Software I use, gadgets I love, and other things I recommend.

I get asked a lot about the things I use to build software, stay productive, or buy to fool myself into thinking I’m being productive when I’m really just procrastinating. Here’s a big list of all of my favorite stuff.

Workstation

  • 14” MacBook Pro, M1 Max, 32GB RAM (2021)

    I was using a ThinkPad X1 Carbon 14” with Manjaro linux prior to this and the difference is night and day. I’ve never heard the fans turn on a single time, even under the incredibly heavy loads I put it through.

  • Corsair K55 RGB PRO Gaming Keyboard

    I love the feel of this keyboard. It’s not mechanical, but it feels great to type on. The RGB lighting is a nice touch.

Development tools

  • Phpstorm 2023

    I’ve been using PhpStorm for over 10 years now and I can’t imagine using anything else. It’s the most productive PHP IDE out there.

  • Datagrip 2023

    I use DataGrip for all of my database work. It has so many drivers available that it makes connecting to any database a breeze.

  • Insomnia

    I use Insomnia for all of my API testing. It’s a great tool for testing and debugging APIs. I was really happy with it, but I feel like the quality of the project has gone down since it was acquired by Kong.

  • Ray

    Ray is a great tool for debugging and profiling PHP applications. I use it all the time.

  • Warp Terminal

    I use it to manage my local development environment, run tests, and working with the terminal. The ability to save commond tasks as snippets saves me so much time a week.

  • Git Kraken

    I use Git Kraken for all of my Git work. It’s a great tool for visualizing branches and commits. It also allows me to keep an eye on team mates work.

  • JetBrains Mono Font

    I use JetBrains Mono as my code font. It’s a great font for coding and it’s free.

Productivity

  • Ray Cast

    Raycast is a more advanced version of Alfred MacOS app. It allows me to run just about any command or application from spotlight.

  • Todoist

    I use Todoist to manage my tasks. It’s a great tool for managing tasks and projects. I'm really proud to have completed over 22k tasks with it over the 5 years I've been using it.

  • Proton Mail

    I use Proton Mail for all of my email. It’s a great privacy focused email service that I've been using to try to "de-Google" my life.

  • Focus

    Simple tool for blocking distracting websites when I need to just do the work and get some momentum going.