- Hey friends welcome back to the channel.
Today we're talking about all of the apps
that I use in a day.
So, let's get started.
At half past six when I wake up,
with the trusty iPhone Alarm Clock sound.
Then I take off my my Oura smart ring
that I sleep with.
Put it on charge on the dock,
and I'll occasionally check my sleep stats on the app,
just to see what the quality of my sleep overnight was.
Then I go to the bathroom for my morning wee
and while I'm on the toilet I open up Notion
on my phone and I fill out my daily check-in.
This asked me a bunch of questions,
including what I dreamt that night,
'cause I'm trying to remember my dreams,
it asked me what one thing I'm gonna focus on for the day,
my highlight of the day,
and it asks me the question, "What under my control
"would make this day better?"
And I find that just gets me off to a nice start.
Then I get off the toilet, undress
and while I'm naked I stand on my Withings smart scale,
which syncs to my Apple Healthcare
and that let's me weigh myself everyday.
I then open Spotify on my phone
and I set it to play whatever these days,
lot's of songs by John Mayer,
put the volume on full blast and head over to the shower.
By around 6:45 I'm out of the shower,
on my way to the bedroom I will tell Siri
which is in the HomePod in the kitchen
and in the living room to play something like
the morning acoustic playlist on Apple Music.
And yes, I do have both Spotify and Apple Music
just 'cause I like being able to play music through Siri.
I really wish the HomePod worked nicely with Spotify.
Then at seven o'clock I get into the car
and I drive to work.
Now on the drive to work,
usually I'm either listening to an audiobook on Audible
at double speed, or listening to podcasts on Castro
at double speed, or if I'm feeling really lazy,
I will just listen to some random songs on Spotify
very very occasionally, if I'm in a very reflective mood,
I will just drive in silence.
And if I'm listening to a podcast or an audiobook
that I want to take notes on,
I actually use the Drafts app on my Apple Watch
to dictate notes into.
I get to work around eight o'clock,
I'll grab a morning cup of coffee, change into my scrubs.
And then there are four apps that I use a lot
throughout the morning.
The first one is Medic Bleep
which is like a secure communication platform
that the NHS uses.
Secondly, I use Google on safari quite a lot
to google stuff that you know, I need to look up.
If I'm prescribing a drug,
I'll often look up the doses in the BNF,
the British National Formulary, which is like a national app
with the drug doses, which is quite handy,
and if I need to give someone antibiotics,
every hospital has their own kind of local guidelines
that sort of which antibiotics you give someone
based on what sort of bugs are growing in the local area.
So we've got an app called MicroGuide for that.
By around 11 o'clock the initial jobs
for the morning are done,
so I take a break from saving lives
and I'll usually bust open my iPad Pro with magic keyboard
and I'll start my daily note in Roam Research.
Some days I like doing the morning pages thing on Roam
where you just kind of write three pages
of whatever kind of comes to mind.
But these days I've got this challenge for myself
that every day I'm gonna write 1000 words.
And so I usually make a start on my writing in Roam.
And again, if you want to find out more about
how I use Roam, I've got like six videos
in my workflow series on Nebula,
details in the video description, about specifically
how I use Roam and how it fits into my workflow.
Once I've done my morning journaling practice thingy
on Roam, then are normally open Todoist.
And I usually check that a couple of times a day
because that's my to-do list app of choice
to see if there's anything urgent that needs doing
during the day.
Then up until lunch I'm saving more lives
and just kind of spending time on my iPad
productive downtime when there's not much going on
in the wards.
And then around one o'clock I will have a lunch break.
These days I take these Tupperware type things to work
so I can warm them for lunch and dinner
and sometimes breakfast.
These are from the Fitness Kitchen in Leeds.
And it's 'cause I'm trying to track my macros
so I can one day become a Gymshark athlete.
So I'll usually go to the doctor's office,
I'll warm up this for three minutes in the microwave
and then I will sit at the computer
with my iPad Pro in front of me
and Notion and Roam open on the Windows PC at work.
Just before eating, I'll look at the macros
in the Tupperware and I will add those
to MyFitnessPal, which is the app that I'm using
to track my calories, and then assuming
there's nothing going on in the ward
that needs my attention over lunch,
I'll usually sit in the doctor's office
and do some more writing in Roam and Notion,
either on my iPad or on the computer.
Now how do I choose between the two?
Well, usually I'm writing stuff in Roam
when my writing or my ideas or a video plan
is in the embryonic or in the fetal development stage.
And then I'll usually transition it over to Notion
to sort of write the final script for the video
or the final version of the article or blog post.
So that's sort of how I use them together.
Obviously, at random intervals throughout the day
I'm also checking my email on Superhuman
which is the email client that I use on my iPhone and iPad.
I'm also replying to messages from my team on Slack,
replying to messages from other school friends
and university friends through WhatsApp,
and of course, scrolling through
Instagram and Twitter randomly.
I'm trying to do less of that,
but it just always inevitably ends up happening.
Assuming my lunch break was uninterrupted with bleeps,
usually I'll head back to the ward around two o'clock
with another cup of coffee.
And at some point during the day,
I'll usually make it a point to
kind of put on one of those masks
and snap a selfie of myself using the default camera app
on the iPhone, but then I import that photo
straight into Adobe Lightroom,
and I will edit it using a color grade filter preset thing
that I've kind of customized that I've been using
for the last two years,
which just makes the images look a little bit nicer.
And occasionally while I'm at work,
I will try and come up with some kind of
pithy sounding tweet and then I'll tweet that,
by the way, follow me on Twitter and Instagram
if you haven't yet, if you want to see this sort of stuff,
Then more saving lives from 2 p.m to 4 p.m,
And then at 4 p. m I'll hand over to the evening team
and then I will leave work so I'll change out of my scrubs
back to my clothing, put the AirPods in
resume the thing that I was listening to
on Audible or Castro or occasionally Spotify
then I'll get in the car and set the direction for home
on Google Maps because that lets me kind of navigate
and tells me what the fastest route home is.
On days where I'm being my higher self,
I will immediately change into my workout clothing,
like I did today.
And I will do my home workout
which I track on Google Sheets.
I used to track my workouts on Notion,
but then I got this online personal trainer
and he uses Google sheets for them.
So okay, fine, we'll track it on Google Sheets.
So, I'll try and do some sort of home workout then.
And of course, while working out I'm continuing listening
to whatever I was listening to on Audible.
Earlier today, it was "The Lord of Chaos,"
which is book number seven of the "Wheel of Time Series,"
which I'm listening to on double speed,
it's absolutely fantastic.
I'll put a video, in the video description about
my favorite fantasy books.
That would be the order that I recommend
listening to these fantasy books in
if you want to get into fantasy for the first time.
So, that's an ideal day, like very occasionally
I will get home changed into my gym clothes
and do a workout.
But usually I just end up sitting on the sofa
and just randomly scrolling through Twitter and Instagram
for an annoyingly long period of time.
Once I get bored of that I move over from the sofa
to this desk where I've got my MacBook Pro
connected via a USBC cable
to this huge-ass 49-inch LG monitor
with my fanciest keyboard, link's in the video description
to all this stuff.
And usually the first thing I do is I touch base
with my team again on Slack to see if there's anything
that I need to do for the evening.
And usually in the morning while on Notion on the toilet,
I love setting my highlight for the day.
So for example today, it's to film this video.
So then I kind of get to doing the thing
that is my highlight for the day after work.
And on days where I haven't pre-decided
what I'm gonna do, I'll just have a look through Notion,
have a look through Todoist.
And I'll have a look at the sponsored video schedule
along with our Skillshare class release schedule
to figure out okay, what's the best use for my time
for these next few hours.
Then once I've decided I'm gonna film a video,
usually takes around 15 minutes
to get the lights, camera and everything set up.
So, while doing all of that, obviously I can multitask.
So occasionally I'll play some music on the HomePod,
or more often I'll have my AirPods in,
I'll be listening to my fantasy audiobook on Audible.
And while filming I usually have Notion open
so I've got it in a little window at the edge of my screen.
So hopefully you can't see it on the camera
or I'll have my iPad Pro in front of me
just kind of next to the lens.
So I can see a vague outline of the video,
and again, that's all done in Notion.
Again more details about that in the Workflow series.
In an ideal world, I'll have finished all the filming
that I need to do by 9 p.m, but it is 9:40 today,
so I think I'm gonna finish this one by 10 p.m.
So at some point, I will grab another Tupperware
from the fridge, put it in the microwave for three minutes,
and that would be my dinner sorted for the day.
Of course, I'm gonna put the calories into MyFitnessPal.
And then assuming I've done all my filming for the day,
and I still got a reasonable chunk of time
in which to be productive,
I will try when I'm doing my higher self
to do some music practice.
These days, I'm going through Justin Guitars online
kinda guitar teaching course, which is
how I taught myself guitar initially like five years ago.
And I'm trying to learn music theory
to get better with music production.
So I'll usually kind of practice a little bit of that.
Or if I'm feeling like doing music,
but I don't want to do deliberate practice,
I'll often just bring up some chords for a particular song
using the Ultimate Guitar tabs app
on my iPad or on my iPhone,
I'll just kind of play a few songs.
And occasionally I will film this on my iPhone
with the front facing camera record it
and post it on Instagram on IGTV.
At around 9:30 after doing a bit of music practice,
again when I'm being my higher self,
then I will think you know what,
I'm gonna do some productive entertainment.
And I'll watch a documentary on CuriosityStream,
obviously, at double speed
because I don't do anything at single speed.
I'll watch a documentary on CuriosityStream,
who are very kindly sponsoring this video.
They're the world's largest documentary
streaming subscription platform
with thousands of documentaries ranging from
all sorts of subjects.
So often, I'll pick a documentary
that looks kind of interesting to me
and I'll kind of watch it at double,
technically more than double speed,
as a way of like entertaining myself,
but also kind of learning stuff at the same time.
The great thing about CuriosityStream is that
it's not just these documentaries you get access to
if you sign up, you also get free access to Nebula.
which is the independent streaming platform
that me and a bunch of other creators are making.
And over on Nebula I've got a ton of exclusive videos
that you won't find on YouTube,
including, I think, 15 videos now in my Workflow series,
which I've referenced a few times,
or I deep dive into like the really nerdy details
about how I use these various apps,
how they fit into my workflow to make me
happier, healthier and more productive.
CuriosityStream is $3 a month or $20 a year.
So this bundle of CuriosityStream and Nebula
is literally the best deal in streaming right now.
If that sounds up your street,
if you want to see more of my exclusive content,
head over to curiositystream.com/ali
and use the coupon code Ali at checkout
and then you'll get an email
with your Nebula account details and you can watch
till your heart's content.
At this point, it's usually around 10 p.m
and I think about winding down for the night.
So, initially, I say, hey Siri, set relax.
And then all the lights go warm.
And I'll usually turn on night shift on my desktop as well
because apparently blocking out blue light
is a good way of kind of getting your body ready for sleep
at least that's what Matthew Walker says in the book
"Why We Sleep" which is very good.
By the way, if you're wondering about that magic trick,
that is the Philips Hue light bulbs in action
and I've got different scenes so.
Hey Siri, set fire and frost.
And that would be like my filming setup,
which is a sort of
- [Siri] Okay, living room is set to fire and frost.
- Siri is a bit talkative, it's a bit annoying.
But that would be my kind of video shooting setup.
And then if I'm feeling particularly decadent,
I will say something like
hey Siri, play relaxing piano Jazz Music.
- [Siri] Now I'm playing some choo piano Jazz
- Hey Siri stop.
So then with the lights and the music mood set
I will brush my teeth, wash my face cleanse, moisturize.
I'll put on my Oura ring again for the night,
I will take off my Apple Watch and put it on charge,
I'll set the alarm for 6:30 on my iPhone
and put it on the wireless charger
on the Chester drawers that is literally
on the opposite side of the bedroom to my bed
so that I'm not allowed to have my phone in bed.
And then usually I will get into bed,
and while I'm in bed, if I still got any writing left to do
for my 1000 words of writing for the day,
I will finish them off using Roam or Notion.
And then within my daily check in on Notion,
I will fill in some more questions.
So one of the questions is,
what are your three biggest wins for the day?
What are three things that you're grateful for?
And my favorite thing, this is something called
homework for life that I started doing
for the last two weeks.
That's where I ask myself
what is the most story worthy moment of my day?
So I'll think about a moment that I could potentially
turn into a story of some sort or an anecdote
and I will kind of write a few sentences about it in Notion
and I've been tracking Since like,
I don't know, the beginning of May.
So, yeah, that's just a way of reflecting on my day
in a way that I've never really done before.
But I finding that really kind of helps me.
At this point usually it's about 11 p.m
and I'm thinking okay, I should really sleep now.
So I will turn my iPad off,
I'll chuck it onto the floor.
And if I'm feeling particularly tired,
I will just turn the fan on,
I use a Dyson fan thingy 'cause they look cool
and it's quiet and nice.
I'll turn the fan on and just go directly to sleep
by asking Siri to turn the lights off in the bedroom
because I've got Philips Hue in the bedroom as well.
Or if I'm not feeling particularly sleepy,
but I know that I should be in bed anyway,
I will grab my Kindle
which I always have on my bedside table,
and I'll turn the brightness right the way down
so that it doesn't strain my eyes too much
and then usually I'll read some kind of fiction book.
These days I'm reading "A Court of Thorns and Roses,"
I think that's what it's called.
It's pretty good so far,
it's quite an educational read as well.
The only problem with this book thing is that
occasionally if like a book is really really really riveting
then I will just read it until like four o'clock
in the morning and then be completely sleep deprived
for work the next day,
which is probably not the sort of thing
I want to admit on camera.
So, those are all the apps that I use in a standard day
when I'm at work and then trying to be,
you know, vaguely healthy and productive in the evenings.
I hope you enjoyed it.
There's a playlist over here
that has more app themed videos
about my favorite apps on the iPhone, the iPad and my Mac.
So if you're into this whole app thing,
you should check those out.
And you should definitely sign up to CuriosityStream
so you can see my Workflow series
where we deep dive full nerd level
about more of these apps.
So thanks for watching,
and I'll see you in the next video.
Bye-bye.