141 - Stuart Regan

Stuart Regan is a Product Designer at Raycast, a productivity tool for Mac, that lets you complete tasks, calculate, share common links, launch apps, and so much more. In his spare time, he’s working on an icon set called Clear Icons, launching Spring 2022.

Outside of work, he enjoys getting out of the house, going for long walks and being in the fresh air. He lives in Surrey, UK, where he’s surrounded by nature and big fields to explore and get lost, so he takes advantage of every opportunity that he has to go on a long walk with their dog, Zola.

Twitter → twitter.com/stuartregan

Tools:

• 13” MacBook Pro M1, 2020
• LG 27” UltraFine 5K Monitor
• Keychron K2 RGB Backlit keyboard with Red Switches
• Logitech MX Master 2S Mouse
• Audioengine A2’s (wired)
• Shure MV7 Microphone
• RØDE PSA1 Micrphone Arm
• EYOCEAN Desk Lamp
• Twelve South BookArc Stand for MacBook
• iPhone 13 Pro
• AirPods Pro
• Trove Swift Black Wallet
• Moleskine Cahier Notebooks
• Muji Gel Ink Ballpoint Pens (0.38mm & 0.5mm)
• White Skarsta IKEA Standing Desk
• Black Leather Markus IKEA Office Chair

Software:

• Figma
• Raycast
• Slack
• Things
• Linear
• Cron
• Spotify
• Notion
• Mimestream
• VS Code
• Around

Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases on some of the Amazon links that may be attached to the products above.

Q/A ☕️

What is your favorite item in your workspace?

I think for me, it’s the EYOCEAN desk lamp. I searched long and hard for a desk lamp that didn’t take up too much surface area, and fitted nicely in to my setup at a reasonable price. It has two settings to increase/decrease the brightness, and the warmth of the light. It helps at night when I can dim the light and increase the warmth to prevent straining my eyes too much.

How do you spark creativity?

I just try to make a start. Whether it’s writing things out on paper, sketching some really basic ideas, or whether it’s just sketching out what’s in front of you on screen. From there, ideas will develop, and your creativity can spark from as little as writing one word, to drawing out a whole page of ideas – or throwing a bunch of shapes in to Figma. The important thing is to just get going. Nothing will happen if you don’t make a start.

If nothing comes from that, I’ll go for a walk with my dog to separate myself from the office, and take an opportunity to think. And if that doesn’t work, I’ll make sure to cook myself something for lunch. I love cooking, so if I cook myself something in the kitchen, that feeling of preparing, cooking, and presenting a dish should kickstart some more ideas elsewhere.

How do you keep the work-life balance?

I haven’t quite cracked this code yet. I enjoy my job too much, so I find myself doing things in to the night, or just chilling out on the sofa in the evening and opening up Figma. Working remotely has so many benefits, but this is one of the biggest challenges I have. At Raycast, we have flexible working hours, so if I need to take some time in the day to do something personal, I can, and then pick things up again in the evenings.

I try to not turn on my MacBook at the weekends, or even go in the office at home to not be tempted to work, which does help. The one trick I have found that works the most, is making sure I don’t have Slack on my phone, and removing any work-related things from my phone like emails. I leave everything on the computer

With all that being said though, I’ve not quite worked out the perfect work-life balance, but it’s a process. I did like this quote in the book ‘Show Your Work’ by Austin Kleon

“If you never go to work, you never get to leave work

So by creating a morning routine where you go to work, and leave, you can help find more of a balance that way. Having a routine in place helps break away from time spent to enjoy life, and when is time to be working in the office.