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All the Apps I Use in a Day

2020-06-03 · Tech review, setup or bag tour · Ali · recording, 12:23 · watch on YouTube

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

Ali walks through every app he uses on a working day at the hospital, from his Notion morning check-in and Roam Research writing to Todoist, MyFitnessPal, Philips Hue lights and his Kindle at night.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — Morning at home: Oura Ring, Notion daily check-in, smart scale, Spotify and Apple Music

  • ★★ Each morning Ali fills out a daily check-in in Notion on his phone: what he dreamt, the one thing he will focus on that day (his highlight of the day) and what under his control will make the day better; he finds it starts his day well. — 00:00:00 · Notion
  • ★ Ali weighs himself every day on a Withings smart scale that syncs to Apple Health. — 00:00:29
  • ★★ Ali has both Spotify and Apple Music because he likes playing music through Siri on his HomePods, and wishes the HomePod worked well with Spotify. — 00:00:58
  • ★★ On the drive to work Ali listens to audiobooks on Audible or podcasts on Castro at double speed, or to random songs on Spotify when he feels lazy. — 00:00:58 · Audible

00:01:00 — The drive to work: Audible, Castro and Spotify at double speed

00:01:27 — At the hospital: Medic Bleep, BNF, MicroGuide, Roam Research, Todoist, MyFitnessPal, Roam versus Notion, email and messaging, Lightroom

  • ★★ When Ali wants to take notes on a podcast or audiobook he is listening to on the drive, he dictates them into the Drafts app on his Apple Watch. — 00:01:27
  • ★★ At the hospital Ali's main apps are Medic Bleep, the secure messaging platform the NHS uses, Google, the British National Formulary for drug doses and MicroGuide for the hospital's local antibiotic guidelines. — 00:01:27 · NHS
  • ★★ Around 11 a.m., once the morning's jobs on the ward are done, Ali opens his iPad Pro with Magic Keyboard and starts his daily note in Roam Research, on some days writing morning pages there. — 00:01:56 · iPad Pro
  • ★★ Ali has set himself a challenge to write a thousand words every day and usually starts the day's writing in Roam Research. — 00:02:26
  • ★★ Todoist is Ali's to-do list app of choice; he checks it a couple of times a day for anything urgent. — 00:02:26
  • ★★ Ali tracks his calories in MyFitnessPal, adding the macros listed on the pre-made meals he brings to work. — 00:03:24
  • ★★★ Ali writes in Roam Research while a piece of writing, an idea or a video plan is at an early stage, then moves it to Notion to write the final video script or the final version of an article or blog post. — 00:03:24 · Notion
  • ★★ Through the day Ali checks email in Superhuman on his iPhone and iPad, messages his team on Slack and his school and university friends on WhatsApp. — 00:03:53 · iPad Pro
  • ★★ Ali scrolls Instagram and Twitter at random during the day; he is trying to do less of it, but it always ends up happening. — 00:03:53
  • ★★ Ali edits his daily selfie in Adobe Lightroom with a colour-grade preset he customised and has used for two years. — 00:04:22

00:04:52 — After work: workouts in Google Sheets, the Wheel of Time, the desk, the highlight of the day, filming with Notion, guitar practice

  • ★★ Ali tracks his home workouts in Google Sheets; he used to track them in Notion but switched because his online personal trainer uses Google Sheets. — 00:04:52 · Notion
  • ★★ Ali is listening at double speed to Lord of Chaos, book seven of the Wheel of Time series, and calls it absolutely fantastic. — 00:05:21
  • ★★ Ali says that after work he usually ends up on the sofa scrolling Twitter and Instagram for an annoyingly long time instead of working out. — 00:05:50
  • ★ At his desk Ali connects his MacBook Pro by USB-C to a 49-inch LG monitor. — 00:05:50 · MacBook
  • ★★★ After work Ali does the highlight he set for the day in Notion that morning; on days without one, he looks through Notion, Todoist, the sponsored-video schedule and the Skillshare class release schedule to pick the best use of the next few hours. — 00:06:19 · Notion, Skillshare classes
  • ★★ While filming, Ali keeps a rough outline of the video in Notion, in a small window at the edge of his screen or on his iPad Pro next to the lens. — 00:06:49 · Notion, iPad Pro
  • ★★ Ali is going through the JustinGuitar online course, which he first used to teach himself guitar about five years ago, now to learn music theory for music production. — 00:06:49
  • ★★ When he wants to play without deliberate practice, Ali pulls up the chords of a song in the Ultimate Guitar Tabs app on his iPad or iPhone. — 00:07:39 · iPad Pro

00:08:00 — CuriosityStream and Nebula sponsor read

  • ★★ At about 10 p.m. Ali sets his lights to a warm "relax" scene and turns on Night Shift, because blocking blue light apparently readies the body for sleep, as Matthew Walker says in Why We Sleep. (hedged) — 00:09:06 · Matthew Walker, Why We Sleep
  • ★★ Ali calls Matthew Walker's book Why We Sleep very good. — 00:09:06 · Why We Sleep, Matthew Walker

00:09:15 — Winding down: Philips Hue scenes, Night Shift, phone across the room, evening check-in, Kindle

  • ★★ At night Ali charges his iPhone on a chest of drawers on the opposite side of the bedroom from his bed so that he cannot have his phone in bed. — 00:10:19
  • ★★ In bed Ali answers the evening questions of his Notion daily check-in: his three biggest wins of the day and three things he is grateful for. — 00:10:19 · Notion
  • ★★★ For "homework for life", which he started recently, Ali writes a few sentences each night about the moment of his day he could turn into a story or anecdote; he says this way of reflecting on his day is new to him and helps him. — 00:10:49
  • ★★ Ali keeps his Kindle on his bedside table and reads fiction in bed with the brightness turned right down so it does not strain his eyes. — 00:11:31 · Kindle
  • ★★ Ali is reading A Court of Thorns and Roses and finds it pretty good so far. — 00:11:31
  • ★★ Ali admits that a really riveting book sometimes keeps him reading until about 4 a.m., leaving him sleep-deprived for work the next day. — 00:11:31

In the description and comments

  • ★★ Asked why he moved from Things 3 to Todoist, Ali says Todoist is cross-platform and works well with teams, while Things 3 is nicer. — creator comment
  • ★★ Asked to share more about Obsidian, Ali says he does not use it. — creator comment
  • ★★ Asked why he listens to podcasts at double speed, Ali replies that life is too short. — creator comment
  • ★★ Ali confirms that his morning and evening journaling routine in Notion comes from Valentin and says they discussed it in depth in their Deep Dive. — creator comment · Notion, Deep Dive
  • ★★ Asked how many people work for him, Ali says his team is two people and a bit. — creator comment
  • ★ Asked which grammar school he went to, Ali answers WHSB. — creator comment

Threads in this video

  • restate · Should you journal, and how? — Each morning Ali fills out a daily check-in in Notion on his phone: what he dreamt, the one thing he will focus on that day (his highlight of the day) and what under his control will make the day better; he finds it starts his day well. (00:00:00)
  • restate · Which productivity apps should you use? — Todoist is Ali's to-do list app of choice; he checks it a couple of times a day for anything urgent. (00:02:26)
  • shift · Which productivity apps should you use? — Asked why he moved from Things 3 to Todoist, Ali says Todoist is cross-platform and works well with teams, while Things 3 is nicer. (creator comment)
  • restate · Which note-taking app should you use? — Ali writes in Roam Research while a piece of writing, an idea or a video plan is at an early stage, then moves it to Notion to write the final video script or the final version of an article or blog post. (00:03:24)
  • first on record · How should you plan your day? — After work Ali does the highlight he set for the day in Notion that morning; on days without one, he looks through Notion, Todoist, the sponsored-video schedule and the Skillshare class release schedule to pick the best use of the next few hours. (00:06:19)
  • restate · How do you sleep better? — At about 10 p.m. Ali sets his lights to a warm "relax" scene and turns on Night Shift, because blocking blue light apparently readies the body for sleep, as Matthew Walker says in Why We Sleep. (00:09:06)
  • restate · How do you stop your phone and social media from eating your time? — At night Ali charges his iPhone on a chest of drawers on the opposite side of the bedroom from his bed so that he cannot have his phone in bed. (00:10:19)
  • restate · What morning routine should you have? — Each morning Ali fills out a daily check-in in Notion on his phone: what he dreamt, the one thing he will focus on that day (his highlight of the day) and what under his control will make the day better; he finds it starts his day well. (00:00:00)

Mentioned

Central: iPad Pro · Notion

Also: People: Matthew Walker

Projects: Skillshare classes

Works: Why We Sleep

Organizations: Nebula · NHS

Products: Apple Watch · Audible · Kindle · MacBook

Only in the description or credits: Deep Dive

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