Here's everything that's in my tech bag as a software engineer. Hi, if you don't know me, my name is Dan. I've been a software engineer in big tech for the last [music] 6 years and throughout that time I've worked in office full-time, I've worked hybrid, and now I work remotely. There's some essential things I bring with me in my bag wherever I go to get the job done. These days I usually bring them to places like cafes and co-working [music] spaces, even the Microsoft office.

My bag contains the essentials of what I need to do my job day-to-day. [music] Here to share everything that I use today with you. First, the main thing is the bag itself. This is a Timbuk2 bag. I use a backpack to carry all my stuff. I got this bag through my company, so I didn't actually pay anything for it. Yeah, it's just a solid bag. It's a basic bag. It does everything that it needs to do and I just like that it can carry a lot of stuff.

Of course, the main thing I use to do my work is [music] this MacBook. This is the M4 Pro chip MacBook. It is the 13-in version. This was given to me by my company and yeah, it's just an awesome MacBook. It can literally do everything. Um, it's such a powerhouse. It's 13-in and and I actually like that size a lot more than the 15-in or 16-in [music] MacBook Pros. I have a M1 Pro that's a personal one that's a 16-in and it's just a little too big.

It doesn't fit on some small tables at cafes [music] and honestly, it's kind of awkward to lug around. It actually doesn't fit in some other backpacks. Yeah, so I really enjoy the 13-in in particular. I totally deck it out with stickers. I have really enjoyed placing stickers on things these days. I just feel like it makes it very uniquely mine. [music] It also reminds me that the laptop is a tool and it's meant to be used.

The next most important thing that I bring around with me is my keyboard. This is the carrying case for the ZSA Voyager. It is a split keyboard. I absolutely love it. It is a very small footprint keyboard, so you can see right here. This is what one half of it looks like, the size of my hand. So, you can just think of two hands worth of keyboard. And so yeah, this is the full thing right here. And yeah, I really like this keyboard.

Um, I love the carrying case, how small it is. This is everything you need to bring it around with you. I love split keyboards in particular because it really helps with my RSI. First, you know, with split keyboards you can type with your shoulders at their natural width versus other keyboards where you have to kind of [music] scrunch in a little bit and it puts a lot of pressure on your wrists and even your back. And so, yeah, for ergonomic reasons is the main reason why I use split keyboards.

It's also just a lot more fun to use one at work, which I think is a really important deal. You spend a lot of [music] hours in front of the keyboard every single day. One upgrade I made in the keyboard itself, I use the Twilight ambient switches. So, these switches are a lot more quiet, which helps um when you go to co-working spaces or if you're working in public or in an open office, >> [music] >> um you're not making as much noise and you're making less noise on calls and stuff, too.

I'm still getting used to them. Honestly, they're not my favorite, but I do understand it is nice [music] to have a more quiet keyboard. The keyboard itself is pretty pricey, actually. It's about $420 retail and [music] I paid an extra 50 bucks for the switches. And so, on top of tariffs and taxes, like I probably paid close to like >> [music] >> 600 bucks for this whole setup. To me, it's worth it. It's like a keyboard that lasts a while and it's something that I use every single day for literally 8 to [music] 10 hours, 12 hours.

I use it more than my phone. I think it's very worthwhile purchase and I really enjoy it. >> Okay, quick break from Dan yapping about his stuff. I want to talk to you guys about the sponsor of this video, Libre Novo. Now, I've been using the same chair for the last 6 years. I got it back during COVID and I just never got a new one because it got the job done. So, Libre Novo noticed and decided to let [music] me try out their Libre Novo Omni chair.

And I was a little bit unsure at first because I was never really able to justify splurging on a chair. But, after trying this one out, I kind of get it. I'm [music] I'm kind of on team fancy chairs now. Okay, now get ready to hear all the sweet, sweet [music] perks of this chair. So, the Libre Novo Omni chair comes with a bionic flex fit back rest that forms a custom S-curve to perfectly match your spine. You can dial in the lumbar support with a button.

A dynamic support system that follows the movement of your body. The synchro link mechanism moves the seat and the backrest together. So, even when I lean back, my eyes stay lined up with my screen. It's got four reclining modes. That's right, four. That's more than three. From 105° for locking in at your desk all the way down to 160 where you're basically laying flat. The arm rest, neck rest, foot rest all adjust, too.

So, everything actually lands where your body needs it. Oh, and the whole thing is cordless running on a rechargeable battery cuz who doesn't hate tripping on cables when you're sitting in a chair? And finally, my absolute favorite feature, the Omni-Stretch Massage, which activates a 5-minute massage at the click of a button. Okay. Woo, that was everything. Thank you. Okay, but seriously, I'm not that much of a big spender or [music] really a fancy gear person, but it's kind of ridiculous how comfortable this thing is.

So, if you're curious, there will be a link in the description. Anyways, let's get right back to it. All right, so the next most important thing in my bag is my mouse. And so, this is one of the mice that I use. This is a vertical mouse. This is a Logitech Lift. And this is actually a left-handed mouse because I actually I use my right hand way too much. And so, my symptoms are worse on my right hand. And so, I actually have another mouse right here.

So, I have two mice. This is left-handed and this is a right-hand one. They're both from Logitech. This is the Logitech Lift and the right-hand one is the Logitech MX Vertical. Yeah, I really think vertical mice should be the default [music] form factor for a mouse. Just the normal mouse puts so much pressure on your wrist. It's crazy and I [music] cannot use a normal mouse for a long time. Even using a trackpad actually puts a lot of strain on [music] my fingers and my fingers get numb very quickly.

So, using a mouse, especially vertical one, is very important for me. And the mouse is a very critical tool that I use [music] and this is my favorite one right now. Listening to music in the office or while I'm commuting, I use AirPods. [music] So, these are the AirPods Maxes. I usually bring these when I go to a co-working space. If I go to a cafe, I'll usually just use the AirPods Pro because I don't want to cancel out too much noise when I'm [music] working in a cafe.

Noise canceling, I feel like really helps in those open offices. A lot of people are having conversations and calls from their desks. And so, it really helps just to be able to drown that out, listen to some music, and get into flow state. I'm kind of mixed on these headphones in particular. I don't like necessarily recommend them to anyone. I just really like how they work with the Apple ecosystem. They connect seamlessly with your iPhone and your MacBook.

So, if you have either of those, I think it's you can't go wrong with purchasing them. But, yeah, I mean they're solid. They're just a little overpriced in my opinion. Another thing I bring around with me is a planner and a journal. So, this is the common planner [music] by Sterling Ink and it is a full year planner and journal. So, I use it to plan my days and I use it to journal different thoughts or write out different things.

I even have the outline for this video right here. I've been experimenting with using journals and planners um for the last couple of years. I'm mixed [music] about combining a planner and journal. I'm glad I'm giving it a shot. I don't know if I'm going to do it again next year. It's been interesting to try it out for a change. With this, I usually bring around some pens with me. These are pens. These are the EnerGel pens.

I got them a while ago. In particular, they just dry really fast and they come in a bunch of different colors. So, it just helps organize your notes, you know, at a glance. I really enjoy using these pens. They dry really fast. So, one thing I bring around with me is actually a laptop stand. So, this just raises your laptop up a few [music] inches and I feel like it's really important because it helps set the laptop screen at a normal natural height for my eyes versus like when you're [music] looking down at a table, you're looking down, you're working down the whole time.

So, over a few hours, it actually put some strain on my back. And so, I've been using this to just raise my laptop up and I use a separate [music] keyboard and mouse anyway. So, I can just kind of like keep my arms down at the normal level and it works great. I think more people should probably have laptop stands and [music] bring them around. I don't bring it to cafes and stuff because it takes up a little bit too much room.

If you're going to an office space or if you're going to a big desk, yeah, you can bring one around. As you can see, I bring a lot of stuff around just for ergonomics. Very early in my career, I found [music] my back and my neck were suffering. My hands still, you know, get numb from working too long sometimes. So, I really do need all these tools to stay working at the desk for a long time. Lastly, something I've been experimenting with is this little mini e-reader.

So, this is the XTE Ink X3. Yeah, [music] it is just puny. It literally fits on the back of a phone. I've been enjoying reading books from it just on the go. Yeah, I got this recently. It's been a fun pick up. I used to bring around a Kindle with me, but it's a little bit clunky and I just [music] kept finding myself reading from the Kindle app on my phone. And so, this has been a nice change up and we'll see how I feel about it in the long term.

In the short term, it's just been fun to use this thing. Bring with me to place like the gym or while I'm waiting on the bus. And it was cheap enough just to try give it a try. It was not that expensive. It was like 50 bucks. I think anything to have [music] me read more is a worthy purchase cuz I think we should all be reading more. Yeah, so that's everything that's in my tech bag that I bring around with me to the office as a software engineer.

As you can see, all the tools usually serve a very important purpose, which is for ergonomics and for lasting a long time at the desk. I usually don't have that many meetings, so I really am just sitting at my desk for hours and hours. And so, [music] the keyboard helps, the mouse helps, the laptop stand, it all helps to make my experience working at the desk more, well, less painful. If you enjoyed this video and you want to see the stuff actually being used, you can [music] watch the stand up life right here.

And yeah, if you have any questions, leave them in the comments below and I will catch you guys in the next one. Peace.