Gear

A list of digital and physical products I depend on to get my things done while working remotely.

 

A way of living.

Working From Home since the pandemic hit, having moved to my hometown in 2022 to be closer to the family.

Home Office

 
 

Below is my current setup to work at home.

For each item, you will find a link configured with my own Amazon Affiliate ID (when applicable).

This means that if you buy any of the items shown below, I will get a few cents from your order.

You won’t be charged more by buying through these links.

The Core

  • Apple MacBook Pro “14 2021 - The M1 chip comes from a different world. I’m amazed at how fast this is, especially when it comes to connecting and disconnecting external monitors.

  • Bang & Olufsen H9 - A pair of H9i was my first endeavor into B&O’s ecosystem and I intend to never leave it again. The sound profile is just perfect. Currently, I’m rocking a H9 in black leather and they’re simply great. They’re not on sale anymore so the link is for B&O HX.

  • Herman Miller Sayl - I had been waiting for years to get the right excuse to invest in quality seating from Herman Miller. When the pandemic hit and sent all of us home, I knew that was the right opportunity. My Herman Miller Sayl has helped me overcome scoliosis to the point that I don’t even remember I have it.

  • IKEA Melltorp - To have a home office you need a desk to work on. I work on a very simple, no-fuss, Ikea Melltorp though a standing desk is on the watchlist.

Peripherals

  • Apple Magic Keyboard - It’s not the highly interesting mechanical keyboard you were hoping for but it’s beautiful, functional, and doesn’t need an extra armrest to be ergonomic.

  • Asus ProArt PA278QV - Provided by my current company. The colours are pretty great and it’s a pretty good option when it comes to bang for buck.

  • Jabra Speak 510 - My current setup depends on this little mighty piece of hardware that works both as a microphone and as a speaker, providing the best conference experience at home. I’d suggest everyone to rock this to setup conferencing everywhere right out of the box.

  • Logitech Brio 4K Webcam - Simply the best camera out there for looking good when making your calls. It brightens up the room.

  • Logitech MX Vertical - This is by far the best mouse I’ve ever encountered in my life and can’t stress enough how important it is for you to spare extra effort on your joints, even if we’re just talking hands and fingers.

  • Xiaomi Mi Desk Lamp - Connected to both Google Home and Amazon Alexa. The fact that the light is dimmable helps a lot to the eye strain.

Organization

Stationary

  • Baron Fig notebook -  I obsess more about paper than most people. Depending on the situation and purpose, I have a specific notebook for that. Baron Fig is my notebook for long-form writing. It’s probably the best paper that I’ve ever interacted with so I highly recommend it to anyone asking for a new notebook.

  • Field Notes notebooks - I have a long collection of Field Notes where I write down the things that I don’t want to forget or quick thoughts to go through later. I’ve done this for years and now I have an archive of my fleeting notes that are then recycled and reused elsewhere for work or long-form endeavors.

  • Leuchturmm1917 daily agenda - When you’re dealing with big parallel activities for a long time, sometimes it’s hard to see any progress. That’s why I use a “reverse” daily agenda - to write down what was achieved/done that day. It helps me feel accomplished at the end of the day.

  • Rhodia A4 notebook - For my meetings or quick jotting, I’m usually scribbling on Rhodia paper - which is also pretty good. Having my meetings organized in an A4 notebook is actually helpful when it comes to finding old notes.

  • Muji 0.38 pen - I’m also very particular when it comes to handwriting and usually go back and forth between two options. The main usage goes to Muji’s finer ballpoint because it reacts very quickly and never fails. For almost an €1.5/unit, this is the best affordable pen there is.

  • Kaweco AL Sport fountain pen - Kaweco’s Extra Fine nib in Midnight Blue color is something to marvel at. It nurtures my creative thoughts.

 

Mac Apps

 
 

A shortlist of my 10 Mac Apps that I rely on every day.

  • 1Password - Probably one of the apps I use most daily - a cross-device, cross-browser, cross-OS keychain for all your passwords and sensible stuff, at the touch of a fingerprint.

  • Byword - Whenever I feel the need to jot down very quickly and get my thoughts sorted out, I use this very simple markdown app made in Portugal.

  • Cron - Calendars can get messy really quickly. Cron allows me to manage my time across several G Suite accounts. What I love most about is the Share Availability feature that feels like a Calendly on top of all your events and busy times.

  • Linear - If need be, JIRA is accepted. But Linear is both beautiful to use and useful as a product manager. Getting things done within a team with Linear feels just right.

  • mymind - I tend to collect many images and thoughts about products, product design, branding, advertising, color palettes, text, and quotes that I want to keep close to my thoughts. my mind is my go-to place when it comes to inspiration.

  • Notion - Notion is my all-in-one app that allows me to bend information at my own will. Keep it neatly organized and it’ll pay back very soon. I even use it for my sourdough baking logs. 🥖

  • Pastebot - If you’re someone who does ⌘+C ⌘+V a lot, Tapbots studio has something that might feel like a superpower. Pastebot has saved my life hundreds of times by having a clipboard history that is updated passively without having to think about it.

  • Sketch - Through the times of Figma, Invision, Marvel, and so on, Sketch continues to be my favorite place to sketch up (pun intended) any low-fi prototypes to get the design team on board with some thoughts. For me, Sketch is the real collaborative whiteboard.

  • Spotify - This is a no-brainer because I need music to survive in any kind of environment. Be it jazzy tunes, doom metal, german minimal electronica or american folk, music is in fact in the background of everything I do. I do hit the pause button for meetings though.

  • Todoist - Last but not least, Todoist is the place where all my tasks - both personal and professional, are categorized, prioritized, and neatly organized. Before even jumping to e-mail, Todoist is the first thing I open every morning.

 
 
 

Honorable Mentions

  • Airtable - Spreadsheets with superpowers. Airtable has been a long friend of mine in managing everything from my own capsule wardrobe to wine tracking. It’s also the place where I manage most of my useless collections.

  • DuckDuckGo - My go-to search engine.

  • Harvest - Even if I’m not billing my hours, Harvest is always ticking in the background so I can know how much time I have invested in something while at my computer. It’s the perfect time-tracking app.

  • PocketCasts - It’s not always that I can get the time to go through some podcasts while working. But when it does happen, it happens with PocketCasts. Support your favorite podcasting app!

  • Scannable - A handy iOS app by Evernote that I use to scan physical documents. It’s better than photos for sure.