My Productivity Desk Setup

2018-09-26 · Tech review, setup or bag tour · Ali · recording, 6:06 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Tools, apps and tech · mode: Demonstration and walkthrough · tags: His own numbers, Family, His medical past

Ali, now a junior doctor in Cambridge, tours the desk setup in his new house: an IKEA Karlby countertop with Alex drawers, a 2018 MacBook Pro driving an LG ultrawide, trackpad and mouse together for editing, budget speakers, lamps, plants and a deck of cards; he holds that an upgrade is only worth it when what you have causes genuine pain.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Intro: the desk setup for YouTube, studying and productivity

• ★★ Ali, a junior doctor working in Cambridge, will use his new desk setup for YouTube, studying and general productivity. — 00:00:00 · Cambridge

00:00:39 — The IKEA countertop desk with Alex drawers; the chair and the vetoed Herman Miller

• ★★ Ali's desk is an IKEA Karlby countertop on IKEA legs with an Alex drawer unit: the countertop comes in sizes and can be cut, so with Alex units on one or both sides you get lots of space and a custom-built look. — 00:00:39
• ★★ Ali uses his housemate's ergonomic office chair: he wanted a Herman Miller chair, but his mother vetoed spending £1,000 on a chair, though he argued it was his own money and good for his back. — 00:01:08 · Ali Abdaal's mother
• ★★ Ali's setup runs on the new 2018 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, with the i9 processor, 32 GB of RAM and the 1 TB drive upgrade, connected through a USB hub to his LG 34-inch ultrawide monitor. — 00:01:08 · MacBook

00:01:21 — The 2018 MacBook Pro, the LG ultrawide monitor and his theory about upgrading stuff

• ★★ Ali calls his LG 34-inch ultrawide a pretty budget model at about £300, while ultrawide monitors go above £1,000, especially in 4K, 5K or 38-inch versions. (hedged) — 00:01:37
• ★★★ Ali's theory of upgrading: it is only really worth upgrading something if what you have feels like it sucks or gives you genuine pain when you use it; his monitor has given him none in almost three years. — 00:01:37
• ★★ Ali says a lot of research shows that the only real way to increase your happiness by spending money is to remove salient negatives rather than add positives. — 00:01:37

00:02:20 — Peripherals: Magic Trackpad, Logitech MX Master and the Apple keyboard

• ★★ Ali likes combining the Apple Magic Trackpad with the Logitech MX Master: the trackpad for smooth scrolling and for swiping through the Final Cut timeline, the mouse in the other hand, which makes editing videos a nice experience. — 00:02:36 · Final Cut Pro
• ★★ Ali's keyboard is the original Apple wireless Bluetooth keyboard, bought from a friend around 2009 and used for the nine years since without looking back. — 00:02:36

00:03:05 — The spare 2015 MacBook Pro and the basic Logitech speakers

• ★★ Ali keeps his old 2015 Retina MacBook Pro and takes it to work, as he is not overly worried if something happens to it; it still handles anything but hardcore video editing. — 00:03:05 · MacBook
• ★★ For three years Ali's speakers have been basic £25 Logitech ones from Amazon; he would kind of like a decent £300 set such as the Adam speakers many tech YouTubers use. — 00:03:05 · Amazon
• ★★ Ali sees no reason to upgrade his cheap Logitech speakers: he is not an audiophile about speakers, and they work very well and have never let him down. — 00:03:34
• ★★ Ali has two lamps: a classic Anglepoise and a new Tommens Scandinavian lamp in the style of the Pixar lamp, which the tech YouTuber Jonathan Morrison uses in his videos. — 00:03:34

00:03:45 — Lamps, Japanese cups and the headphone hanger

• ★ Ali keeps two Japanese cups he bought in Japan about six years ago; he loves them and thinks they add a splash of personality to a desk. — 00:04:03 · Japan
• ★★ A headphone hanger under Ali's desk holds his Audio-Technica ATH-M50x, which he uses for audio editing when doing music, and on its other side his stethoscope and NHS lanyard. — 00:04:03 · NHS

00:04:33 — The fake potted plant and the pachira tree

• ★ Ali calls his fake IKEA potted plant pretty much required for anyone who wants to be a tech YouTuber, and likes the splash of green it adds to the desk. (playful) — 00:04:33
• ★★ Ali has added a pachira, an indoor tree said to be easy to look after, and suggests indoor plants to anyone who wants to add flair to a desk setup or a home. — 00:04:33
• ★★ For Ali nothing beats sitting on the sofa with a cup of coffee, listening to a fantasy audiobook on Audible and seeing his pachira tree in front of him. — 00:05:02 · Audible
• ★★ Ali always keeps a deck of cards on his desk: he has practised close-up magic for about eight years and does some moves whenever his hands are free. — 00:05:02

00:05:12 — A deck of cards and cable management

• ★★ A cable rack under Ali's desk stores all his cables, so they are mostly invisible from anywhere in the room, though he sees room for improvement. — 00:05:31
• ★★ Now working as a doctor, Ali makes vlogs about a doctor's life and is also making a few tech videos on the productivity apps he uses and what is on his iPad. — 00:05:31 · iPad

00:05:45 — Sign-off: doctor vlogs and tech videos to come

In the description and comments

• ★★ Ali presents his first MacBook-based ultrawide productivity desk setup in his new house, which he loves because it is big, comfortable and makes him feel cool at the computer. — video description · MacBook
• ★ Ali gives his desk as the IKEA Karlby with an IKEA Alex drawer unit and apologises for getting its name wrong in the video. — video description

Threads in this video

• kept · Ali promises a new desk setup video (2018) — Ali presents his first MacBook-based ultrawide productivity desk setup in his new house, which he loves because it is big, comfortable and makes him feel cool at the computer. (video description)
• refine · How should you set up your desk? — Ali's desk is an IKEA Karlby countertop on IKEA legs with an Alex drawer unit: the countertop comes in sizes and can be cut, so with Alex units on one or both sides you get lots of space and a custom-built look. (00:00:39)
• refine · How do you decide whether a purchase is worth it? — Ali's theory of upgrading: it is only really worth upgrading something if what you have feels like it sucks or gives you genuine pain when you use it; his monitor has given him none in almost three years. (00:01:37)
• refine · Does money buy happiness? — Ali says a lot of research shows that the only real way to increase your happiness by spending money is to remove salient negatives rather than add positives. (00:01:37)
• refine · Which tech is worth buying? — Ali likes combining the Apple Magic Trackpad with the Logitech MX Master: the trackpad for smooth scrolling and for swiping through the Final Cut timeline, the mouse in the other hand, which makes editing videos a nice experience. (00:02:36)
• progress update · Ali promises to start reviewing tech as a tech YouTuber (2018) — Now working as a doctor, Ali makes vlogs about a doctor's life and is also making a few tech videos on the productivity apps he uses and what is on his iPad. (00:05:31)
• progress update · Ali promises videos for students on motivation, productivity, note-making, his phone apps and using the iPad at medical school (2018) — Now working as a doctor, Ali makes vlogs about a doctor's life and is also making a few tech videos on the productivity apps he uses and what is on his iPad. (00:05:31)
• told · Ali wants a Herman Miller chair, but his mother says it is too expensive (2018) — Ali uses his housemate's ergonomic office chair: he wanted a Herman Miller chair, but his mother vetoed spending £1,000 on a chair, though he argued it was his own money and good for his back. (00:01:08)

Where the stories that moved here went next

• Ali promises videos for students on motivation, productivity, note-making, his phone apps and using the iPad at medical school (2018) — open (updates through 2019, not reported done); last: progress update, 2019-05-18
• Ali promises to start reviewing tech as a tech YouTuber (2018) — open (updates through 2020, not reported done); last: progress update, 2020-11-18
• Ali promises a new desk setup video (2018) — kept
• Ali wants a Herman Miller chair, but his mother says it is too expensive (2018) — told 2×, last update 2020; last: mentioned, 2020-11-22

Mentioned

Central: LG 34UM68 · MacBook

Also: People: Ali Abdaal's mother · Jonathan Morrison

Organizations: Adam Audio · Amazon · Audio-Technica · Herman Miller · IKEA · Logitech · NHS

Places: Cambridge · Japan

Products: Apple Bluetooth Keyboard · Apple Magic Trackpad · Audible · Audio-Technica ATH-M50x · Final Cut Pro · IKEA Alex · iPad · Logitech MX Master

Only in the description or credits: IKEA Karlby

Also centred on LG 34UM68: My University Desk Setup - Cambridge Medical Student

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