How I organise my Mac as a Software Developer?
Hello everybody, I hope you all are doing great!.
This article is all about how I organise my Mac so that I am able to work efficiently. These might be obvious, but it may also be helpful to take the bits you like and implement them in your daily life while you use your computer.
There might be more efficient ways to do things on a Mac and I would love to learn how you work on your Mac and how it has made your life easy. Please do post in the comment section.
Muscle Memory
Muscle memory is one of the most powerful concepts which has influenced my day to day life. To me, muscle memory is something which you practice so much that it becomes automatic, i.e. you are able to do the task without thinking.
So, why am I talking about muscle memory in an article about Mac?
It’s because you can use muscle memory everywhere, be it in your real life or in your pc, while you play a game or when you write code or something else.
Even today when you are using your computer you must have some muscle memory about how things are organised in your pc. The point I am trying to make here is that you can create conscious muscle memories. This will help you in moving around your mac easily and you will not waste time in searching for open windows or items in your computer.
These are my conscious muscle memories:
- I have split my mac into two workspaces: Personal Workspace and Work Workspace. Remember Separation of Concerns?
I always keep 1 Desktop Screen, everything to the left is related to my personal stuff and everything to the right is my work related stuff. So, the desktop is the divider and it’s always in the middle.
I like to give full screen space to each application I work on so that I can focus only on that single thing. Eg. If I am coding I give full screen to VS Code, when I am using the browser I give a full screen to my browser.
2. Both my personal workspace and work workspace is further divided in following way:
Full Screen Browser, Full Screen Code Editor, Full Screen Terminal
So, my final organisation is in this format will look like this:
Browser > Code Editor > Terminal > Desktop < Browser < Editor < Terminal
Note: Please see the image above to understand better.
If I have to change screens or workspace, I always use CTRL + ARROW keys. It is way faster than 4 finger swipe in the trackpad.
Why Browser, Editor, Terminal Combo?
When I code, I spend most of my time on the editor so it remains at the center. If I need to search something related to the code, I can quickly go to the browser by pressing CTRL + Left Arrow. I am done writing code, I want to check if it’s working or I want to build whatever I have written. Keeping the terminal towards the right, helps me in accessing it faster just by pressing CTRL + Right Arrow.
3. How do I arrange my desktop ?
My desktop contains all other windows which I don’t need for frequent usage but I need them to be open for quick access for example calendar. To avoid creating clutter in my desktop I use a productivity app named Magnet. It helps me align all the open windows with exactly the same dimensions, one behind the other.
The open apps/windows in my desktop always occupy 2/3 of the screen space (please see the image above to understand better). I can do this easily by using the magnet command, CTRL + OPTION + E. I use the remaining 1/3 of the desktop for quick access to files. This makes dragging and dropping stuff easy from the desktop.
If I need to use the full desktop area for an app I use CTRL + OPTION + ENTER and once the job is done I snap the app back to 2/3 of the desktop by pressing CTRL + OPTION + E. Honestly, I am a huge fan of Magnet, it has saved me a lot of time and helped me avoid the clutter.
Conclusion
The tips I have mentioned above are not hard rules. Whatever works for you is the best approach. I just want to convey that keeping a mental picture of how your apps are organised brings clarity.
Productivity apps like Magnet, Alfred, Side Notes, Mission Control Plus etc have made me fall in love with Mac. There are many more things I want to share about Computer Productivity. So stay tuned 🙂.
Also, don’t forget to share with me about your organisation style, it will be great to learn something new.
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