Uses

This post lists out all of the tools and equipment I use day-in, day-out. I'll update this post semi-regularly, whenever I make any major changes to my setup.

#Workspace

• Laptop: MacBook Pro M1 14" (2021)
• Monitor: LG 38WN95CP QHD+ 38” Curved UltraWide
• Keyboard: ZSA Voyager
• Mouse: MX Master 3 Mouse
• Headphones: AirPods Pro
• Speaker: Bose SoundLink Flex Portable Speaker
• Webcam: Logitech C920S
• Desk: Flexispot E7 Standing Desk
• Chair: Unsure... it was a Christmas present 😅

#Development

I started using PHPStorm about a year ago. I don't know how I lived without it. It makes it so easy to refactor a large codebase, or source dive vendor code.

I'll often defer to VS Code whenever I'm dealing with a foreign codebase, like one from a support request, or updating my dotfiles.

When I'm not using the integrated terminal in PHPStorm or VS Code, I'm using iTerm:

I'm using Zsh with a lot of bash aliases & functions. If you're interested, you can browse them all in my dotfiles repository.

Aside from my code editor & terminal, there's a few other apps I use on a fairly regular basis:

• Firefox
• Tower (my Git GUI of choice)
• TablePlus (my database GUI of choice)
• Tinkerwell (makes it super simple to tinker with code)
• Ray (easy dump debugging without the need to break the request)
• HELO (local email testing)
• Tuple (for 🍐 programming at Statamic)

#Productivity

I'm pretty happy with my current "productivity stack". They work great for me, so I have no reason to switch it up.

• I use Things 3 for keeping on track of my tasks, both personal & work ones. It's got to be one of the most well-designed macOS and iOS apps out there!
• I use Bear for taking notes. I love being able to use a hierarchical structure for my notes and the iOS app works well for writing long notes.
• I host my emails with Fastmail. It's a great privacy-focused email service and has a really decent web UI & iOS app which I use on a daily basis.

#Business

Finally, these are a few of the apps I use to run my business:

• I use FreeAgent to send invoices, handle my bookeeping, file my tax returns. I've been using it for just over five years now - don't know what I'd do without it.
• Starling Bank is one of the big challenger banks here in the UK. They have a really simple interface, and it automatically syncs all my transactions into FreeAgent.
• I use Wise so I can send & receive money internationally. Wise has really good low rates compared to the rest of the market.