It’s time for a new post about the tools that I’m using. See previous editions:
2013
2014
2016

As usual, most of the applications are still there, but there are some changes. More importantly, I merged Productivity and Work into a single section since I no longer see a good reason to separate them.

Productivity and work

1. Chrome
2. Dropbox
3. f.lux
4. Logitech SetPoint
5. Sublime Text
6. Total Commander
7. + LastPass
8. + Workflowy
9. + Pocket
10. + BitVise
11. + WizzMouse
12. + Ditto
13. + Freedome VPN

Gone are the anti-virus/anti-malware apps (Avast, MalwareBytes), along with the KeyTweak (I got a new notebook and I no longer need to tweak the keys). Also gone Beyond Compare (even though I’m still using it from time to time), and OneNote, replaced by Workflowy (Google Keep currently under evaluation) F-lux is at the borderline – still there, but I don’t know for how long. New entries: Wizz Mouse, because it makes your mouse wheel work on the window currently under the mouse pointer, instead of the currently focused window. Workflowy because of its brilliant simplicity and LastPass + Pocket because I forgot to add them 3 years ago. BitVise – because it’s much better than Putty + WinSCP combined. And finally, Ditto, a clipboard manager. Clear privacy issues, since it stores your clipboard forever, but it saved me a few times. Speaking of privacy – Freedome VPN is now in the list, since you can no longer not have a VPN nowadays…

Entertainment

1. Neflix
2. FastStone Editor
3. WebShots
4. + Photolemur

VLC and FastPictureViewer are gone, Photolemur is a new entry. And WebShots is still awesome!

Two Medium posts sharing the view about the workplace productivity: the open spaces are only good for paying less rent.
They both refer mainly to IT jobs.

Most startups nowadays are obsessed with the open office environment, and it’s nearly impossible to find companies that do not implement this type of layout. They’ll claim it’s because they want an “open and transparent culture”, but if you know anything about the subject, you’ll know this is the worst possible setup for actual work, and doesn’t improve communication or culture.
Why I only work remotely

Did you know the average developer only get two hours of uninterrupted work done a day? They spend the other 6 hours in varying states of distraction.
But here’s what happens during the two hours they have to themselves. They warm up. They check logs, issues, and wrap their heads around what needs to be done.
They dive into the code. Their pupils dilate. They enter what psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls a “flow state.”
If you’ve ever been “in the groove” or “in the zone,” that’s what this is. A happy state of energized focus. Flow.

But employers, for the most part, don’t listen.
They continue to cram their teams together into noisy open plan offices.
They continue to pepper their teams’ days with meetings.
They expect their teams to be responsive to emails or Slack, further dashing hopes of ever reaching a flow state and getting some real work done.
Do you think Tolstoy could have written War and Peace in an open plan office?

Live asynchronously

It’s time for a new post about the tools that I’m using. See previous posts:
2013
2014

Naturally, most of the applications are still there, but there are some changes:

Productivity

1. Chrome
2. Dropbox
3. f.lux
4. Logitech SetPoint
5. MalwareBytes
6. Avast
7. WebShots
8. KeyTweak

I removed from the list Skype, CrashPlan, WinRar, Avira.

Work

1. Sublime Text
2. Total Commander
3. OneNote
4. Beyond Compare

I removed from the list Wamp, Putty, Win Merge

Entertainment

1. VLC
2. Neflix
3. FastStone Editor
4. FastPictureViewer

Image resizer, GomPlayer and µTorrent are gone.