My Most Productive Desk Setup Ever - Ali Abdaal
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How to guarantee you regret your life:https : //dai.ly/x93180y
My honest advice to a perfectionist:https : //dai.ly/x9319i4
My honest advice to someone who’s doing too much : https://dai.ly/x9319ty
My honest advice to someone who feels behind in life : https://dai.ly/x931a78
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If I Wanted to Be a Millionaire Before 30, I'd Do This : https://dai.ly/x931gzm
The Best Book I've Ever Read about Making Money : https://dai.ly/x931j9y
How to Go From $0 to $10,000 a Month in 4 Steps : https://dai.ly/x931kb6
How to Make $10,000 Month Writing Online : https://dai.ly/x931l42
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Why You Feel Lost in Life by Ali Abdaal : https://dai.ly/x933252
How to Figure Out What You Really Want in Life : https://dai.ly/x933hm8
How to Change your Life in a Year - 3 Simple Ideas : https://dai.ly/x933u78
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LearningTranscript
00:00Hey friends, welcome back to the channel and to my annual productivity desk setup walkthrough.
00:22So in this video, as usual, I'm going to break down everything that's on my main
00:25productivity desk, but also everything that's on my secondary gaming desk.
00:29So let's get started with the desks themselves.
00:32What desk is this?
00:33I actually have no idea.
00:35And this is actually the charcoal standing desk.
00:37They very kindly sent it to me about two years ago, and I've been using it ever since.
00:41And they claim to be the world's best standing desk.
00:43Honestly, I wouldn't say it's the world's best standing desk.
00:46Most standing desks are pretty similar.
00:47I've used Herman Miller ones in the past.
00:49I've used fully Jarvis ones in the past, and all standing desks basically do exactly
00:53the same thing.
00:54So there's nothing particularly special about this one, but I do like the softness
00:57of the finish of the table.
00:59And I do like the fact that the edges are very nice and curved, and it has a nice little
01:01gizmo for like raising or lowering the desk.
01:06And then the chair that I'm using here is the Herman Miller SAIL.
01:10I have tried basically every chair in the Herman Miller collection.
01:13They're all amazing, but the Herman Miller SAIL is by far my favourite, especially because
01:16of the blue and white configuration that I've got for this one.
01:19And I've had this again for the last several years, and I haven't felt the need to change
01:22it particularly, even though I've tried tons and tons of chairs, this is my personal favourite.
01:25Now in terms of the hardware powering the setup, the computer I'm using is the 2023
01:29Apple M2 Pro Mac Mini, and I've gone for the 32 gigabytes of RAM, and I think it's a four
01:34terabyte hard drive.
01:35Now when you look at the desk, the Mac Mini is nice and hidden, because it's actually
01:38tucked into this little shelving unit.
01:40And this is the Gather 2.0 from a company called Ugmonk.
01:42Again, I've been using their products for the last several years, and in my previous desk
01:45setup in Cambridge, I was using the Gather 1.0, but then they very kindly sent me the
01:49Gather 2.0 to test out, and I've been using it on my desk for the last 12 months or so.
01:53And this is super nice, because it means I've got a nice little shelf for the Mac Mini to
01:55go into.
01:56And then I've also got the raised stand for the monitor, and for extra accessories.
01:59And it's a very nice way of organising a desk, which means I don't need an extra monitor
02:02arm either.
02:03On the desk, there's a few other accessories as part of the Ugmonk Gather 2.0 set.
02:07So we've got these two little boxes on top of the monitor stand thing, and this is where
02:10I store errant SD cards, and also where I store post-it notes, because I quite like
02:14post-it notes.
02:15I like to remind myself of things and shove them on the computer screen.
02:17And over on the side of my desk, I've got a wireless phone charger, and I can attach
02:20my phone to it and charge my phone wirelessly.
02:22The main monitor that I use is the Mac Studio Display.
02:25And then off to the side, I've got the LG Dual Up monitor, which I often have in a vertical
02:29configuration.
02:30Now, these days, mostly when it comes to productivity, I'm a one-monitor kind of guy.
02:34I used to be an ultra-wide kind of guy.
02:35I used to have this enormous monstrosity of a 49-inch ultra-wide monitor, and I used to
02:39feel really good about the fact that I could have windows here, and there, and there.
02:42But increasingly, what I've realised is that, at least for me, when it comes to personal
02:45productivity, most of the stuff I do requires focused work, looking at one thing, rather
02:50than trying to multitask.
02:51Now, one of the other key peripherals that's powering this entire desk setup is the CalDigit
02:54TS3 Thunderbolt Hub thingy.
02:57And that plugs into the Mac Mini, but then the monitors plug into that.
03:00And that's convenient because, A, it's got an SD card reader for footage like this, and
03:03it also opens up more ports for me to be able to plug speakers, and microphones, and other
03:07funky gizmos into.
03:08The speakers I'm using are these lovely white Kanto U2 speakers, and they're on this speaker
03:13riser arm thing, which kind of puts them up at a little, like, 10, 15-degree angle.
03:17And again, the main reason for these is because they are white, and they look nice, and they
03:20also sound really good.
03:21But I'm not an audiophile.
03:22I cannot tell the difference between different speakers, but I read a bunch of reviews.
03:26These ones looked amazing.
03:27I bought them a few years ago, and I haven't really looked back.
03:29So if I'm ever taking a Zoom call that needs privacy, or if I've got people in the office
03:32and I need to concentrate, I just put on these noise-cancelling headphones, and I play Lord
03:36of the Rings soundtrack through them, and it's really good, and it just allows me to
03:39focus really nicely.
03:40Now, in terms of peripherals, I have two sources of navigation.
03:43So I use the Logitech MX Master 3S mouse for Mac, which is a little bit discoloured because
03:48I've been using it so much.
03:50Again, I've been using the Logitech MX Master series for absolutely years.
03:52At one point, I used an Apple Magic Mouse because I really wanted to have a white one
03:55before they made this in white, although I really wish this was in white because it would
03:58go with the desk setup better.
03:59But now they've made this in white, it's so much more ergonomic than the Magic Mouse,
04:02and I absolutely swear by it.
04:03And then over on the other side of the keyboard, I also have the Apple Magic Trackpad.
04:06Now, again, I like to be the kind of guy that has these two different things.
04:09I've got the left hand on the trackpad, the right hand on the mouse, and I basically just
04:13use the trackpad because it's got smoother scrolling, and because I can use gestures
04:16to switch windows or maximise or minimise things, stuff like that.
04:20And in between the mouse and the trackpad, I actually have a custom keyboard from a company
04:23called Light Mode, which is actually my company.
04:25This is a sample of a keyboard that we've got that we're just getting from various factories
04:29and stuff.
04:30Basically, me and my team are trying to build the best accessories for productivity, and
04:33we're trying to figure out how to build a really good keyboard.
04:36And so some of these keys are from the factory.
04:38I think some of these keys are from the Nufi keyboard, which I also like.
04:41So essentially, we just bought a load of keyboards, and we're sort of disassembling them to try
04:44and figure out what are the things that I personally and my team really like about certain
04:48kinds of keyboards, and then how can we sort of combine these to create the ultimate mechanical
04:52keyboard.
04:53We're not quite there yet, but we just keep on testing new keyboards, so this is particularly
04:55exciting.
04:56Now, I often alternate between a mechanical keyboard and also the Apple Magic Keyboard.
04:59These days, I've been on the mechanical keyboard hype because I'm trying to build one, and
05:02also because typing on a mechanical keyboard just feels a little bit nicer than typing
05:05on an Apple Magic Keyboard, although I do type marginally faster on an Apple Magic Keyboard.
05:09So sometimes I do swap it out depending on what I need to do.
05:12I've got this little Harry Potter little bobbing head thing, which was a gift from
05:15one of our video editors.
05:17I also like to keep a blue hourglass on my desk.
05:19This is an anti-procrastination mechanism, because essentially, if I'm struggling with
05:23procrastination from something, I will just say, you know what, I'm just gonna do it for
05:26five minutes, and then I will turn over the hourglass, and then as the time is going,
05:29I'll just make a start on the thing, and I'll genuinely convince my brain that I'm only
05:33gonna do it for five minutes.
05:34But then usually, once I've been doing it for five minutes, I kind of forget that the
05:37hourglass is going, and then I'm in the flow, and then I'm doing the thing, because really,
05:41the thing with procrastination is that fundamentally, it's mostly a problem with getting started.
05:45Getting started is the hardest part.
05:46Once you've gotten started, whether by using a timer or an hourglass or whipping yourself
05:50or doing whatever you want, it just becomes way easier to keep going.
05:53A few other funky things on this desk.
05:55So I actually have on the desk a low-profile microphone arm.
05:59This is from Elgato, and these are also the microphone arms that we use when I record
06:02my podcast.
06:03And on top of this, I've got the Elgato Wave 3 microphone.
06:06Again, I like this because it's white, and I like the sort of white and blue aesthetic.
06:09But this is nice because it's connected with a very long USB cable over to the Mac.
06:13And what this means is that if I'm on a Zoom call, or if, for example, if I'm teaching
06:16a live session of my part-time YouTuber academy, then I can bring this microphone in, and I
06:19can actually use proper microphone quality while also speaking directly to the camera.
06:23And so the first thing to mention is this camera, which is the Sony FX3, which I've
06:27got sitting on a nice little tripod.
06:29It's always at exactly the same height.
06:30I've got it set up perfectly.
06:31And on that, we've got a cheap third-party 24-millimeter f1.8 lens with an ND filter
06:36on it.
06:37And this is absolutely perfect.
06:38I really like 24 millimeters as a focal length because I'm basically the camera's arm's distance
06:42away.
06:43And with this particular focal length, hopefully it feels like I'm just at my desk and I'm
06:46talking to you, which is exactly what this is.
06:48Whereas if the focal length was a little bit further away, it sort of looks a bit presentory,
06:51and I don't really like the presentory look, which is why we've gone for 24 millimeters.
06:54Now, when it comes to productivity, one thing I often think about is productivity for the
06:57sake of what?
06:58Like, what is the thing that we're actually trying to optimise for?
07:00And so when I'm on this desk, I'm often reading books and trying to learn new stuff.
07:03And actually, one of my favourite ways to learn new things is by using Brilliant, who are
07:06very kindly sponsoring this video.
07:08Brilliant is the absolute best way to learn maths or data science or computer science
07:11in an engaging and interactive fashion.
07:12They've got thousands of lessons across all the different topics organised into courses
07:15that you can take at your own pace.
07:17And the really cool thing is that Brilliant customises the content that you see so that
07:20you can work at your own level.
07:21Now, my personal favourite courses on Brilliant are the computer science ones, because back
07:24when I was applying to medical school, I was torn between medicine and computer science,
07:27and I ultimately decided to go for medicine in the end.
07:29But there was always part of me that was like, oh, I really kind of wanted to learn more
07:32about computer science.
07:33But through taking some of the courses on Brilliant, I've gotten more of an understanding
07:35about Python and about algorithms and about data structures.
07:38And they've got a new course that they've released recently called Thinking in Code,
07:41which is really nice because it helps you learn the principles of coding, but applied
07:44in a real life fashion.
07:45And one of the things I always swear by is anyone wanting to start a business or make
07:49money on the internet, anything like that, learning to code is an incredibly useful skill
07:52that lets you see what problems are out there in the world and lets you just appreciate
07:55how you might be able to use code to solve those problems.
07:58You also might have heard the phrase that data is the new oil and people who have data
08:01analysis skills are really getting ahead in the workplace and also in business.
08:05And so you can check out Brilliant's Data Analysis Fundamentals course to brush up
08:08on the basics in a really interactive way.
08:10When you sign up, you can take a quick quiz that matches the content based on your interests
08:13and your skill level.
08:14And it works whether you're a complete beginner or whether you're a pro ready to write programs
08:17for a quantum computer.
08:18So if any of that sounds up your street, then head over to brilliant.org forward slash Ali
08:21Abdaal and that will let you sign up for a completely free 30 day trial.
08:24And if you use that link, which is also in the video description, then the first 200
08:27people to use that link will also get 20% off the Brilliant annual premium subscription.
08:31So thank you so much Brilliant for sponsoring this video and let's get back to it.
08:34Now connected to the camera, we also have an audio input and that audio input is from
08:37a microphone, which is directly above me, which you cannot see right now, but I'm going
08:41to show you the behind the scenes look.
08:42And this is the Sennheiser MK416 microphone, which is connected via an XLR cable over to
08:47the Sony FX3.
08:49And this means that I can just hit record on this camera, we already have the microphone
08:52at the perfect height, it's already out of shot.
08:54And so hopefully the audio of this video sounds pretty reasonable, but I haven't really had
08:57to do anything special.
08:58Back in the day, I had to record audio separately, put it into a Zoom H6, synchronise it in post.
09:03Now it all just goes straight into the camera and it works pretty well.
09:06And so part of the reason why this desk setup might seem a little overkill is because I've
09:09just thrown the kitchen sink at just trying to reduce the friction as much as possible.
09:13And that's a tip that I would give for you as well, figure out what are the things that
09:16you actually want to do when it comes to your productivity or other areas of your life,
09:20and then try your best to find the tech, the tools and the systems that will reduce the
09:23friction to make it as easy as possible to do the thing.
09:25So speaking of easy as possible to do the thing, we also on this desk have an enormous
09:29light.
09:30This is an Aputure 120D with the Aputure Light Dome 2 attached to it.
09:34And again, this is a light that I've had for many, many years.
09:35It's been absolutely trusty.
09:36It's never broken.
09:37It's never let me down.
09:38And that is attached to a C-stand and it's got this little remote with it so I can turn
09:41the light off and I can turn it back on again and I can turn it off and back on again.
09:45And it's just kind of fun.
09:47Now to add even more overkill vibes to our YouTube setup, connected to the C-stand, I
09:51actually have one of those magic friction arm things and that is connected to an extra
09:56camera.
09:57And that camera is mounted vertically and that's our YouTube shorts filming camera.
10:00And again, the fact that this camera is there and it's set up and it's attached to a 50mm
10:03lens and it's always there means that whenever I want to film YouTube shorts, it's so low
10:07friction all I have to do is unplug this microphone, plug it into that camera and then I can bang
10:11out a bunch of YouTube shorts in a single filming session.
10:13So we've got camera number one, we've got camera number two, which is the shorts camera.
10:16But then we also have above me, camera number three, which is the overhead rig.
10:20So if you've been following this channel for any length of time, you might have seen that
10:23I like to use overhead shots where I'm drawing diagrams or like writing on a book or showing
10:27a book or showing a piece of tech.
10:29And so we have mounted a third camera that's always permanently set up and that is attached
10:33to an extra C stand.
10:34And so again, this looks like a little bit of an eyesore.
10:36If you come into the studio and you see this, it looks a bit intense, but it's all about
10:39reducing the friction to the things that I want to do.
10:41I'm not trying to optimise for aesthetics here, I'm trying to optimise for functionality.
10:44Now, the great thing is that all three of these cameras are firstly powered by dummy
10:47batteries that are connected to the AC power adapters, which means I never need to worry
10:50about switching batteries or anything like that.
10:52But they're also all connected via HDMI to a little device called the Atom Mini Pro.
10:57And the Atom Mini Pro is a device that's connected to my Mac, which functions as a
11:01bit of a webcam.
11:02And so the cool thing about this is that I can use the input from any of these three
11:04cameras and I can use that input as a webcam for my Mac.
11:08I use this camera when I'm filming live sessions for my part-time YouTuber Academy.
11:11This is when I have several hundred students on a Zoom call, people from all around the
11:14world, and I'm talking for two hours about how to grow on YouTube, but the fact that
11:17I can speak to this camera, I've got my slides on the screen and people are just blown away
11:21by the quality of the webcam.
11:22But the even cooler thing is that it's not just this camera I can use, all I have to
11:25do is hit a button on the Atom Mini and then I can switch to the overhead camera.
11:29Boom, it goes overhead, I can grab a piece of paper and then I can kind of draw whatever
11:33I want.
11:34And so whenever I do these live sessions, it's a bit of an orchestration of like speaking
11:37to this camera, controlling the slides, hitting the buttons on the Atom Mini, switching the
11:41camera angles, drawing diagrams, and hopefully it makes for a very nice immersive experience.
11:45And it allows our students to feel as if they're getting like so much value from the session
11:48because I'm drawing the diagrams and showing the frameworks and everything that goes into
11:51growing this YouTube channel.
11:52Now, the only other thing to mention about this desk before we move on to desk number
11:55two is the fact that I have various fake plants and real plants as greenery around me.
12:00Firstly, I've got this Ikea Fetchka potted plant, which is an absolute staple of every
12:04tech YouTuber's desk.
12:05And I've actually had one of these plants on my desk since 2014, since I was in my like
12:08third year of medical school and I've just had it on my desk ever since.
12:11And then around me, I've also got a bunch of fake plants and I've also got a bunch of
12:14real plants as well.
12:15But I have read some studies that shows that having greenery and nature, even if it's fake
12:18nature around you, helps reduce your stress levels and increase your creativity and your
12:22focus.
12:23And so I thought, why not give it a go.
12:24And then the final thing I have on my desk at all times is a mock-up of my brand new
12:27book, Feel Good Productivity, how to do more of what matters to you.
12:30So if you're interested in potentially being more productive in a way that's enjoyable
12:32and meaningful and sustainable, you might have to check out my new book, feelgoodproductivity.com
12:36or you can check out the link in the video description.
12:38So this is desk number one, but partly what makes this the most productive desk setup
12:41I've ever had is that actually part of this desk setup, we've also got a second standing
12:45desk.
12:46So here's a standing desk from Herman Miller.
12:47And on this standing desk, I actually have a gaming PC from Alienware.
12:51This was an absolute like dream purchase of mine ever since I was like 12 years old, I
12:55would salivate over alienware.com and like, oh my God, build all these PCs and realize
13:00I could never afford it.
13:01And then when this YouTube channel and this business started doing well, I thought, you
13:03know what, I'm going to treat myself to a gaming PC and I can convince myself I'm being
13:06productive because it's also quite good for editing and Premiere Pro and things like that.
13:09Not gonna lie, the Alienware gaming PC is a little bit big on the desk, but it's really
13:13nice.
13:14And it's connected to the Dove Spectrum One 4k monitor, which they very kindly sent me
13:18about a year ago.
13:19And it's great.
13:20It's 4k resolution, it's 144 hertz, it's USB-C and also DisplayPort.
13:24And it's also got a KVM switch built into it, which means I can connect a laptop and
13:27my gaming PC and also my PS5 to the same monitor and I can just switch it with a single press
13:32of a button.
13:33And the gaming PC is connected to the Alienware keyboard and also the Alienware mouse, which
13:36are nice because they are white and blue and white and blue is my aesthetic.
13:39And then off to the side, I've got the PlayStation 5, I don't really play the PS5 very much.
13:43It's mostly the gaming PC if I want to do gaming and the games that I particularly enjoy
13:46are Diablo 4 these days, but also I played a lot of Hogwarts Legacy and back when Dragonflight,
13:50the World of Warcraft expansion came out, I was playing quite a lot of that on this
13:53gaming PC as well.
13:54But the coolest thing about the second desk setup is that underneath the standing desk,
13:57I actually have a walking pad, walking treadmill thing.
14:00And that has been one of the purchases that's most transformed my, I guess my health, somewhat
14:05my productivity over the last six months, I think I got it about six, seven months ago.
14:09In the last six months, I've used the device a total of 141 times and I've accumulated
14:133,767 minutes of exercise and I've walked a distance of 244 kilometres all while either
14:20gaming on the PC or while doing writing and other various focus related tasks on the PC.
14:25And this is great stuff because like, you know, as someone who sits at a desk and mostly
14:28has a desk job, i.e. writing and filming and learning stuff in front of a screen, it's
14:32actually been really hard for me to get my 10,000 steps in every day.
14:35But there's so much evidence that getting more steps in each day is better for your
14:37health.
14:38It's better for your longevity.
14:39It's better for reducing fat.
14:40And so then after watching a bunch of reviews, I decided to bite the bullet and get this
14:43walking pad, portable, foldable treadmill thing that I've had under my desk for the
14:47last six months.
14:48And actually after filming this video, I've got 90 minutes worth of Zoom calls, but I'm
14:51going to take those Zoom calls on the walking desk.
14:53So check this out.
14:56One hour, 26 minutes, 8,267 steps.
14:59So this was one hour of Zoom call with Angus, one hour on a Zoom call with Dan, who's my
15:03online personal trainer, like health coach.
15:05And now I need to watch a bunch of team updates that the team have sent.
15:08And so I'm going to continue doing that on the treadmill so that I'm hoping to get to
15:1110,000 steps literally in this last two hours of just being on the treadmill.
15:14It's great.
15:15Everyone should get a treadmill.
15:16So, so, so good for getting in the steps.
15:17And the other really cool thing about having the walking treadmill is that when I'm gaming,
15:21which is kind of a waste of time, and I do feel a bit guilty about it, I just turn the
15:24walking pad on.
15:25And that means that while I'm gaming, I'm also getting my steps in.
15:28And that kind of turns gaming into a more productive activity and also a more healthy
15:31activity.
15:32I'm not saying that every single thing in your life has to be productive.
15:34What I'm saying is that for me, health and fitness and longevity is important.
15:38And I do want to get in my 10,000 steps a day.
15:40And so if I can do that while also playing a video game, I'm winning across all fronts.
15:44I'm getting the best of both worlds.
15:45I'm taking care of my health while also adding joy to my life because I enjoy playing video
15:49games.
15:50The other cool thing that I didn't quite realise when I first got this set up is that that
15:52desk is not just for gaming.
15:53It's also if I need a sort of change of scenery.
15:56Now change of scenery is just generally nice to have like going from a desk to a coffee
15:59shop to a living room, whatever that might be, but actually going from one desk to another
16:03desk and changing from sitting to standing and even changing from Mac to Windows, all
16:07of that is just a surprisingly helpful change in state.
16:10And so this is now something that I kind of want to have in all future houses that I have
16:13provided the room that I'm in is big enough, being able to have two different desks for
16:17two different modes.
16:18That's just so cool.
16:19Now, if you enjoyed this video and you're interested in more ways that I use tech in
16:22my daily life to be more productive in a way that's intentional and effective and meaningful
16:25and enjoyable and stuff, you might like to check out this video over here in which I
16:29go through a day in the life and I talk through exactly what apps and what tech I'm using
16:32throughout the day to try and maximize my productivity.
16:35So thank you so much for watching.
16:36Have a great day and I'll see you in the next video.
16:37Bye bye.