Top Developer productivity tools in 2024

Summary

In this video, the speaker shares their productivity tools and tips for staying efficient in today's tech-driven world. They emphasize the use of AI assistants like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude, as well as productivity-enhancing tools such as Warp for terminal tasks, iPad and Notion for note-taking, and VS Code with AI plugins for coding. The speaker also highlights the importance of time tracking, using Google Calendar, and staying organized to maximize output. The video offers practical advice for managing multiple tasks, staying productive, and leveraging technology effectively.

Takeaways

• 💡 The video discusses various productivity tools that the speaker uses and recommends, focusing on modern tools beyond traditional methods.
• 📈 The speaker emphasizes the importance of using AI assistants like OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Gemini, and Claude from Anthropic for enhanced productivity, suggesting everyone should adopt at least one.
• 🖥️ The speaker prefers the Warp terminal for its built-in AI capabilities, which help with DevOps tasks like setting up firewalls and managing ports without leaving the terminal.
• 📝 For note-taking, the speaker uses both an iPad with an Apple Pencil and the Notion app, highlighting Notion's collaborative features and integrated AI for refining ideas.
• 🎥 Notion is also used for YouTube planning, including video ideas, collaboration with the team, and managing the content creation workflow.
• ⌨️ The speaker primarily uses VS Code as an editor due to familiarity with shortcuts and workflow but mentions exploring alternatives like Codium, GitHub Copilot, and other AI-integrated tools for coding.
• ⏲️ Time tracking is highlighted as a crucial productivity tool, with the speaker using various apps and extensions to monitor time spent on tasks and keep track of progress towards yearly goals.
• 📅 Google Calendar is used to schedule important activities like gym time, ensuring focused time slots that team members respect for productivity.
• 🛠️ The speaker encourages trying out different productivity tools and AI assistants to find the best fit, as many tools now integrate AI features directly within the apps used daily.
• 📅 Keeping a clean and organized workspace, both physically and digitally, is stressed as a way to maintain focus and productivity, with an emphasis on minimal clutter and distraction.

Q & A

What is the main topic of the video?

The main topic of the video is discussing productivity tools that the creator uses to stay productive, focusing on AI assistants, terminal tools, note-taking apps, and time management techniques.

Which AI assistants are mentioned in the video?

The video mentions several AI assistants, including OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Gemini, and Anthropic's Claude. The creator prefers using OpenAI's tools the most.

What is the main benefit of using AI assistants according to the creator?

The creator highlights that AI assistants help streamline daily tasks, making workflows faster and more efficient, especially in coding and technical environments.

Which terminal tool does the creator use, and why?

The creator uses Warp as a terminal tool because it integrates its own AI assistant, allowing them to ask DevOps-related questions without leaving the terminal, thus boosting productivity.

How does the creator take notes, and what tools are used?

The creator uses an iPad with an Apple Pencil for handwritten notes and Notion for digital note-taking. They prefer the iPad for brainstorming and Notion for organizing and collaborating with others.

What role does Notion play in the creator’s workflow?

Notion serves as a central tool for writing notes, collaborating with a team on YouTube video production, and organizing tasks using a Kanban board to track progress.

Which code editor does the creator prefer, and why?

The creator prefers using VS Code (or just 'Code') because they are familiar with its keyboard shortcuts and workflow. Despite other editors like Cursor and Zed entering the market, VS Code remains their go-to editor.

What AI helpers does the creator use within VS Code?

The creator mentions using AI helpers like Codium, Super Maven, and GitHub Copilot to assist with tasks such as writing GitHub commit messages and other coding-related tasks.

Why does the creator emphasize time tracking, and what tools do they use for it?

The creator stresses the importance of time tracking to measure productivity and avoid distractions. They use a time tracking app that monitors how much time is spent on productive activities and provides reminders on how much time remains in the year.

How does the creator manage their daily schedule and ensure they stick to their routine?

The creator uses Google Calendar to block off specific times for important activities like going to the gym. This ensures that their team knows not to schedule meetings during those times, helping them stay focused and organized.

Outlines

00:00

💡 Introduction to Productivity Tools

The speaker introduces the topic of productivity tools, emphasizing their personal approach to staying productive. They reference a TEDx talk on modern time management, which offers fresh insights on productivity. The speaker highlights the importance of using modern tools, some of which they personally pay for. They promise to share a breakdown of the tools they use to help others become more productive. The speaker also introduces themselves as someone who makes coding and tech videos, encouraging new viewers to subscribe.

05:00

🤖 AI Assistants for Enhanced Productivity

The speaker delves into the use of AI assistants as a key productivity tool, emphasizing the growing role of AI in daily tasks. They discuss various AI platforms like OpenAI (ChatGPT), Google Gemini, and Claude by Anthropic, noting that while they primarily use OpenAI, they have tried others. The speaker believes AI assistants will become a standard feature in the future and encourages the audience to incorporate at least one into their workflow. They also mention how apps are increasingly integrating AI assistants to streamline productivity.

10:02

💻 Using Warp and AI for Terminal Work

The speaker introduces Warp, their terminal of choice, which includes an integrated AI assistant, allowing them to work faster without switching apps. They emphasize the importance of efficiency, especially in coding and DevOps, where AI assists in recalling commands and resolving issues. The speaker stresses that productivity tools are evolving to include AI functionalities directly within applications, making workflows smoother. The goal is always to get tasks done as quickly and effectively as possible.

📝 Note-Taking with iPad and Notion

The speaker shares their note-taking process, using both an iPad with Apple Pencil for handwritten notes and Notion for more structured, digital note-taking. They praise Notion for its AI capabilities, which help in refining ideas and collaborating with their YouTube team. Notion's Kanban board helps the speaker track the status of video projects, making it essential for organizing their creative workflow. While recommending these tools, they also acknowledge that simpler alternatives, like pen and paper, can work too.

🖥️ The Editor Wars: VS Code and AI Plugins

In this section, the speaker discusses their choice of text editor—VS Code. While acknowledging other options like Cursor, Zed, and Void, they stick with VS Code due to familiarity and efficiency. They highlight the importance of AI plugins in VS Code, which improve coding productivity by automating tasks like writing GitHub commit messages. The speaker encourages the audience to experiment with AI helpers as they become a crucial part of modern development environments.

⏳ Time Tracking for Maximum Efficiency

The speaker emphasizes the value of time tracking in boosting productivity. They use a paid app to monitor how efficiently they work and are reminded of how much time remains in the year through a browser widget. This constant time awareness helps them stay focused. Additionally, they use Google Calendar to block off time for important tasks, such as daily gym sessions, ensuring a balanced and productive schedule.

🔄 Summary of Productivity Tools and Final Thoughts

The speaker summarizes their approach to productivity, highlighting key tools like AI assistants, Warp terminal, Notion, and VS Code with AI extensions. They stress that integrating AI into everyday tools helps streamline tasks and improve focus. The speaker also discusses the importance of time tracking, both through apps and personal routines, to stay organized and efficient. They conclude by reminding viewers that productivity is about simplicity, cleanliness, and focus, and encourage feedback for future video ideas.

Keywords

💡Productivity Tools

Productivity tools refer to various software or platforms that help individuals manage their tasks, organize work, and increase efficiency. In the video, the speaker emphasizes how these tools are essential for streamlining their workflow, managing channels, and completing tasks faster. Examples include AI assistants, note-taking apps like Notion, and time-tracking apps.

💡AI Assistant

An AI assistant is a digital tool that uses artificial intelligence to help with tasks such as answering questions, organizing schedules, or coding. In the video, the speaker mentions using AI assistants like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini to boost productivity. These assistants are integrated into various applications, helping with coding and other tasks without needing to switch between apps.

💡Terminal

A terminal is a command-line interface where users input commands to interact with the operating system or applications. The speaker mentions using 'Warp,' a terminal with AI integration, to quickly perform tasks like setting up firewalls or opening ports. This is a core productivity tool for developers to manage tasks efficiently without leaving their workspace.

💡Notion

Notion is a productivity tool used for note-taking, task management, and collaboration. The speaker highlights using Notion for day-to-day note-taking, organizing YouTube video content, and collaborating with their team. It serves as a key component in managing both personal and professional tasks in an organized manner.

💡VS Code

VS Code, or Visual Studio Code, is a widely-used code editor that supports various programming languages. The speaker continues to use VS Code as their preferred editor due to its efficiency, familiarity, and customization with plugins, even though there are newer alternatives. It’s highlighted as a reliable productivity tool for developers.

💡Time Tracking

Time tracking refers to monitoring how time is spent on various tasks. The speaker uses a time-tracking app to measure productivity, ensuring they stay focused on work-related tasks rather than distractions. They emphasize how knowing where time goes can help optimize workflow and reduce time wasted on non-productive activities.

💡Warp

Warp is a terminal application with built-in AI tools, used by the speaker to enhance productivity while working on DevOps tasks like configuring firewalls or managing system commands. It allows users to ask for help directly in the terminal, saving time and reducing the need to switch between different apps.

💡Note-taking

Note-taking is the process of recording information to track thoughts, tasks, or plans. The speaker uses two approaches: digital notes on an iPad using an Apple Pencil, and the Notion app for organizing ideas. This helps them maintain clarity and structure in their daily workflow, especially for creative or collaborative projects like YouTube content.

💡GitHub Co-pilot

GitHub Co-pilot is an AI tool integrated into code editors to assist with coding by suggesting lines of code, automating tasks, and even generating commit messages. The speaker praises its ability to help with coding tasks, particularly for writing push messages, which they find tedious. It is positioned as an essential tool for developers looking to boost productivity.

💡Calendar Management

Calendar management involves scheduling tasks and allocating time for activities in a structured way. The speaker uses Google Calendar to block out specific times, like for gym sessions, ensuring that this time is reserved and not disrupted by other commitments. This practice is part of their overall strategy to stay organized and manage time effectively.

Highlights

Introduction to productivity tools used by the speaker, focusing on how to stay productive across various activities such as content creation, coding, and maintaining YouTube channels.

Mention of a TEDx talk on modern time management that the speaker has previously done, which takes a fresh approach to productivity, avoiding common advice like putting phones away.

Emphasis on the use of AI assistants like ChatGPT, Gemini from Google, and Claude from Anthropic for productivity, with a personal preference for OpenAI's tools.

The importance of integrating AI assistants directly into apps, such as Warp terminal, which has built-in AI functionality to assist with DevOps-related queries.

Use of the iPad and Apple Pencil for taking handwritten notes, which allows for easy content sharing and video creation.

Usage of Notion as a key productivity tool for note-taking, team collaboration, and managing content creation processes, especially for YouTube.

Discussion of using VS Code as the primary code editor, with a nod to the emerging competition like Cursor and Zed, but remaining loyal to VS Code due to its efficiency and personal workflow.

The extensive use of AI-powered tools within VS Code, such as Codium, SuperMaven, and GitHub Copilot, to enhance productivity, especially for generating GitHub commit messages.

Time tracking is highlighted as a crucial productivity hack, using both desktop and mobile apps to monitor time usage and set constant reminders for project deadlines.

Google Calendar is used to block out time for important activities like gym sessions, with the calendar serving as a way to organize daily priorities and ensure focused work time.

A minimalist approach to workspace organization, including a clutter-free desk and clean desktop, is promoted as a way to enhance productivity.

Warp terminal’s AI integration helps in quickly solving technical problems without leaving the application, making the terminal more productive for developers.

The importance of AI integrations in every tool is stressed, as the speaker predicts AI assistants will soon become standard across most apps.

iPad and Notion are highlighted as complementary tools for productivity, with the iPad being used for handwritten thoughts and Notion for organizing them digitally.

Final thoughts: Measuring productivity through time tracking and the intentional use of tools helps keep distractions at bay, allowing for more focused and intentional work.

Transcripts

let's go ahead and talk about

productivity Tools in this video we're

going to talk about the productivity

tools that I use and yes of course I do

have a lot to say about how to be

productive and I keep myself very

productive as far as I think and in case

you haven't watched one of my talk which

is on Modern time management you you

should go ahead and check out that that

was one of the tedex talk a heavily

viewed a high viewed uh talk that you

should watch it is not your ordinary

books which just says Hey keep your

mobile phones away and all of that it's

it's a modern concept and modern take on

how one should be productive and that's

exactly what I'll be doing in this video

there are a lot of tools that I use some

of them I pay uh for it and I pay from

my own pocket it's not sponsored or

something I pay for these tools you

don't have to pay any for any one of

them I'll just walk you through what I

personally use where the AI part of this

is going on and how I keep myself

productive so that's a whole raw kind of

a video where I'll just walk you through

what I use for what purpose I use them

and how the thing looks like to be that

much productive to put up a course on

Udi to use uh all of my time in workout

maintaining this Channel and another

Hindi channel so a lot goes on into my

life and I think a breakdown might help

you a little bit to get yourself tiny

bit more productive so that's all for

this video and in case you are new here

my name is ites I make a lot of coding

videos and I talk about what's happening

latest in the tech I talk about AI I

talk about building things along with me

like SAS application or react

application and all of that so in case

you're new here consider hitting

subscribe and let's go ahead and get

started let me share the screen with you

uh we'll be getting in a very organized

way of how things are going on and what

productivity I'm looking up for and how

this is go going on so the first thing

about the productivity that I would like

to go on uh with the AI

assistant so this is one thing which I

think everybody needs to have in this

Modern Age assistant come on I can write

that AI assistant

and turns out there are a lot of AI

assistant which can help you to work out

with the things and there's no shortage

of them and in case you are looking

forward for that there are like open AI

as known as uh chat GPT we have a Gemini

uh from the Google which is absolutely

free even open AI is up to a lot of

extent is also free and we also do have

a Claud from anthropic a lot of them

what I believe is you definitely should

be having at least one of them in your

daily day to life

along with the Googling of the stuff if

you try to use them because this is

going to become de facto very soon in

the future so I think using all of them

or at least one of them is going to

definitely make you productive I'm

mostly biased towards the open AI still

I am a early user of this product and I

use that uh Gemini also I am not super

happy with that the results are decent

great uh not that much useful probably

it's not in my flow that much that might

be the case uh Claude uh I have recently

started to use it for uh a whole lot of

code and how does it behaves it's just

an exploration phase I don't do much of

the research or ask questions to it

let's just say I forgot that what's the

command for uh doing certain things I

prefer to go in the open Ai and use for

it that's that's one of the case so I

think that in today's modern age and

World there needs to be at least one of

the coding assistant or AI assistant

that you should have almost every

product is getting built up just with

the AI assistant and what's happening

and what I'm able to see now that you

don't need a separate app for the AI

assistant this whole thing is getting

very mushed up now wherever you're using

there is there is an AI assistant in

whatever you are doing I'll walk you

through with that that how this all is

changing so this brings us to another

productivity tool that I use which is a

terminal so I do a lot of work in the

terminal uh terminal so uh terminal uh

command line whatever you want to call I

use this a lot and one of the

productivity hack that I use is with the

warp warp uh the reason for using warp

as a terminal because it comes up with

its own AI tool and AI assistant so I

don't need to jump into another AI tools

and start with that and that's what I'm

seeing you'll notice that as I mentioned

more of these productivity tool they are

coming up with their own wrappers or I

would say not rapper would not be a

correct word own implementation of the

how the things actually work so for

example in the ver most of the time I'm

asking it's the question around devop

stuff I forgot a command I forgot how to

open up the ports or I forgot how to

have a firewall setup I can just quickly

ask in the terminal and don't need to

leave the app and I can just quickly

just get the job done the whole point of

this whole productivity thing is get the

job done so whatever helps me to do so

whatever helps me to do faster that's

what I'm my pick is so I was really a

lot into the AI assistants of that

initially but then I moved into the app

and now whatever the app I'm using it's

actually serving me as like hey this is

all needs to go so for the terminal I'm

using warp and uh I haven't checked

their website for for a while what's

happening there so yep looks same yeah

looks same anyways let's go ahead and

next uh obviously you need to take notes

and this is where I'm little uh onto a

different side of the things obviously

you need to take notes what I'm using

for taking the notes are actually two

version of it first of all I'm still an

old school so I am now onto the iPad so

I take all of my notes on the iPad with

the apple pencil uh I tend to use it I

love it I can share the notes and

everything and whenever whatever I'm

writing I can make videos with that so

that's one of the reason why I prefer

iPad a lot I can write down my raw

original thoughts into that but apart

from this I use one more thing which is

notion notion has been a part of my

day-to-day writing the notes and

everything for a really long time

so these two things are still there and

what's interesting is I initially used

to like brush up these thoughts and

everything using another AI assistant

come UPS here but now notion is also

tends to providing me the AI uh to

rephrase the things and sometimes just

get the idea really nail it down so use

that another thing for which I use

notion is actually YouTube also so this

YouTube stuff uh I know this is not a

productivity thing for all of you that

not all of you does the YouTube kind of

a thing uh but I actually go ahead and

do a lot of things off YouTube the

videos needs to come out or I need to

take idea from the team or I need to

give them idea that hey this video is

ready you need to give me thumbnail for

that that all still is happening through

the notion so it's a great collaborative

tool and I find out myself that until

unless things goes into that kban board

like I can drag and drop to see hey this

video needs to be recorded it's recorded

until unless that uh things are not

moving for me at least so this is

another productivity tool for the notes

I'm using iPad uh you can use pen and

paper no need to buy an iPad for that of

course not sponsored by Apple or

anything and you can use Notions for

that and of course there are other

Alternatives as well if you know some of

them uh do let me know for any of the

category if you know some alternative uh

that you want me to try out something

then yes go ahead for that another of uh

the productivity hack for which which I

use the stuff is editor oh boy that this

is a war I'll make a separate dedicated

video on the editors war that is going

on on that but surprisingly I am still

on uh VSS code or also known as just the

code AS editor it's technically not vs

code it's just a code you get the point

so for the whole of the editor jargon

I'm using still code vs code I know

there is cursor out in the market I know

there's Zed there's void I'll talk about

them separately but as of now the editor

of the choice is just vs code I'm super

fast in that I know a lot of keyboard

shortcuts and the flow the whole

mechanics is set up for me so I'm not

looking forward to change at least as of

now but definitely I'm always open in

trying out the new things but what has

changed in the vs code are the plugins

and extensions a lot of extensions again

as I said there's an AI integration

everywhere so I'm using a lot of them so

some of the AI helper uh definitely I

highly recommend you to also try some of

them uh I've been using codium I've been

using super Maven I've been using GitHub

co-pilot whichever Works in what uh I

tend to just lean on that these days I'm

using uh codium much more uh than

anything else it works I like it but

again you don't need to use this

specifically what I'm mentioning what

I'm saying is try to use at least one of

them this will help you because these

days uh recently I was talking to the

founders of hash node and they said hey

we have integrated GitHub copilot every

single developers we have bought the

license we we have given it to them that

hey use it days are not really far where

your organization will buy these kinds

of licenses or will uh simply say that

hey go ahead and use it so that you can

be more productive and more faster of

the thing do things faster and at that

time if this tab is bothering you too

much that hey I'm not able to accustom

with the tabs hitting and saying that

hey which one is working it might be

really late for you so at least go ahead

and use some of the helper one of the

best thing which I like about these

helper is uh writing my GitHub uh push

messages I am really bad in that and all

these AI helpers when I click on that

GitHub message it does write it

automatically based on the context and

what I worked oh man that very tiny

thing but I somehow like it probably not

much of a big deal for you but yeah this

is for me uh last one that I have

noticed recently works really really

well is uh time tracking and uh turns

out there are lot of TR time tracking

applications that you can install your

system some of the companies which

allows you to do remote work they

actually install these kinds of

application in your system and I happen

to have one on my machine on my own

nobody installed it for me I install it

to keep a track of productivity how much

productive I am on the system or I'm

just scrolling the reels once you have

that measure and the metrics turns out

it's really nice another thing which I

really like is a constant reminder of

the time that how is it passing an all

if you notice here on if I open up a new

tab you see this this year will end in 3

months it keeps me on the track that hey

there's only 3 months left in a year so

I keep these things whatever the target

I have I actually use this so track your

time some kind of extension or something

whatever you want to use uh in the

browser on the mobile phone even I have

a app on mobile phone which tells me

that how much time it is left for a year

you can mark it for any of the event or

any date that you can mark it was paid I

paid for it I think it's worth it

whenever I pick up my phone I see that U

widget first that hey the time is

constantly ticking I'm not left with

much of the time so yeah that's one part

of it another thing which I really like

is uh the Google Calendar the Google

Calendar helps me to allow me to have

more time and what I do is I mark my

calendar for the events and the things

which are coming up which are really

important for me for example most of the

time around 1:00 in the afternoon I need

to be in the gym so I just mark my

calendar as uh from 1 to 1 from 1 to

2:30 around I need to be in the gym so

it gives me a good reminder and uh

everybody in my team there are not many

people in my team but they know that

this is reserved slot we cannot book

anything on that time so yeah this

actually helps again there is no nothing

groundbreaking I just thought that let

me share this how I keep a track of

everything and how I'm doing it so just

a quick summary of that uh yes this was

the whole idea AI assistant I'm still

into it and a lot of things but turns

out I realized that every single app

that I use or every single thing is

offering the AI assistant why to jump

into different apps so for the terminal

I switched into warp uh which gives me a

assistant does the job for the notes I

switched on to notion I was in the

notion already and on the iPad for the

editor I'm still in the vs code and I

use AI helpers a lot I highly recommend

you to also try it some people

absolutely hate it it doesn't allow them

to Tin and go into the Zen mode but I

think you need to get a custom that we

are moving toward we have already moved

into AI age and this one is really

important time tracking you have really

no idea once you start measuring your

time and the productivity when you're

doing so uh it actually

makes you much more organized and

focused whenever I it's not like I'm not

taking off time or I'm not scrolling the

reels but at least I'm not doing sitting

here I want to just scroll the de I'll

go outside of the room I'll be on the

sofa and scroll that so that I know I

I'm intentionally doing it and when I'm

here I'm the most productive uh as far

as I know so this is the basics of how

the productivity looks like I hope you

have gathered some of the insights from

it I like to keep things simple no too

many fancy stuff just keep it the basics

and keep everything less cluttered

nothing is on my desk usually nothing is

on my desktop I'd like to keep my

desktop absolutely clean not too many

icons and everything the more you keep

yourself organized and clean uh I found

myself being more productive so that is

it uh really No Nonsense guide about

being productive with the tech tools uh

hope this has helped you in case yes uh

do let me know in the comment section I

would absolutely love to make more such

videos for you that is it for this video

let's catch up in the next one