My Productivity Desk Setup

2021-01-14 · Tech review, setup or bag tour · Ali · recording, 15:38 · watch on YouTube

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

Ali tours his 2021 productivity desk setup: an M1 Mac mini driving the LG 49-inch ultrawide, mouse plus trackpad, the IQUnix F96, a Cam Link and Shure SM7B for calls, the Fully Jarvis desk, a Herman Miller Sail he bought without his mother's permission, Ugmonk accessories with the Analog to-do cards, the reMarkable 2, Hue lighting and a ceiling-mounted filming rig.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — Welcome to the annual productivity desk setup tour

★★ Ali's desk setup runs on the 2020 M1 Mac mini, maxed out with 16 GB of RAM and a 2 TB drive, which he finds fantastic for his large video files. — 00:00:00 · Mac mini

00:00:14 — Hardware: M1 Mac mini, LG ultrawide and Moom, mouse and trackpad, IQUnix keyboard, Thunderbolt dock, speakers, Cam Link and microphone

★★ LG sent Ali its 49-inch ultrawide monitor two years ago and he has had no reason to upgrade: it is like two 27-inch monitors side by side without the bezel in the middle. — 00:00:43
★★ Ali uses the app Moom to switch window layouts on his ultrawide monitor by keyboard shortcut: a main window in the middle with two at the sides, or the middle split in two when taking notes from a book. — 00:00:43 · keyboard navigation
★★ Ali likes having both a mouse and a trackpad: the Logitech MX Master 3 for everyday navigation, the Apple Magic Trackpad for smooth scrolling and gestures. — 00:01:12
★★ Ali likes the sound of his IQUnix F96 mechanical keyboard, but its one drawback is that on a Zoom call he cannot hide the sound of typing notes from the other person. — 00:02:13 · Zoom
★★ The 2020 M1 Mac mini has only two Thunderbolt ports and two USB ports, so Ali connects a CalDigit TS3+ Thunderbolt dock for more ports, including an SD card slot. — 00:02:13 · Mac mini
★★ Ali chose his Kanto speakers mainly because they are white and look nice on a desk; after about five years with very cheap LG speakers, his channel now makes enough money for him to splash out. — 00:02:52
★★ With the Elgato Cam Link 4K Ali plugs a camera in by HDMI and uses it as his webcam on Zoom calls and livestreams, which he calls a real flex next to other people's poor webcams. — 00:03:21 · Zoom
★★ On livestreams and Zoom calls, Ali says, audio quality matters even more than video quality; he uses the Shure SM7B microphone on a Rode PSA1 arm. — 00:03:51 · Zoom
★ Ali's microphone runs through a Cloudlifter into the Focusrite 2i4 audio interface, which he also uses to record himself playing the guitar or piano. — 00:04:35

00:04:50 — Furniture: the Jarvis standing desk, the Herman Miller Sail and its ergonomics, headphone hooks, the IKEA Alex drawers

★★ Fully sent Ali its bamboo Jarvis standing desk about two years ago; he has loved it and thinks he will have a motorised standing desk in every future setup, because switching between sitting and standing is so nice. — 00:05:04
★★ Ali used to ask his mother's permission to spend £700 on a chair and she refused; this year (2021), at 26, he ordered the Herman Miller Sail without asking her. — 00:05:33 · Ali Abdaal's mother
★★ The Herman Miller man who delivered Ali's chair showed him the right ergonomics: the chair's arms just above the desk, so his arms rest at about 90 degrees; so Ali now keeps his desk lower than before. — 00:05:33
★★ Sitting this way in the Herman Miller Sail, Ali says he no longer really gets the back pain he always had with other chairs, even after hours at the desk in lockdown and since quitting his job as a doctor. — 00:06:21

00:07:13 — Desk accessories: Ugmonk Gather and Analog, coasters, the reMarkable 2, plants, Japanese cups, things on the drawer unit

★★ Nearly all of Ali's desk accessories are now from Ugmonk, a brand he had long lusted after; it is a little expensive, but with his channel making money he decided to splash out. — 00:07:13
★★ Ali organises his paper and non-tech desk items in Ugmonk's Gather, a modular organiser with a walnut base and movable white pieces for sticky notes, pencils, SD cards, pens and his phone. — 00:07:42
★★ For the last few weeks Ali has used Ugmonk's Analog, a paper to-do system: the idea is to write each day's list on a "today" card and cross items off, with "next" and "someday" cards stored underneath; he keeps the today card propped on its walnut stand in front of him. — 00:08:19
★★ Some would call Ugmonk's Analog overpriced, Ali says, but he finds it great, well designed and minimalistic: for a minimalist aesthetic you have to be prepared to pay a little extra. — 00:08:19
★★ Ali's Ugmonk coaster says "enjoy the journey", which he calls one of his mantras in life. — 00:09:24
★ A second coaster on Ali's desk says "clam rats" (as heard), the name of his university friendship group; his friend Marcus made it with their initials, and it reminds Ali that he has friends. — 00:09:24
★★ Ali has tested the reMarkable 2 tablet for a few weeks, quite likes it, and says he will do a proper review of it in a little while. — 00:09:54
★★ Ali calls the reMarkable 2 like an iPad but less good, and uses it for handwritten notes on calls; he rarely took handwritten notes on his 12.9-inch iPad Pro, which is overkill for that. — 00:10:23 · iPad Pro, Apple Pencil, Paperlike
★ Ali keeps pens and coins in two Japanese cups he got in Japan on a research project in his second year of medical school, around 2014. — 00:11:02 · Japan

00:12:13 — Lamps and Hue scenes, cable management, ceiling-mounted light and overhead rig

★★ All the lamps in Ali's living room have Philips Hue bulbs, whose lighting scenes he switches by asking Alexa. — 00:12:13 · Philips Hue
★★ With a standing desk, Ali says, you have to think hard about cable management, so that no cables fall off and nothing topples when the desk rises to standing height. — 00:12:38
★★ This year (2021) Ali has cut the friction of filming YouTube videos: a Godox SL60 light is fixed to the ceiling, and a ceiling screw takes a boom arm with his Sony A7 III for overhead shots, with no C-stand to set up. — 00:13:37 · friction
★★ Ali says his desk gear may seem excessive but is all in service of trying to boost his productivity, then admits that buying fancy desk accessories and a fancy standing desk is not really the way to boost your productivity. — 00:14:07

00:14:25 — Sponsor read for his Skillshare productivity classes; sign-off

Threads in this video

kept · Ali promises a proper video on his desk setup (2020) — Ali releases his annual productivity desk setup tour, going through everything on his desk and how it adds to his workflow. (00:00:00)
kept · Ali promises a video on the pro tip for an ergonomic desk height (2020) — In his desk setup video Ali explains the desk-height tip from Herman Miller: the chair's arms just above the desk, arms at about 90 degrees, hence his lower desk. (00:05:33)
kept · Ali promises a review of the IQUnix F96 keyboard (2020) — Ali points viewers to the video in which he reviewed his IQUnix F96 keyboard in depth (June 2020). (00:01:41) → refers to My Favorite Mechanical Keyboard - IQUnix F96 Coral
progress update · Ali promises a review of his reMarkable tablet (2021) — Ali has tested the reMarkable 2 tablet for a few weeks, quite likes it, and says he will do a proper review of it in a little while. (00:09:54)
retold · Ali wants a Herman Miller chair, but his mother says it is too expensive (2018) — Ali used to ask his mother's permission to spend £700 on a chair and she refused; this year (2021), at 26, he ordered the Herman Miller Sail without asking her. (00:05:33)
refine · Should you use keyboard shortcuts? — Ali uses the app Moom to switch window layouts on his ultrawide monitor by keyboard shortcut: a main window in the middle with two at the sides, or the middle split in two when taking notes from a book. (00:00:43)
restate · Which tech is worth buying? — Ali likes having both a mouse and a trackpad: the Logitech MX Master 3 for everyday navigation, the Apple Magic Trackpad for smooth scrolling and gestures. (00:01:12)
refine · Which tech is worth buying? — Ali calls the reMarkable 2 like an iPad but less good, and uses it for handwritten notes on calls; he rarely took handwritten notes on his 12.9-inch iPad Pro, which is overkill for that. (00:10:23)
refine · What gear do you need to make YouTube videos? — On livestreams and Zoom calls, Ali says, audio quality matters even more than video quality; he uses the Shure SM7B microphone on a Rode PSA1 arm. (00:03:51)
restate · How should you set up your desk? — Fully sent Ali its bamboo Jarvis standing desk about two years ago; he has loved it and thinks he will have a motorised standing desk in every future setup, because switching between sitting and standing is so nice. (00:05:04)
refine · How should you set up your desk? — The Herman Miller man who delivered Ali's chair showed him the right ergonomics: the chair's arms just above the desk, so his arms rest at about 90 degrees; so Ali now keeps his desk lower than before. (00:05:33)
refine · Should you run your work from a to-do list? — For the last few weeks Ali has used Ugmonk's Analog, a paper to-do system: the idea is to write each day's list on a "today" card and cross items off, with "next" and "someday" cards stored underneath; he keeps the today card propped on its walnut stand in front of him. (00:08:19)
refine · How do you decide whether a purchase is worth it? — Some would call Ugmonk's Analog overpriced, Ali says, but he finds it great, well designed and minimalistic: for a minimalist aesthetic you have to be prepared to pay a little extra. (00:08:19)

Where the stories that moved here went next

Ali promises a review of the IQUnix F96 keyboard (2020) — kept
Ali promises a proper video on his desk setup (2020) — kept
Ali promises a video on the pro tip for an ergonomic desk height (2020) — kept
Ali promises a review of his reMarkable tablet (2021) — open (updates through 2021, not reported done); last: progress update, 2021-01-14

Mentioned

Central: Herman Miller Sail · Jarvis · LG 49WL95C · Mac mini · reMarkable 2 · Ugmonk · Ugmonk Analog

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

Organizations: Herman Miller · LG

Concepts: friction · keyboard navigation

Places: Japan

Products: Amazon Alexa · Apple Magic Trackpad · Apple Pencil · CalDigit Thunderbolt Dock · Cloudlifter · Elgato Cam Link 4K · Focusrite 2i4 · Gatherer · Godox SL60 · IKEA Alex · iPad Pro · IQUnix F96 · Kanto YU2 · Leuchtturm1917 notebook · Logitech MX Master · Moom · Paperlike · Philips Hue · Rode PSA1 · Shure SM7B · Sony A7 III · Zoom

Only in the description or credits: Fully

Also centred on Jarvis: My Productivity Desk Setup

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

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