10 MUST-KNOW Productivity Hacks for Your Stream Deck!

[00:00] are you tired of all those boring daily

[00:02] repetitive tasks slowing you down well

[00:04] today I'm going to show you 10 stream

[00:06] deck automations that will supercharge

[00:09] your workflow and boost your

[00:10] productivity I think people often think

[00:12] of stream decks as being just for

[00:14] streamers but I've had one for the past

[00:16] few months and honestly it's been a game

[00:18] changer for me make sure you stick

[00:19] around for the last one because it's a

[00:21] game Cher for Content creators like you

[00:23] and me and I'm going to show you how I

[00:25] stream seamlessly using Riverside my

[00:28] go-to platform for all my content

[00:30] creation needs all right let's start out

[00:31] with a pretty simple but powerful button

[00:33] on the stream deck and that is switching

[00:35] audio outputs now I personally am

[00:37] constantly switching throughout the day

[00:39] between my headphones and my MacBook

[00:41] speakers particularly when I'm switching

[00:43] between just my normal everyday tasks

[00:45] and then jumping into an editing session

[00:47] or a recording session with Riverside

[00:49] and so instead of having to go through

[00:50] multiple clicks with my audio output

[00:52] setting in my Apple toolbar I've got it

[00:55] set up just as a single button on my

[00:56] stream deck that automatically switches

[00:58] between my headphones and my MacBook

[01:00] speakers this one is actually super

[01:01] easier to set up it's just a free plugin

[01:04] called audio switcher that you can get

[01:05] on the Elgato Marketplace you just

[01:07] download and install it and then you can

[01:09] select which outputs you want to switch

[01:10] between you can even set up multiple

[01:12] different switches if you've got

[01:13] multiple outputs I always prefer using

[01:15] headphones when I'm recording in

[01:16] Riverside because then I can hit

[01:18] everything in the best quality possible

[01:19] and because Riverside records all of my

[01:21] content to my computer locally before

[01:23] uploading it to the cloud I can make

[01:25] sure I'm monitoring everything in its

[01:26] native high quality audio all right so

[01:28] number two is quick toggling dark mode

[01:30] and this gets into some kind of more

[01:32] advanced but really powerful stuff in

[01:34] the Stream deck so on my Mac I've got it

[01:36] automatically set to switch to dark mode

[01:38] in the evening but sometimes again when

[01:40] I'm recording or doing some color

[01:42] grading I need my room to be really dark

[01:44] and so having the option on my stream

[01:46] neck to just switch to dark mode with

[01:47] the single press of a button is super

[01:49] handy the way I've got this set up is

[01:50] with a simple apple script if you're not

[01:52] familiar with coding and scripting and

[01:54] all that kind of thing don't worry all

[01:56] you need is chat GPT I personally have

[01:59] no background in scripting especially

[02:00] Apple scripts or anything like that but

[02:02] literally all you have to do is ask chat

[02:04] to create an apple script for you the

[02:06] togg is between the dark and the light

[02:08] mode it will create it for you just copy

[02:09] and paste it straight into Apple scripts

[02:12] editor save it as an application and

[02:14] then open that with a button on your

[02:16] stream deck I'm going to go through a

[02:17] few more automations that I created with

[02:19] apple scripts but seriously I highly

[02:21] recommend looking into this because

[02:23] there's so many different things you can

[02:24] do and it's super powerful all right so

[02:26] number three is controlling smart home

[02:28] devices so for me I personally have

[02:31] three different smart lights in my

[02:33] office and so in the morning it's really

[02:34] nice to just be able to hit a single

[02:36] button and all of my lights turn on I've

[02:38] also got a button link to my living room

[02:39] so I can turn that on and off if I want

[02:41] to but again you can link this to all

[02:43] sorts of different smart home devices

[02:44] this is just what I've got linked up in

[02:46] terms of setup this can get a little bit

[02:48] more complicated depending on the smart

[02:49] home devices that you've got I

[02:51] personally run everything through home

[02:53] kit that's running on my NZ which again

[02:55] is a little bit more complicated to set

[02:56] up but there's lots of good tutorials

[02:58] online or some brands have native

[03:00] plugins on the Elgato Marketplace like

[03:02] the Phillips Hue lighting which are just

[03:04] plug and play so that's a lot easier to

[03:06] set up all right number four is setting

[03:08] up shortcuts to your notion Pages now

[03:10] most people I know who are pretty

[03:12] organized tend to use notion and I'm no

[03:14] exception it's where I plan all of my

[03:16] content pretty much it's like my central

[03:18] hub for all of my productivity but what

[03:20] this often means is that I've got a lots

[03:22] of different projects happening all at

[03:24] once in my notion workspace and it can

[03:26] be kind of tedious having to dig through

[03:27] all my different pages to find specific

[03:29] spefic pages that are linked to certain

[03:31] projects and so I've set up links to my

[03:33] frequently used notion pages right on my

[03:35] stream deck it's really easy you just

[03:37] use the website action button and then

[03:39] copy the link from your notion page into

[03:41] that website action button and you're

[03:42] good to go it seriously saves me so much

[03:45] time searching through all of my

[03:46] different notion pages to try and find

[03:48] the ones that I want all right so Ida

[03:49] number five is kind of the next logical

[03:51] step from the notion shortcuts and

[03:53] that's creating entire folders for

[03:56] specific projects so again you can use

[03:58] this for literally whatever you want in

[03:59] terms of your own projects for me I've

[04:02] organized a few different things on my

[04:04] stream deck into folders including video

[04:06] project files all of my notion files and

[04:09] all of my Riverside recordings for

[04:11] example I have a folder dedicated to my

[04:13] Riverside podcast recordings I can just

[04:15] hit a single button and it automatically

[04:17] opens up my Riverside Studio where I'm

[04:19] ready to record my podcast in high

[04:21] quality or even live stream to multiple

[04:23] platforms all at once in terms of

[04:25] setting it up it's actually really

[04:26] straightforward you just create a folder

[04:28] in the Stream deck software and then

[04:30] within that you can have pretty much as

[04:31] many links as you like and a pro tip you

[04:33] could actually even link your smart home

[04:36] automation with one of these buttons so

[04:38] for example I could set up the stream

[04:40] deck so that when I open my Riverside

[04:42] Studio it will automatically switch up

[04:44] my lighting scenario so it's ready for a

[04:46] recording for example all right number

[04:48] six is one of my favorites and this is

[04:50] focus mode now if you're like me

[04:51] sometimes you might find it a little bit

[04:53] hard to stay focus might be a bit

[04:54] distracted by notifications popping up

[04:56] on your screen or certain apps you might

[04:58] find particularly distracted and so I've

[05:00] set up a button on my stream deck that

[05:02] activates a fully custom Focus mode so

[05:05] what happens when I press my focus mode

[05:07] button first of all it puts the Mac into

[05:09] Do Not Disturb mode so I don't get any

[05:10] notifications then it sets my audio

[05:13] output to my headphones because again

[05:14] when I'm focusing I like to use my

[05:16] headphones to block out distractions

[05:17] next it'll open Spotify and

[05:19] automatically play a rain sounds

[05:22] playlist that's what I personally like

[05:23] to focus but you can set it to whatever

[05:25] you like and then last but not least it

[05:26] opens a Pomodoro Timer in my web browser

[05:29] I find pomodora Tim is really helpful

[05:31] for just focusing for a certain amount

[05:33] of time and again you can set this to

[05:34] whatever you want so if you have a

[05:35] dedicated pomodora app you could get the

[05:37] app to open this guy is really the limit

[05:39] like for example if you're a streamer

[05:40] combining this button with Riverside

[05:42] could be a game changer for you because

[05:44] you get even link opening a Riverside

[05:45] studio with the focus mode so that when

[05:47] you're live streaming to multiple

[05:49] platforms there's no distractions and

[05:51] you can just be really dialed into what

[05:52] you're doing plus with Riverside it's

[05:54] really handy because you can see all of

[05:55] your chats from multiple Platforms in

[05:57] the one place and it will record your

[05:59] entire ire stream into your Riverside

[06:01] studio and I've personally found this to

[06:02] be much easier than using OBS for

[06:04] example to stream because you can manage

[06:06] everything in one place and then later

[06:08] when your stream is over you can

[06:10] automatically edit clips from your

[06:11] stream using the Riverside editor which

[06:13] again just really streamlines your whole

[06:15] process and helps you be more productive

[06:17] in terms of set up this one uses a

[06:19] multi-action switch on the stream deck

[06:21] the way it works is it's got two modes

[06:22] on and off and then you just set up all

[06:24] the different actions you want to happen

[06:26] when you've got it switched on or when

[06:27] you've got it switched off again I use

[06:28] an apple to activate the Do Not Disturb

[06:31] mode but you can fully customize a multi

[06:33] switch with whatever you want all right

[06:34] so number seven is kind of fun and that

[06:36] is adding frequently used emojis now

[06:38] personally I actually really miss the

[06:40] old MacBook Pro Touch bar from like 2017

[06:43] or whatever it was because I really

[06:44] liked being able to just quickly add

[06:46] emojis and this finally brings that

[06:48] feature back I personally actually hate

[06:50] having to manually open the Emoji menu

[06:52] and scroll through or search and find

[06:54] the different ones that I want this one

[06:56] is also really easy to set up I've got

[06:58] all the Emojis set up in a folder and

[06:59] then it's easy as using a text action

[07:02] button to just quickly insert emojis I

[07:04] personally find this really helpful when

[07:05] I'm replying to all of your comments on

[07:07] my YouTube videos because it's super

[07:08] easy for me to just quickly tap and add

[07:10] some more emotion to my replies speaking

[07:13] of which make sure you leave a comment

[07:14] and hit the like button if you're

[07:15] finding these ideas helpful all right so

[07:17] idea number eight is one of my new

[07:19] favorites and that is ejecting

[07:21] particular USB devices so again because

[07:24] I'm constantly moving in and out of my

[07:26] office doing different types of work I'm

[07:28] also constantly having to eject my

[07:30] external drives my SD cards because I

[07:33] have so much footage that I'm managing

[07:34] between different storage locations but

[07:37] again I use chat PT to set up some apple

[07:39] scripts that allow me to eject

[07:40] particular drives so I've currently got

[07:42] two buttons set up one is designed to

[07:44] eject all of my USB devices all at once

[07:47] and then the other one is designed to

[07:48] just eject SD cards so if I'm working at

[07:50] my computer and I finished transferring

[07:52] some footage for example I can just

[07:53] eject my SD cards or if I want to leave

[07:55] my desk all together and go and work in

[07:57] a different room I just hit the all

[07:58] devices eject button and I'm good to go

[08:01] number nine is Spotify controls

[08:03] particularly a play and pause button

[08:05] I've got this on my home stream deck

[08:07] screen and the reason I like this so

[08:08] much is that when I use the play pause

[08:10] button on my keyboard it actually

[08:12] doesn't always seem to know which media

[08:14] source to go with so if I've got a

[08:16] YouTube video open plus Spotify open

[08:19] sometimes it'll play pause Spotify

[08:21] sometimes it'll play pause my YouTube

[08:22] video and I never know for sure which

[08:24] one is going to pick so be having the

[08:25] button on my stream deck I know for sure

[08:27] it's always going to play or pause my

[08:29] music this one's super easy to set up

[08:30] there's a native Spotify integration

[08:32] plugin on the elgo marketplace it also

[08:34] shows the album artwork on the button

[08:36] while it's playing which is kind of nice

[08:38] and you can even map other buttons like

[08:39] next or previous for even more control

[08:42] all right so last but definitely not

[08:43] least I highly recommend adding some

[08:46] Final Cut Pro shortcuts to your stream

[08:48] deck if you're a video editor like me or

[08:50] whatever platform using to edit whether

[08:52] it's Riverside or Premier Pro anything

[08:54] like that you can set up heaps of

[08:56] different shortcuts all the way from

[08:57] basic up to really advanced personally

[09:00] I've got my stream deck set up so that

[09:01] when I open funnel cut it automatically

[09:03] opens a whole bunch of different

[09:04] shortcuts that I frequently use this is

[09:07] actually really easy to set up it's

[09:08] pretty much as simple as adding a hotkey

[09:10] shortcut for some more advanced controls

[09:13] you can combine it with command post

[09:14] which is what I've done which is another

[09:15] free Mac app and then from there I've

[09:17] personally got it set to do a whole

[09:19] bunch of different things including

[09:20] stabilize footage copy and remove

[09:22] effects from Clips add basic titles loot

[09:25] playback you can really get super

[09:27] Advanced especially if you're using mult

[09:29] action shortcuts for more complex edits

[09:31] the guy is really the limit I say it all

[09:33] the time but if you're looking to

[09:35] increase your productivity when it comes

[09:36] to video editing shortcuts are really

[09:38] the way to go and then once you finish

[09:39] editing your video to speed up your

[09:41] workflow even more again I like to use

[09:43] Riverside to create short form Clips I

[09:46] just upload my edited video into

[09:47] Riverside and then let the AI decide

[09:49] which parts of my long form video are

[09:51] best for short form Clips then I just

[09:53] need to download them and then I can

[09:55] reupload them to YouTube and Instagram

[09:57] so there you go there's 10 ideas for

[09:59] automation to hopefully boost your

[10:01] productivity and your content creation

[10:02] let me know in the comments if you've

[10:04] got other suggestions I'm really Keen to

[10:05] continue fleshing out my stream deck for

[10:07] even more shortcuts and make sure you

[10:09] check out Riverside using the link in

[10:10] the description if you're looking for a

[10:12] centralized content creation platform

[10:14] that let you record live stream

[10:16] repurpose and edit all of your content

[10:18] in the one place it's a huge time saer

[10:20] especially for live streamers and

[10:21] content creators you can sign up for a

[10:23] free account using the link in the

[10:24] description and then if you decide to

[10:26] upgrade to a subscription you can use my

[10:28] code nick2 20 to get a 20% discount and

[10:31] then in the meantime if you're looking

[10:32] for more videos on YouTube setups then

[10:34] make sure you check out this video right

[10:36] here