I wrote previously about my attempt at finding the perfect setup and after I’ve been using this a few days, I am feeling more confident that this was the right choice.

It may not be the right choice for everyone, but for me, 99% of my time, I can complete my work whether it’s traveling or my day to day, on four pieces of tech. Just three pieces.

Let’s get into it.

? My Phone

This year I made the switch to the iPhone 14 Pro Max. I’m not going to go into what is on my phone, but I will go into a little about how I use it.

The bigger screen has been a huge productivity increase for me. I’ve only had it about a month, but it’s enabled me to pull out other tech less so that I can focus on what I’ve got going.

Whether it’s taking pictures of my family or checking email, I’ve found this upgrade to be pretty snappy. The added screen real estate has allowed me to use some of my favorite tools like Typefully to schedule some tweets while on the road.

I’ve also had pretty good luck using it doing a little more journaling on and recording some light videos.

My iPad

I have been a long time (2018) user of the iPad and I love it. Recently though, I switched computers for travel back down to a MacBook Air and that’s had me question constantly taking the iPad Pro with me.

When the iPad Mini was updated to match a similar design to the iPad Pro, I was gifted one (Thanks Jay!) and mainly used it as a reading and entertainment device.

A few weeks ago though, I decided to test using it as a writing device. I hooked up a bluetooth keyboard to it and immediately started in on my research of writing with it. It worked extremely well.

With this additional function, it became a necessary tool into my daily tech EDC. I have a cellular version so it’s allowed me to use it wherever I am, and it’s been quite the joy to have.

I’m getting ready to leave on another work trip and am excited to take it with me (first one in awhile!) as I’ll primarily be using it on the plane and at the airport. That doesn’t mean I won’t necessarily pull out my computer while on the plane (it’s as small at my iPad Pro now) but, I can see a number of uses for my iPad Mini that will be the perfect travel companion.

My Computer

I wrote about this in my previous post, but I’ve moved on to a MacBook Air as a regular computer in my life. I have a couple of computers: one for my work (work provides/requires me to use theirs), one for personal, one for a contract gig. My contract and personal computers are both mine, so I can use them interchangeably.

About a month ago, I decided to spend a little bit of time analyzing the work that I do. I included the workload, apps, websites, everything. I took inventory of length I used them and what I was looking at from an energy use.

What I found was that I didn’t need the most powerful computer these days. It’s something about the Apple silicon processors or how the apps have gotten easier to use. And the reality is that I’m editing 4k videos regularly or doing livestream. And when I do, I have a computer for that. But I don’t need to use it daily.

This gave me more data to know that I didn’t need to tug around the most powerful computer that I have. I could take one that’s more portable and still do all my daily (and not so daily) tasks.

My Headphones

I never go anywhere without these. I absolutely love my AirPod Pros. They fit in my pocket, get extremely long battery life and of course, connect to all of my other devices.

I recently upgraded to the new AirPod Pros 2 and they are great. I took them on a flight a few weeks back and I could tell just how much better the active noise cancelling is. I didn’t need to take my AirPods Pro Max unless I wanted to take them.

I still prefer to use my AirPods Pro Max when I’m in a coffee shop, the office or in a noisy environment, but these can stay at home when I want to pack light.

Conclusion

No matter what pieces of tech you use, you have to find out what works for you. It may be something similar to my setup or might be something a bit different.

I’ve found what works for me and I’ve been super happy with the way things are going.