Get a 30-day free trial of CuriosityStream - curiositystream.com/ali and use the code ALI at checkout! If you sign up to CuriosityStream, you also get access to Nebula for free, where I'll be posting exclusive content that you won't find on RU-vid. My Nebula profile: watchnebula.com/aliabdaal TIMESTAMPS 00:35 The Lubricating Jelly - Alfred, Moom 03:55 The Note-Taking Toolbox - Notion, Roam Research, Evernote, Drafts, Notability, Bear, Ulysses 11:11 The 4 Essentials for Getting Stuff Done - Things 3, Superhuman, Fantastical, Google Drive 15:42 The Productive Socializing Suite - WhatsApp, Messages, Slack, Discord 19:43 The Content Creation Machine - Final Cut Pro X, Logic Pro X, Screenflow, Ecamm, Adobe CC
I honestly love the way you lay basically the "thesis" of the video down for us in the beginning so we know exactly what we're gaining by watching this video!
Can you create a video that highlights the things that you struggle about? Like is there any drawback in being this organize? I think it will also help “humanize” your channel a little. Love your content!
I think it will be very interesting to hear suboptimal areas in your workflow you haven't quite ironed out because the tools you use can't/don't help yet
I love that this is all stuff my husband has on his computer, which he's running on Linux - and then some program he did himself - especially the "lubricating jelly" stuff and Roam (which, by its nature, envelops a number of other apps).
Another excellent, well-detailed video. Thanks for the content. Let me say at the outset that I spent 26 years as an attorney trying to master efficiency and productivity. I walked away from that frantically-paced and, truthfully, unfulfilling work and have spent the last three years teaching yoga and guiding meditation. This has freed me from the busyness hamster wheel. At 53, I’ve never been happier or more content. I enjoy your videos because I can learn something about different services and admire your ambition. I just hope that you’re not sacrificing sleep (“Why We Sleep” by Matthew Walker is a great read BTW) or not allowing yourself time for stillness and reflection. Now ... on to my top line thought/reaction. I think in the spirit of you sharing what you make video, it would be helpful to offer a breakdown of the costs of all of these services. I suspect many of us would love to have the option to use multiple services that fill specific, or dare I say niche, needs, but cost is a factor. For instance, I gave up Evernote premium because the cost kept going up and it felt just redundant enough with note-taking and cloud and local storage solutions I already used. Speaking of redundant, as a hobbyist photographer who once lost a heartbreaking amount of work on a failed drive (granted, it was years ago before SSDs were commonplace and less expensive) that I learned to have a redundant file-saving process. Cloud storage is important, but I always keep a physical storage copy of all of my files that is detached from the computer. This is where the cost of SSD memory coming down has been helpful. This is a piece-of-mind cost I am willing to pay. Finally, I very much look forward to your comparison of GoodNotes and Noteability. I currently use GoodNotes and am interested to get your take on why Noteability is preferred. Best regards!
It is a delicate dance to maintain balance on that "hamster wheel" and the tradeoffs we often make in the pursuit of optimal efficiency come at a hefty price down the road if we neglect proper nourishment and the restorative side of the equation too long. Take care of yourself Ali and thank you for sharing and creating such quality content.
I know folks weren't stoked at Fantastical switching to a subscription model, but man, that natural language processing feature has really been a great selling point. I personally think it's still worth it too
I have a Samsung Note 10+, Macbook Pro 16 inch and Surface Pro. What I love about the Surface Pro is that Windows has an app called your phone, which shows all notifications, make/receive calls, reply to text and even screen cast control your phone if your on the same wifi. With my Macbook Samsung has DeX but that's pretty a Desktop UI and needs to plugged in. Apple should copy Microsoft and make their version of your phone app.
Damn, you're kind of addictive, you talk so fast (yet not giving the feeling of it) that i just can't stop watching your videos. And i'm not even a very active YT user.
Ali this isn’t really related to the video but I want to thank you for introducing me to Yes Theory’s channel. What a group of guys. I literally could watch them for 24 hours straight.
you got away with 5 sponsors so smoothly discovered your channel 2 days ago love all the productivity video's it makes me feel productive watching you being productive if that makes sence
Just saw your vids first time. Loved it. And the speed of speech is on point. Didn’t have to use the speed up on RU-vid. Saves time. I’m sure if someone is dashing this much content, it would be a 1-2 hr long vids. Haha should be taken as a compliment. Thanks again for the great content.
Have been binging ur videos and educating myself for a while now but i have to say your method of teaching and studying is quite modern ( which is quite new to me yet undeniably interesting). what made u change from traditional way of studying to basically paperless. Also i wanna try this method (im bored of making notes and re-reading them) but i am kinda scared that it might be time consuming or may not work for me. anyways. u really inspire to work harder. Love from India
I'd be interested in seeing a video on your morning routine - unless you've already done one - but with what isn't working in your life. I think there's so much emphasis on being completely on-top of everything, when in reality we all know that's not the case. It would be good to see it from someone who appears to have their sh!t together. Great work, man.
@@manjeetsinghbhati3939 to be fair, you shouldn't be using chrome anyways on a Mac. Safari is where it's at - maybe spotlight was hinting you on that :P
Hi Ali, I just wanted to say thank you! I've been a subscriber for roughly a year and I just wanted to say that all the advice and tips that you have given are the first pieces of advice from videos that I have actually implemented into my life (compared to some other channels e.g. *cough* *cough* certain self-help 'gurus'). I now swear by your essay writing framework for a majority of my essay-writing subjects and it has helped me get into the schools I wanted, made me look forward to writing essays, and has let me have a much more positive outlook on assignments and school in general. Thank you so much :)
Please take my words as compliments, my English listening skills improved by watching your videos, detailed, calmed, fast but clear speaking, subscribed for a long time
Dawn I do use a fair amount keyboard shortcuts, but when I see this many attached to customization makes me feel like it’s memorizing a whole second language. I understand things could start to become second nature after time, but I am not so busy that right-clicking for a context menu or moving the cursor to the top of the screen takes seconds of my life that I can’t get back.
I also use different Note-taking apps for different purposes. I’m currently using Notion, Bear, Evernote, Notability and Apple Notes. I also tend to compose emails in Drafts first.
I just got a MacBook Air and it is my first apple product...I'm still trying to learn how to use it in the most effective way, but I think my life just got easier because of the app Alfred. Thank you for this video!
Hey Ali, I use a chrome book for my schoolwork. On the chromebook it has built in Split Screen. You just drag a window to the side of the screen that you want it. It is really cool.
Windows 10 now has 'Your Phone' built in. Connect iOS and Android phones to it. Send texts, and copy photos from the phone. Recently added, show the phone screen and interact with it using your mouse.
@Ali Abdaal "let me know if that's changed on Android" I've been using Google hangouts for the past four years to sync text messages between my Windows PC and Android phone and its worked fine. Most ChromeOS devices can run android apps natively so you can just install your messaging app on there if you're in the google ecosystem.
I agree with the note taking apps. I use Notability for all of my personal project notes. Since I’m in IT, I use OneNote for my work documentation, and I use Apple Notes for sharing things with my kids mother. So yeah, tool for the purpose.
Alfred was already a thing a long time ago. Apple just copied it. And you can program Alfred workflows. Just type „study“ for ex. and it let you open specific apps, documents and music all at the same time. So there are still more possibilities with Alfred.
This video convinced me to buy Alfred and I absolutely love it. I was skeptical that I’d use it, but it’s become something I can’t work on my Mac without. I’ve found a bunch of workflows that meet my needs and use Alfred now probably over a hundred times each day.
Hi Ali! You are one of the best people when it comes to Productivity on RU-vid. I appreciate all the effort that you put just to make the quality of your video fabulous.
Hi there Ali, I saw the word 'Singapore'. I currently live in Singapore, and would love to meet you, and am preparing to enter UK Med School. Maybe after this whole virus situation, you can come to Singapore before I leave! *Edit: omg, you have hearted my comment. Dream come true! Thanks for making my day Ali - and keep being a total wasteman ;)*
I kid you not, I just put stop being a wasteman into my things 3 😂 Ali, can Logic Pro remove silence from videos as well or just audio files? Do you know of any app that does it for videos? That would speed up so much the workflow in my video editing.
Ali I Think That You Should Set Your Alarm on Your 12.9 IPad.I Think That It Will Greatly Reduce Your Morning Procrastination. As It has worked very well with me. Btw Great Fan😇
I can't help but respect your hustle for all these sponsored videos Ali, lol. Killing it. Especially after your last "How much money I earn etc." video - straight gangster. I soooo respect the hustle.
@@odrezzi Sorry for delay in replying, I only just revisited this comment. I found an old tweet from Ali where he shared this link t.co/U5Nd1SqVKO?amp=1
Windows now lets you sync, photos, videos, contacts, messages, all ur notification, and even allows calling on antes devices using their inbuilt software called pc companion, or my phone, it's getting better! And its pretty good too.
The single most productive app I got from watching your video, was one that I actually have used in the past but completely forgot about when I moved back to the MacBook from the Surface Laptop 3 and that was Alfred. Alfred is an awesome shortcut tool, its actually very similar to how I open apps on my iPhone. I make folders for all my icons on my iPhone but because of the spotlight on the iPhone, I don't actually ever use my folders other than to store all my icons all one place, which is usually the second screen on my iPhone. But I love using Alfred, I never thought about how much time is wasted by moving the mouse and then clicking on that part of the screen to access an app or a setting on the Mac. Thank you for mentioning the app, and its one that I will always use now.
Good round up! Moved to Apple Notes for note taking Moved to Apple Reminders Moved to Notion for all my work and personal stuffs (even I have Todos there) Using AirTable for my finance stuffs I use Dropbox, switching to other providers is super hard I use Magnet to snap windows I ditched Alfred long time back as I can get most of it using Finder itself
Wow, I asked for rationales for his note apps in the last vid! Nice timing! Everyone has a system that works for them. For me, less is more because I personally get confused over the functionality of multiple apps. After years of experimenting, I've narrowed all my note-taking necessities to 2: NOTION ~ notes in motion = ongoing, current - project overview, management, and workspace - daily routine checklist - goals and finances NOTES (yup. The out-of-the-box note app on iOS) - quick capture (the Notion app load time is ridiculous) - archives, lists, and resources (long-term memory 2nd brain) - daily journal entries (dating back to June '13. It's my personal time-travel device) I suppose we are all carpenters. We just need to find the tools that best fit our own needs.
Ali , you made me realise that paying for APPs is OKAY! And it boosts your productivity 10 fold . I was initially resistant to buying apps , but u have always simplied the concept of long term gains and Honestly , it’s working ! A simple one £ app , like Forest can do wonders !
How did you create all these systems? Was it something you refined according to your needs, or did you pick it up from other people with similar needs?
TL;DR Being ultra-productive constantly seems like a drag, anyone wants to offer any ideas on why the "thought-to-action" line is so crucial? I have to admit, I never understood why Ali always talks about "shaving off a few minutes" by spending money or using apps like Alfred. For him, it slightly makes sense, being a RU-vidr and all who needs to be as productive as possible. But for the watchers, most of whom I'm assuming are not RU-vidrs, does it really make sense? I tried out around 5 alternatives to Alfred on Windows (the best one was Ueli in my opinion) but in the end, my workflow seemed more bloated and I ended up being less productive. For me, Windows search is functional enough - I can search for files and the Internet, and Spotlight which I've heard ios better, is probably enough for most average students and people alike. Still, I guess I'm not as smart as Ali, because I don't remember exactly what I named the file and that's why I use File Explorer; it's just organised and easier FOR ME. I agree with the productivity suite and having those specific types of apps, and am also happy he advised the watcher to use the one best for them, not the exact one he uses which may be expensive and/or redundant as they're not really using the features to the full extent. Also, the note-taking apps - completely agree with having multiple apps instead of looking for the one perfect app (unless you're a minimalist like Matt D'Avella xD). I personally don't like markdown and Evernote seems way too bloated & when I used it, was always using me to get the Pro version; eventually, I just switched to OneNote and have loved it (btw, does anyone know if Ali uses OneNote and/or if he has any tips?) Also, seems like you removed Bear and Ulysses from your workflow already based on the fact you introduced the alternative apps first. I actually tried to use Notion based on Ali's and Thomas Frank's recommendations after I left Evernote but found it wasn't the right fit for me - and that's perfectly fine. Notion is a very powerful tool and was something I didn't really need, although I do miss the looks of it. To anyone reading, PLEASE don't feel like you have to change your workflow if it works (haha) based on a recommendation of someone you look up to or trust - sure try it out like I did but it doesn't need to become your main tool if you don't like it. Discord is more "childish" and Slack more "professional" because of their target audience; he touched on this in the video, but Discord is obviously made for gamers and Slack is made for NERDS (jk, like business people, idek tbh) and that's why they look and feel different. Discord is great for social aspects, but if you want people to take you seriously, use Slack. WhatsApp Web is also a great feature, although the notification that appears on my phone and won't leave until I close WhatsApp Web is annoying. Android does have cross-platform messages just like WhatsApp Web, but it isn't like iMessage because it does rely on your SIM not your WiFiI'm pretty sure (correct if I'm wrong). TL;DR Being ultra-productive constantly seems like a drag, anyone wants to offer any ideas on why the "thought-to-action" line is so crucial?
Rupanshu Singh All “Productivity hacks” are essentially an adaptation of “just do it” but we do not live in the ideal world where we all have discipline to just do it instead of procrastinating. I Guess the only way to fully utilise these “productivity hacks” is to just choose the ones which actually help you significantly after experimenting for a while and leave the rest. I have found Ueli to be useful on my laptop as In instead of clicking on various buttons just to open a folder, I can press alt+space enter the folder name and immediately access it. I found it really hard to use a windows machine without Ueli after a few days. Productivity hacks and apps essentially boil down to reducing the friction to do the work thus making it require less discipline. This may help you to get things done quicker.
@@SharveshYT Great response! Yeah, it makes more sense that the hacks aren't meant to drastically change you into a new productivity machine but make it so you need less discipline/thought process to do get something done.
Man, thanks for this video... I just bought new macbook pro, first time using any macbook product. I was like very excited, had to wait for 7 days for the right specs and I watched this vid. Tonight had to scroll trough history to find your video to watch it on mac and pickup some apps... :D
What I love most about your setup is your use of Alfred. You don’t even use a dock it appears. Very nice. I still would like a dock but I’m going to at the very least start using Spotlight a lot more.
