I think the weekly, monthly, etc sections do a good job of reminding me to do other things.
Daily - long dog walks, dog training, stretching/yoga, brushing dog teeth, calisthenics, reading, drinking water, vitamins, daily face routine
Few times a week - Cronicle, bard, draw, work, throat singing
Once a week (pick a few each week) - climb, carve, movie, friends, record a memory, dog bowl, dog in backpack, ski, bike ride, b2b service, woodworking, meal prep, water plants
Once a month - Volunteer, hike, paddleboard, date, detourahead, cook something new
Once a quarter - Dog nails, food bike, back country camp/camp, newsletter, family
Once a year - Taxes, big vacay, youtube series
And that’s mostly it. Cheers.