You Need A Stream Deck! The Secret To My Productivity Working From Home

[00:00] [Music]

[00:00] i'm currently upgrading my work from

[00:02] home desk setup and this week i bought

[00:04] one of these it's a stream deck by

[00:07] elgato as the name suggests it was made

[00:10] for gamers and online streamers and well

[00:13] i don't do either

[00:14] so why are we talking about it well this

[00:16] little thing might be about to become

[00:18] your new favorite productivity tool

[00:20] launch apps control video calls create

[00:23] custom app control panels multi-action

[00:26] automations does it all and for you

[00:28] notion fans out there i've not forgotten

[00:30] you i've even created a custom notion

[00:33] work pad

[00:35] how about that hi everyone welcome back

[00:37] to the channel if you are new here i'm

[00:38] simon and on better creating i'm

[00:40] collecting great ideas and tools to

[00:42] simplify productivity and creative life

[00:45] and in just a few days this stream deck

[00:47] has already done just that even though

[00:50] elgato released the stream deck back in

[00:52] 2017 to become a permanent fixture for

[00:56] streamers and gamers i think it remains

[00:58] lesser known and kind of underrated

[01:00] amongst many other creators and

[01:03] productivity types like us so here's how

[01:06] it works and some of the amazing use

[01:08] cases for productivity that i am loving

[01:10] this isn't sponsored i just bought it

[01:12] myself with my own money to share the

[01:14] potential this offers with you

[01:16] if you've not heard of it the stream

[01:18] deck is a programmable macro pad with

[01:20] lcd buttons that can be programmed to

[01:23] control your computer and favorite apps

[01:25] with almost infinite custom settings

[01:28] there is a mini version with six keys uh

[01:30] the original 15k version which i think

[01:32] most people should get rather than the

[01:34] smaller key one once you realize the

[01:36] potential you will want it and there's

[01:37] an updated version two a mark two of

[01:40] that which is the one i've got released

[01:42] in july 2021 with an improved form

[01:44] factor you can change out the fascia for

[01:46] custom fascias and a couple of other

[01:48] little tweaks but essentially it does

[01:50] the same thing and there is an xl for

[01:53] more serious automators and streamers

[01:55] i didn't feel i needed that but you know

[01:57] it's a little bit more expensive as well

[01:58] if you're just trying this out you

[02:00] simply plug it into your mac or pc click

[02:02] the welcome button download the software

[02:04] and you're good to go essentially you

[02:06] can program buttons to do different

[02:08] tasks from simply opening apps or your

[02:11] favorite web pages really great for

[02:13] things like opening emails to more

[02:14] complex tasks like assigning hotkey

[02:16] functions for certain apps or

[02:18] multi-actions that can set custom work

[02:21] profiles for your favorite tasks in the

[02:23] click of a button speaking of clicking

[02:25] buttons make sure to hit this one down

[02:27] there it goes a really long way to

[02:29] support the channel now you can create

[02:30] folders within each page for extra space

[02:33] but i much prefer using profiles these

[02:35] can be pre-determined views that can

[02:37] help you group buttons by context or app

[02:41] so you can automatically switch between

[02:43] different profiles when you are doing

[02:45] certain tasks or in certain applications

[02:47] which means you aren't limited to just

[02:49] 15 buttons and the deck will intuitively

[02:51] change when you are in certain apps and

[02:53] modes the interface is actually

[02:55] surprisingly intuitive to use and i

[02:58] found customizing the deck this week and

[03:00] setting it up actually really easy and

[03:02] the piezo resistance of my messing with

[03:05] it this week a completely custom notion

[03:08] control deck that's helping me speed up

[03:10] my notion workflow and template builds

[03:13] templates linked below if you don't know

[03:15] about those there's a web store where

[03:17] you can download plugins from your

[03:18] favorite apps

[03:20] and even button icon packs to go with

[03:22] them the spotify plugin is particularly

[03:24] pleasing for the fact that it shows

[03:26] album artwork when a track is playing

[03:29] sexy

[03:31] i've also enjoyed using their button

[03:33] editor to create my own custom buttons

[03:36] for my notion board but you can also

[03:39] just find logos on the web or use your

[03:41] favorite icon packs that you've

[03:43] downloaded

[03:44] if you want a bit more of a minimal

[03:45] custom look if you've seen my minimal

[03:48] ipad and iphone setup videos i'm using

[03:51] the same icons from those in this to

[03:54] give my whole system a coherent look now

[03:57] beyond the obvious uses for streamers

[03:58] and content creators such as switching

[04:00] cameras soundboards sending messages and

[04:03] managing twitch or obs accounts here are

[04:06] the best productivity use cases i've

[04:08] discovered for screen deck so far with a

[04:11] quick tour of my own setup building a

[04:13] home screen for different work modes has

[04:15] to be number one for productivity you

[04:18] can jump to key tasks this is the main

[04:21] page that mostly either switches custom

[04:24] profiles for me or opens specific apps

[04:27] files folders or web pages this is my

[04:30] better creating button which switches to

[04:32] a folder within it which then gives me

[04:33] access to a view of all the things i use

[04:36] for better creating you'll see links to

[04:38] all of my favorite apps so notion to my

[04:41] squarespace website

[04:43] this one will open up let's have a

[04:45] little look the review is where i

[04:48] run my newsletter from

[04:50] let's close that

[04:52] pretty clever

[04:53] and then you can jump directly to

[04:55] websites as well so either to search the

[04:57] web or for example to go to

[05:00] youtube simple as that

[05:04] the next use case is home automation

[05:06] like lighting or heating controls there

[05:09] is a free plug-in for if this then that

[05:12] which is um ifttt pretty great for

[05:15] simple automation of your home there are

[05:16] also plugins for controlling your audio

[05:19] input and output devices which of course

[05:21] are free for example flipping quickly

[05:23] between headphones and speakers great

[05:25] for when i'm editing you can even create

[05:27] multi-action buttons to build more

[05:29] complex automations controlling video

[05:32] calls and setting up intuitive shortcut

[05:34] buttons to do so i have a multi-action

[05:37] that opens zoom opens my fuji webcam

[05:40] software turns on my key light and then

[05:42] switches to zoom controls in that

[05:45] profile yes

[05:46] all of that is possible with this device

[05:49] that's literally saving me five to ten

[05:51] minutes every time i jump on a work call

[05:53] managing regular emails and admin jump

[05:55] straight to emails and even inserting

[05:58] pre-written reply content is really

[06:00] brilliant using the text insert function

[06:03] for productivity workflows if you're

[06:05] wanting to manage regular communication

[06:07] that ability to insert pre-written stuff

[06:10] you know i have regular similar

[06:12] questions about my notion templates and

[06:13] i can now do it in less time faster

[06:16] shortcut workflows now my notion editing

[06:19] board it uses this text insert function

[06:22] to create a faster workflow in notion

[06:25] i use it to automate all those forward

[06:27] slash functions and then to

[06:29] automatically press return on those

[06:31] functions in one button click normally

[06:34] you would have to do this

[06:36] i'm now doing this i'll likely do a

[06:38] follow-up video on using it specifically

[06:40] with notion soon so make sure you're

[06:42] subscribed if you want more of that

[06:44] goodness i'm also finding stream deck

[06:46] absolutely brilliant for simplifying my

[06:48] video editing in final cut pro you can

[06:51] download a free icon deck

[06:53] for it from our garters website and then

[06:55] program the hotkeys and shortcuts that

[06:57] you want my film button also

[06:59] automatically opens the program and

[07:01] jumps to this profile

[07:03] it's great for startup and shutting down

[07:06] routines as well or even more simply i

[07:08] find this button that activates command

[07:10] q brilliant for quickly shutting

[07:12] applications for more advanced users

[07:14] there are a ton of third-party custom

[07:16] plugins on platforms such as github to

[07:19] create things like pomodoro counters

[07:21] youtube subscriber counts and all the

[07:23] rest i've actually got a focused button

[07:25] where i can click into it and it just

[07:27] gives me my music and a pomodoro counter

[07:31] which i got off github you can press it

[07:33] to set the number of the minutes you

[07:36] want to work

[07:37] and the alarm will go off now just be

[07:38] careful with third-party things to

[07:40] download from sites you trust so if you

[07:43] want to try out the stream deck and you

[07:44] don't you own one please click the links

[07:46] below use my affiliate links it really

[07:48] helps the channel out and comment below

[07:50] let me know what you make of all of this

[07:51] any other suggestions of how you can use

[07:53] this tool you should watch this video

[07:55] next for more on using notion and other

[07:57] great apps to improve your creative and

[08:00] productive workflow i'll see you on the

[08:02] next one

[08:03] bye

[08:06] [Music]