[0:00] [Music]
[0:00] i'm currently upgrading my work from
[0:02] home desk setup and this week i bought
[0:04] one of these it's a stream deck by
[0:07] elgato as the name suggests it was made
[0:10] for gamers and online streamers and well
[0:13] i don't do either
[0:14] so why are we talking about it well this
[0:16] little thing might be about to become
[0:18] your new favorite productivity tool
[0:20] launch apps control video calls create
[0:23] custom app control panels multi-action
[0:26] automations does it all and for you
[0:28] notion fans out there i've not forgotten
[0:30] you i've even created a custom notion
[0:33] work pad
[0:35] how about that hi everyone welcome back
[0:37] to the channel if you are new here i'm
[0:38] simon and on better creating i'm
[0:40] collecting great ideas and tools to
[0:42] simplify productivity and creative life
[0:45] and in just a few days this stream deck
[0:47] has already done just that even though
[0:50] elgato released the stream deck back in
[0:52] 2017 to become a permanent fixture for
[0:56] streamers and gamers i think it remains
[0:58] lesser known and kind of underrated
[1:00] amongst many other creators and
[1:03] productivity types like us so here's how
[1:06] it works and some of the amazing use
[1:08] cases for productivity that i am loving
[1:10] this isn't sponsored i just bought it
[1:12] myself with my own money to share the
[1:14] potential this offers with you
[1:16] if you've not heard of it the stream
[1:18] deck is a programmable macro pad with
[1:20] lcd buttons that can be programmed to
[1:23] control your computer and favorite apps
[1:25] with almost infinite custom settings
[1:28] there is a mini version with six keys uh
[1:30] the original 15k version which i think
[1:32] most people should get rather than the
[1:34] smaller key one once you realize the
[1:36] potential you will want it and there's
[1:37] an updated version two a mark two of
[1:40] that which is the one i've got released
[1:42] in july 2021 with an improved form
[1:44] factor you can change out the fascia for
[1:46] custom fascias and a couple of other
[1:48] little tweaks but essentially it does
[1:50] the same thing and there is an xl for
[1:53] more serious automators and streamers
[1:55] i didn't feel i needed that but you know
[1:57] it's a little bit more expensive as well
[1:58] if you're just trying this out you
[2:00] simply plug it into your mac or pc click
[2:02] the welcome button download the software
[2:04] and you're good to go essentially you
[2:06] can program buttons to do different
[2:08] tasks from simply opening apps or your
[2:11] favorite web pages really great for
[2:13] things like opening emails to more
[2:14] complex tasks like assigning hotkey
[2:16] functions for certain apps or
[2:18] multi-actions that can set custom work
[2:21] profiles for your favorite tasks in the
[2:23] click of a button speaking of clicking
[2:25] buttons make sure to hit this one down
[2:27] there it goes a really long way to
[2:29] support the channel now you can create
[2:30] folders within each page for extra space
[2:33] but i much prefer using profiles these
[2:35] can be pre-determined views that can
[2:37] help you group buttons by context or app
[2:41] so you can automatically switch between
[2:43] different profiles when you are doing
[2:45] certain tasks or in certain applications
[2:47] which means you aren't limited to just
[2:49] 15 buttons and the deck will intuitively
[2:51] change when you are in certain apps and
[2:53] modes the interface is actually
[2:55] surprisingly intuitive to use and i
[2:58] found customizing the deck this week and
[3:00] setting it up actually really easy and
[3:02] the piezo resistance of my messing with
[3:05] it this week a completely custom notion
[3:08] control deck that's helping me speed up
[3:10] my notion workflow and template builds
[3:13] templates linked below if you don't know
[3:15] about those there's a web store where
[3:17] you can download plugins from your
[3:18] favorite apps
[3:20] and even button icon packs to go with
[3:22] them the spotify plugin is particularly
[3:24] pleasing for the fact that it shows
[3:26] album artwork when a track is playing
[3:29] sexy
[3:31] i've also enjoyed using their button
[3:33] editor to create my own custom buttons
[3:36] for my notion board but you can also
[3:39] just find logos on the web or use your
[3:41] favorite icon packs that you've
[3:43] downloaded
[3:44] if you want a bit more of a minimal
[3:45] custom look if you've seen my minimal
[3:48] ipad and iphone setup videos i'm using
[3:51] the same icons from those in this to
[3:54] give my whole system a coherent look now
[3:57] beyond the obvious uses for streamers
[3:58] and content creators such as switching
[4:00] cameras soundboards sending messages and
[4:03] managing twitch or obs accounts here are
[4:06] the best productivity use cases i've
[4:08] discovered for screen deck so far with a
[4:11] quick tour of my own setup building a
[4:13] home screen for different work modes has
[4:15] to be number one for productivity you
[4:18] can jump to key tasks this is the main
[4:21] page that mostly either switches custom
[4:24] profiles for me or opens specific apps
[4:27] files folders or web pages this is my
[4:30] better creating button which switches to
[4:32] a folder within it which then gives me
[4:33] access to a view of all the things i use
[4:36] for better creating you'll see links to
[4:38] all of my favorite apps so notion to my
[4:41] squarespace website
[4:43] this one will open up let's have a
[4:45] little look the review is where i
[4:48] run my newsletter from
[4:50] let's close that
[4:52] pretty clever
[4:53] and then you can jump directly to
[4:55] websites as well so either to search the
[4:57] web or for example to go to
[5:00] youtube simple as that
[5:04] the next use case is home automation
[5:06] like lighting or heating controls there
[5:09] is a free plug-in for if this then that
[5:12] which is um ifttt pretty great for
[5:15] simple automation of your home there are
[5:16] also plugins for controlling your audio
[5:19] input and output devices which of course
[5:21] are free for example flipping quickly
[5:23] between headphones and speakers great
[5:25] for when i'm editing you can even create
[5:27] multi-action buttons to build more
[5:29] complex automations controlling video
[5:32] calls and setting up intuitive shortcut
[5:34] buttons to do so i have a multi-action
[5:37] that opens zoom opens my fuji webcam
[5:40] software turns on my key light and then
[5:42] switches to zoom controls in that
[5:45] profile yes
[5:46] all of that is possible with this device
[5:49] that's literally saving me five to ten
[5:51] minutes every time i jump on a work call
[5:53] managing regular emails and admin jump
[5:55] straight to emails and even inserting
[5:58] pre-written reply content is really
[6:00] brilliant using the text insert function
[6:03] for productivity workflows if you're
[6:05] wanting to manage regular communication
[6:07] that ability to insert pre-written stuff
[6:10] you know i have regular similar
[6:12] questions about my notion templates and
[6:13] i can now do it in less time faster
[6:16] shortcut workflows now my notion editing
[6:19] board it uses this text insert function
[6:22] to create a faster workflow in notion
[6:25] i use it to automate all those forward
[6:27] slash functions and then to
[6:29] automatically press return on those
[6:31] functions in one button click normally
[6:34] you would have to do this
[6:36] i'm now doing this i'll likely do a
[6:38] follow-up video on using it specifically
[6:40] with notion soon so make sure you're
[6:42] subscribed if you want more of that
[6:44] goodness i'm also finding stream deck
[6:46] absolutely brilliant for simplifying my
[6:48] video editing in final cut pro you can
[6:51] download a free icon deck
[6:53] for it from our garters website and then
[6:55] program the hotkeys and shortcuts that
[6:57] you want my film button also
[6:59] automatically opens the program and
[7:01] jumps to this profile
[7:03] it's great for startup and shutting down
[7:06] routines as well or even more simply i
[7:08] find this button that activates command
[7:10] q brilliant for quickly shutting
[7:12] applications for more advanced users
[7:14] there are a ton of third-party custom
[7:16] plugins on platforms such as github to
[7:19] create things like pomodoro counters
[7:21] youtube subscriber counts and all the
[7:23] rest i've actually got a focused button
[7:25] where i can click into it and it just
[7:27] gives me my music and a pomodoro counter
[7:31] which i got off github you can press it
[7:33] to set the number of the minutes you
[7:36] want to work
[7:37] and the alarm will go off now just be
[7:38] careful with third-party things to
[7:40] download from sites you trust so if you
[7:43] want to try out the stream deck and you
[7:44] don't you own one please click the links
[7:46] below use my affiliate links it really
[7:48] helps the channel out and comment below
[7:50] let me know what you make of all of this
[7:51] any other suggestions of how you can use
[7:53] this tool you should watch this video
[7:55] next for more on using notion and other
[7:57] great apps to improve your creative and
[8:00] productive workflow i'll see you on the
[8:02] next one
[8:03] bye
[8:06] [Music]