First 18 Things to Do for Productivity // New Macbook Pro!

About this video

Jeff Su lists the first 18 things he does to set up a new MacBook Pro for productivity. During setup he registers the same fingerprint twice so unlocking never fails. Display: turn off True Tone and wallpaper tinting for accurate color, always show scroll bars with click-to-jump, turn off automatic brightness and the ‘slightly dim on battery’ advanced option. Mission Control: stop spaces from auto-rearranging (he keeps desktop 1 for personal, 2 for work, 3 for video editing) and turn off all hot corners. Language and region: Celsius, metric measurements, and Monday as the first day of the week. Lock screen: turn the display off at 10 minutes on both battery and power adapter and require a password immediately; if using a dock with ethernet, set the service order so ethernet outranks Wi-Fi. Finder: show the path bar and status bar, customize the toolbar with AirDrop and Share buttons, make new windows open Documents instead of Recents, open folders in windows not tabs, clear sidebar tags, show all file name extensions, set search to the current folder instead of the whole Mac, add the Library folder to favorites, and migrate fonts from an old Mac’s Library fonts folder via AirDrop. Desktop and Dock: use the scale minimize effect, auto-hide the dock, hide recent apps, and use the free TinkerTool to make the dock hide and reveal almost instantly. Apps he installs first: Alfred (he uses it about 80% of the time, on Command+Space, with Spotlight moved to Option+Space for the remaining 20%), AppCleaner for complete uninstalls, VLC and IINA media players which he says open 99% of media types, the paid CleanShot X for screenshots (free alternative Shottr has, he says, about 70% of its features), and Moom for window management, with Rectangle named as a better free option.

Key takeaways

Register the same fingerprint twice during setup, and set the lock screen to turn off at 10 minutes with an immediate password requirement on both battery and power adapter.
Tune the display for control and accuracy: True Tone, wallpaper tinting, auto-brightness, and battery dimming off; scroll bars always shown with click-to-jump.
Keep Finder navigable: path and status bars on, show all file extensions, search the current folder by default, and add the hidden Library folder to sidebar favorites.
Prevent desktop reordering by disabling auto-arrange of spaces, turn off hot corners, and use the free TinkerTool to make the auto-hidden dock appear instantly.
Install Alfred first (Command+Space, Spotlight moved to Option+Space), plus AppCleaner, VLC and IINA, CleanShot X (or free Shottr), and a window manager such as Moom or Rectangle.

Episode details: published March 14, 2023 · 8:43 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Jeff Su’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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