I’ve been working remotely since late 2018. I’ll take you through each piece of hardware and software, and why I like it as a developer and freelancer.
Who I Am?
I’m Ilias Haddad, a full stack JS developer, and Shopify developer based in Kenitra, Morocco. I’m currently working as a remote freelancer with experience in Shopify development.
Hardware
Laptop
I’ve been using a MacBook Pro 2015 i7 3.1 GHz 512 GB as my main computer
Monitor
Monitors are arguably the most important pieces of hardware in a developer’s setup. As a developer, I need to have an external monitor to have my application for live preview and I use my code editor on the MacBook screen.
I was using Dell P2719h for about 3 months and it’s a good quality Monitor for developers.
Desk
I watched a lot of tech setups on YouTube and Instagram and I got impressed with LINNMON / ALEX desk from Ikea. With this desk, I have a number of drawest to store my accessories for easy access.
NAS server
I have 512 GB in my MacBook Pro and 128 GB in my iPhone. I need a NAS server to backup all this data in case of my MacBook Pro failed. I brought a home cloud server from WD and it’s working great on iPhone but not with MacBook Pro with Big Sur.
Microphone
I used the Shure MV5 microphone for the untreated room and it’s working great if you reduce the microphone gain.
WebCam
I used my iPhone as my webcam because the built-in webcam isn’t looking good. I use Iriun to be able my iPhone as a webcam.
Software
Desktop Apps
- Spark: I love using this email client and it’s my favorite one so far.
- Notion: I use Notion to store all things like podcast notes, new projects ideas, content calendar, books list, Goals
- Loom: You can record your screen and get a video URL of your recording when you stop recording.
- Krisp: You can remove all the noise in your environment on your microphone or speaker in realtime.
- Postman: You can test or debug your APIs easily with Postman. I usually start with the backend first, I use potman to interact with my APIs and then create the front end.
- Visual Studio Code: My favorite code editor ever, I use it everything for my personal and client projects.
- There: I have clients in different locations and I need to check their time every time on google. I use there to my clients time right from the menubar
Chrome Extensions
- Grammarly: I use Grammarly for about a year and it saves a lot of time googling my grammar issue
- Shopify theme file search: As a Shopify developer, I use the Shopify code editor to edit without downloading the theme code when I don’t have access to private apps to make a local dev env. I use this extension to search for a word in the theme code and it saves a lot of time downloading and reuploading the theme to just use VS search functionality
- Shopify theme inspector: I use this extension to debug the liquid code for better performance
Web Tools
- Calendly: I use Calendly to let my clients book a meeting without going back and forth to agree on a meeting time.
- Plausible: I use Plausible to keep an eye on personal website analytics with great UI and UX
- FreshBooks: As a freelancer, I need to keep on track of my project invoice and my expense. I use FreshBooks to manage my freelance business income and expense
Mobile Apps
- Meeter: With this app, I can get a list of upcoming online meeting events from my calendars.
- Sleep Cycle: I use the sleep cycle to track my sleeping and get data of how many hours I sleep last night.
My Current Setup
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