Desktop arrangement to increase developer productivity
Snowpal Podcast: "Every drop makes an ocean". Overall developer productivity is driven not just by the big things but, collectively, as a result of a number of small things that we do.
The speaker discusses an approach to maximize productivity by organizing their desktop environment. They divide their desktop into quadrants, with specific applications consistently placed in each quadrant to streamline workflow. The speaker emphasizes the importance of personalization and consistency in desktop organization for optimal productivity.
Summary
Introduction to Productivity Methods
Emphasizing the importance of productivity.
Discussing the significance of small optimizations.
Acknowledging the personal nature of productivity methods.
Organization of Desktops
Explanation of dividing the desktop into quadrants.
Placement of IDE windows in Quadrant 2.
Browser windows typically in Quadrant 1.
Specific Quadrant Use
Description of Quadrant 3 for terminal windows.
Flexibility of Quadrant 4 based on the type of work.
Examples of tools used in different scenarios.
Consistency and Naming Conventions
Importance of consistency across desktops.
Lack of naming feature in Mac desktops.
Understanding desktop numbers and their associated tasks.
Customization and Productivity Impact
Flexibility in sizing and positioning windows.
Implications of window sizing on productivity.
Overall impact of desktop organization on productivity.
Podcast
Transcript
0:00
Hey, in this video let's talk a little bit about desktops. I've been using OS X or Mac for many, many years now, but before that I used to use Linux machines.So the where the notion of desktops has existed I think from the beginning of time and if you're used to it, you would never, it's not something you would go back on, right.
0:24
It's very important to our productivity.And on any given day, I have about 15 desktops open and active on my dev machine, and each of those desktops has a large number of windows.Let's take one of them.And I'm going to share this with you because you know, a lot of these things make a difference and I feel like I feel like you might be interested because a lot of these things actually make a difference when it comes to productivity.
0:49
Every little thing makes a ton of difference, cumulatively, right?Some of them even independently so.But even when they don't make a huge impact by themselves, collectively they are going to make a lot of difference.
1:05
So it's worthwhile to understand the pros and cons of certain approaches.And again, this is one of those things that's extremely personal, meaning it's everyone's personal preferences.So the idea here is not to say something is right or wrong, I just want to share something with you so you can try it, see if it works for you.
1:23
If not make the adjustments and so on and so forth.So if you took four, let's say I took a desktop and divided into 4, divided that into four quadrants, Let's start with the 1st, the 2nd quadrant.Sorry, I almost always have my IDE windows on in the second quadrant.
1:43
Now again, the IDE could be Ruby Mine or Android Studio or VS Code. It changes depending on the type of work that I would be doing in that in that desktop or any on any given day or or the week.So that while the IDs will change the fact that they would be positioned in Quadrant 2, they rarely ever change.
2:04
And now there are reasons to create intentional inconsistencies, if you will.But we're going to talk about the case here where I for someone like me who who actually thrives and believes consistency is very important in almost all aspects of life, I typically have it the same way in most of my desktops, right?
2:23
So the second quadrant has the ID, the first one has my browser windows.Now again, I don't like to have 10s of tabs.I've seen folks do that and it works for them.If it works for you, more power to you.If I had more than four or five tabs out, it just wouldn't work for me.
2:40
So I have but my browser would be in quadrant one almost always.Occasionally I put it in slightly different quadrants and locations but 90% of the time it's in quadrant one.Again, it could be Chrome.For the most part it is Chrome.Otherwise it's Firefox and Safari because for snowpile.com the work we do, we support multiple browsers and we while we develop primarily on Chrome, we test the other browsers to the extent possible.
3:05
Now the third quadrant.What do I I have my terminal windows here.I have about could have written it better.So terminal I typically have at least three tabs, maybe more, but at least three.
3:22
And we'll talk about terminals more specifically in a different video because that's a different discussion altogether.But for this, for the purpose of this video, it should suffice to know that my terminals typically are situated in quadrant 3.The 4th quadrant is an interesting one.What I put here depends on the type of work.
3:41
Again, that happens in this desktop.If I'm doing API work, I might have something like Insomnia right?An API platform or Postman if I at the time I used to use that, but I prefer Insomnia, used it for a while and I actually liked their interface and keeps it simple.
3:58
And plus we're doing graph work this is that's one of the best tools out there.But if I'm not doing API work, let's say I'm working on the mobile app, right?In that case, what I would do is actually have my simulator right, my mobile simulator, or sometimes a project.
4:15
You know that the actual iPhone onto your machines for doing certain kind of development and testing, but for the most part it's on in the simulator.So the simulator is here and if I'm doing some other work, some other kind of development, maybe architecture or design, that desktop might look quite different.
4:32
And even if quadrant one had the browser and three had the terminal which 9 or 10 times, I almost always have these two.The 4th quadrant is the magic quadrant or the dynamic one where it is always going to have something that's pertinent to that desktop.
4:49
Now by virtue of doing this and keeping it consistent across my desktops, and you know, unfortunately Mac doesn't let you name the desktops.I wish they let you do that or add that feature at some point.So these just tend to have a number, right?So let's say this is desktop #14.
5:05
I know in my mind, you know, I mean you've used it for a while.You know what?You know, the odd numbers might mean something.The even numbered desktops, even numbered desktops may mean something else.But let's say I know 14 relates to Snow Pals mobile development work or or EPI dev work.
5:21
Then I know what I can expect.I can go to that desktop and literally go to the quadrant of interest and start acting on that.I don't have to think about where these windows are.And again, I've drawn it this way, but it's not to say that they are equally spaced or sized.Sometimes they are, but nine or ten times they are not.
5:39
You can size them the way that works best for you.And again, it might sound like a silly thing to say, but how you size them might also have an implication on your productivity.I will go into further details about that in subsequent videos, but hopefully that gives you an idea.
5:57
And trust me, all of this plays a role, a huge role, in your overall productivity as an engineer, as a software developer.So keep that in mind.
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