Skip to content

My Productivity Desk Setup

2019-09-13 · Tech review, setup or bag tour · Ali, Ali Abdaal (channel) · recording, 9:01 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Tools, apps and tech · mode: Demonstration and walkthrough · tags: Sponsor segment present

Ali tours his 2019 productivity desk setup: a Fully Jarvis electric standing desk he means to keep from now on, an LG 49-inch ultrawide used as one editing timeline or three windows, a single USB-C cable to his MacBook Pro, his 2007 Apple keyboard, Hue lamps, plants and hidden cables; he also says documentaries have changed his mind about watching TV.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — A tour of the 2019 productivity desk setup and thanks to viewers

  • ★★ Ali gives a tour of his 2019 productivity desk setup, talking through the desk, the peripherals and everything on it. — 00:00:13

00:00:43 — The Jarvis standing desk, the LG 49-inch ultrawide monitor and its floating mount

  • ★★ Ali's desk is the Jarvis electric standing desk from Fully, which Fully sent him to try a couple of weeks earlier; he has been loving it. — 00:00:43
  • ★★★ Ali says from now on he will always have an electric standing desk: when he gets bored editing or studying for an exam, switching the height setting gives him a second wind of energy. — 00:01:08
  • ★★ Ali's new monitor is the LG 49-inch ultrawide; in his previous desk setup he had a 34-inch ultrawide. — 00:01:08
  • ★★ Ali says a 49-inch ultrawide monitor is basically like two 27-inch monitors side by side without the bezel in the middle. — 00:01:38
  • ★★ Ali uses the LG 49-inch ultrawide first for editing in Final Cut, with the whole timeline across the screen, and for multitasking in a three-window layout with a 27-inch main window in the middle. — 00:01:38 · Final Cut Pro
  • ★★ On the ultrawide's side windows Ali juggles other apps: an email opens in Superhuman, launched with Alfred, in one window, a Slack message in another. — 00:02:07 · Alfred, Slack
  • ★★ Ali mounts the LG monitor on a heavy-duty Ergotron arm instead of its stand: it looks cooler floating in midair, and he dislikes the bulk of a monitor stand. — 00:02:07

00:02:36 — MacBook Pro on one cable, speakers, mouse, keyboard, trackpad and Hue lamps

  • ★★ Ali's 15-inch MacBook Pro powers the setup over a single USB-C cable to the LG monitor, so he lives "the one cable life": unplug to leave, plug back in when home. — 00:02:36 · MacBook
  • ★ Ali's MacBook Pro sits on a walnut laptop stand he bought because it looked really cool, and wears a dbrand skin sticker. — 00:02:36 · MacBook
  • ★★ Ali's generic Logitech speakers, bought on Amazon about five years earlier for about 20 or 30 pounds, have served him fine; he does not really need to upgrade, and plays music on his HomePods. — 00:03:05 · Amazon
  • ★★ Ali has used the same original Apple Wireless Keyboard since 2007, bought off his friend James in year nine, for 12 years, and calls it the best thing ever. — 00:03:34
  • ★★ Ali keeps both a mouse, the Logitech MX Master, and the Apple Magic Trackpad, especially for editing: he works with the mouse and scrolls through the timeline with the trackpad. — 00:03:34
  • ★★ Ali's desk lamps run on Philips Hue bulbs, which he has throughout the living room and bedroom, so he can change scenes; his favourite is a teal and orange look he calls "ice and fire". — 00:04:04 · Philips Hue

00:04:33 — Japanese cups, plants, the standing desk stool, drawer units and cable management

  • ★ Two Japanese cups, one for pens and one for coins, have featured in Ali's desk setups since about 2014, when he visited Japan for a research project. — 00:04:33 · Japan
  • ★ Ali keeps a fake IKEA potted plant on his desk; he cites a psychology study he read about, finding that greenery in a working space increases creativity, and jokes that this is what he told himself when buying it, not that he just wanted to copy every other tech YouTuber. — 00:04:33
  • ★★ Ali calls the kentia palm a really good house plant: quite hard to kill and sturdy, needing water about once a week. — 00:05:02
  • ★★ Ali's mother vetoed fake plants in the house but let him keep the one he already had, so all the other plants are real and he has to water them once a week. — 00:05:02 · Ali Abdaal's mother
  • ★★ Ali's chair is the standing desk stool Fully sent with the desk: it does not let you sit still, so at his desk all day he has to work his core to stay upright. — 00:05:31
  • ★★ Ali calls this his best cable management ever: metal bits under the Jarvis desk hold the cables, and two IKEA Alex drawer units on the right hide the mess of cables and plugs behind them. — 00:05:31

00:06:16 — Deck of cards, the friends' coaster and documentaries at the desk

  • ★★ Ali always has a deck of cards on his desk for idle hands: he has been into close-up magic since he was 17, eight years earlier. — 00:06:16
  • ★★ The coaster on Ali's desk was made by his friend Marcus. — 00:06:16
  • ★★★ Ali has not really watched TV in the five years since starting university, thinking it a waste of time, but since discovering documentaries he has changed his mind and watches them at his desk while eating. — 00:06:45

00:07:14 — CuriosityStream sponsor read and sign-off

In the description and comments

  • ★★ Ali Abdaal (channel): The channel confirms that the single USB-C cable to the LG monitor also powers Ali's MacBook Pro while he uses it. — creator comment · MacBook
  • ★★ Ali Abdaal (channel): Asked several times how Ali snaps windows into his three-window ultrawide layout, the channel names the app Moom. — creator comment
  • ★★ Ali Abdaal (channel): To a viewer worried that a doctor learns about sleep and nutrition from documentaries, the channel replies that the viewer sounds like someone who has not been to medical school. — creator comment

Threads in this video

  • kept · Ali promises several videos about his new desk setup (2019) — Ali gives a tour of his 2019 productivity desk setup, talking through the desk, the peripherals and everything on it. (00:00:13)
  • refine · How should you set up your desk? — Ali says from now on he will always have an electric standing desk: when he gets bored editing or studying for an exam, switching the height setting gives him a second wind of energy. (00:01:08)
  • restate · How should you set up your desk? — Ali calls this his best cable management ever: metal bits under the Jarvis desk hold the cables, and two IKEA Alex drawer units on the right hide the mess of cables and plugs behind them. (00:05:31)
  • refine · Which tech is worth buying? — Ali uses the LG 49-inch ultrawide first for editing in Final Cut, with the whole timeline across the screen, and for multitasking in a three-window layout with a 27-inch main window in the middle. (00:01:38)
  • restate · Which tech is worth buying? — Ali keeps both a mouse, the Logitech MX Master, and the Apple Magic Trackpad, especially for editing: he works with the mouse and scrolls through the timeline with the trackpad. (00:03:34)
  • shift · Should you watch TV? — Ali has not really watched TV in the five years since starting university, thinking it a waste of time, but since discovering documentaries he has changed his mind and watches them at his desk while eating. (00:06:45)
  • progress update · Ali promises a video on upgrading to Philips Hue smart light bulbs (2018) — Ali's desk lamps run on Philips Hue bulbs, which he has throughout the living room and bedroom, so he can change scenes; his favourite is a teal and orange look he calls "ice and fire". (00:04:04)

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Jarvis · LG 49WL95C

Also: People: Ali Abdaal's mother · Marcus (friend, mentioned from 2018)

Organizations: Amazon · CuriosityStream · dbrand · Ergotron · Fully · IKEA · LG · Logitech

Places: Japan

Products: Alfred · Apple Magic Trackpad · Apple Wireless Keyboard · Final Cut Pro · HomePod · IKEA Alex · Logitech MX Master · MacBook · Philips Hue · Slack · Superhuman

Only in the description or credits: Moom

Also centred on LG 49WL95C: Building the perfect desk setup - 49" Ultrawide Monitor + Standing Desk

← Previous: Life Advice Q&A with my Brother · Next → My Favourite Productivity App for Students - Notion