Keep it simple

It is very easy to get caught up with the latest gear and trends in the home office world. I have really been trying to scale things back and have a more focused approach to working. I get easily distracted when I have too many gadgets around me. Don’t get me wrong, I also have a multipurpose setup that I’ll talk about in another post but I have been really leaning into the idea of ‘one task at a time’.

This minimalist setup has a 11″ iPad Air M2, AirPods Pro Gen 2, Logitech bluetooth keyboard, bluetooth mouse and an Apple Watch Series 7 on an Apple dock charger. I find this type of setup great for reading, (I spend a lot of time in the kindle app and Readwise / Reader, more on that in another post) it is also great for writing emails or or producing other written content. I wouldn’t suggest doing any major photo or video editing but it is good for a quick triage of your media or to file things for later editing.

There isn’t much an iPad can’t do these days but they can get pricey if you’re looking for a true laptop replacement. I’m more in the school of thought where the iPad is a travel companion and a distraction free content consumption and creation tool. I leave the heavy lifting to my MacBook Air or Mac mini depending on what I’m working on. I like my portable gear to be a small as possible, it is supposed to be “portable” right! If you start to use your iPad with stage manager and an external monitor, you’re really starting to see the future and the blurred lines between tablet and laptop these days.