302 - Hardeep Nagra

Hardeep Nagra is from Birmingham, UK and he works in mortgage strategy for a top 10 UK bank.

In his spare time he also runs a blog on productivity, and is a part-time YouTuber and Skillshare teacher.

Twitter → twitter.com/hardeepsnagra

Inside Hardeep's Workspace

Setup:

• MacBook Air M1
• Dell Latitude (work laptop)
• Apple Studio Display
• Apple Magic Trackpad
• Logitech MX Keys Mini
• Logitech Triathlon M730 Mouse
• Kanto YU4 Speakers
• Belkin Boost Charge Pro
• iPhone 14 Pro (not pictured)
• Apple Watch S5
  

Tools:

I have an in-depth blog post of all of the tools and apps I use to stay productive. You can check that out here, otherwise here are the apps I rely on daily:

• To-do app: Things 3
• Browser: Safari
• Content Planner: Notion
• Notes app: Bear

What is the most useful item in your workspace?

My Apple Studio Display. I love its simple yet beautiful design. It’s bright and has wonderful colours. But best of all, I can connect both my Mac and Windows laptop and switch instantly between them with the press of one button using a KVM switch. The built-in camera, mic, and speakers are great for Teams calls.

How do you spark creativity?

I’m one of those individuals who has to have a good work environment to be able to get focused and into the flow of things with minimal distractions. So I setup my desk to avoid clutter, and created a calm atmosphere with ambient lighting. Finally, I can’t work without some background music, and the Kanto YU4 speakers sound incredible when I’m listening to a focus playlist on Apple Music.

How do you manage work-life balance?

I think the most important thing for me was creating a separate office space at home. It lets me switch between work-mode and home-mode quickly.

What do you think is the main benefit of remote work?

I’ve very fortunate that my job is fully remote. With two young kids, it means I can take care of school runs without having to panic about commuter traffic and getting to the office in time. The amount of time I save on travelling to and from the office also means I actually have more time to get things done at work while still giving me time to get to the gym during my lunch break.