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” M1 MacBook Pro
I was using an Intel-based 16” MacBook Pro prior to this and the difference is night and day. I’ve never heard the fans turn on a single time, even under the incredibly heavy loads I put it through with our various launch simulations.
Development tools
Visual Studio Code
Basically the industry standard at this point.
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.
Design
Figma
We started using Figma as just a design tool but now it’s become our virtual whiteboard for the entire company. Never would have expected the collaboration features to be the real hook.
Productivity
Raycast
Raycast is a blazingly fast, totally extendable launcher. It lets you complete tasks, calculate, share common links, and much more. There is a massive community which has built extensions for all kinds of things. I use it to quickly open apps, search my notes, and run scripts.
Roam Research
Using a daily notes system instead of trying to keep things organized by topics has been super powerful for me. And with Roam, it’s still easy for me to keep all of that stuff discoverable by topic even though all of my writing happens in the daily note.
Apple Calendar & Reminders
I like to keep it simple when using apps for productivity. Apple calendar and reminders are simple and work well for me.
Opal
Simple tool for blocking distracting websites when I need to just do the work and get some momentum going.