
I first embarked on my journey to create the perfect desk setup in 2018, when I made the big move from [Mauritius](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauritius) to Canada.

The notion of an ideal setup has always been a tantalizing dream of mine. But when can we honestly say, "This is it, this is the setup I always wanted."? Well, there's no definitive answer to that. However, after a few years of relentless experimentation, I can confidently say that I'm truly happy with what I have.

(Check out the list of all the gear I use at https://kit.co/thedaviddias)

## Daily desk setup

Yes, my desk is usually that clean! No kidding! Almost every morning or night, I make a habit of removing from my desk what I don't need, like a cup of tea or the last letter that came in the mail.

![](/images/articles/ideal-desk-setup-personal-journey/daily-setup-01.jpg)

What makes a desk setup almost perfect? It just has to be a place where you feel comfortable and productive! I don't like having a space cluttered with things I don't really need. I am always trying to figure out how I can replace a specific function with a smaller or more minimalistic piece of gear. It's sometimes hard to strike a balance between minimalism and productivity, but I think I am getting there.

My main computers (both personal and professional) are Macs. My personal one is a **[MacBook M1 Max, 14-inch from 2021 with 32 GB of RAM and a 2 TB hard drive](https://www.apple.com/macbook-pro-14-and-16/)**. And of course, I added a [DBrand skin](https://dbrand.com/shop/apple-macbook-pro-14-skins-2021#/customizer/edit/design) called "Top Skin Hyperblack Titanium" for the top and Matte Black for the bottom.

As you can see in the picture above, I work with [two screens](https://kit.co/thedaviddias/ultimate-desk-setup-unleashing-productivity/dell-p2720dc-27-16) instead of one. Many people I know are fans of wide, curved screens. I've tried it, but I constantly put my apps in full screen and you can't do that without a window management app.

I love mechanical keyboards! I have multiple ones, but the one I chose for my setup is the [Keychron K3 Ultra-Slim 75%](https://kit.co/thedaviddias/ultimate-desk-setup-unleashing-productivity/keychron-k3-version). It's thin and wireless. The keys don't make too much noise, which is important when you are in a meeting. I use it in combination with the [Logitech MX Master 3S](https://kit.co/thedaviddias/ultimate-desk-setup-unleashing-productivity/6718058-logitech-mx-master-3).

## Music desk setup

I have studied and played music for more than 10 years. But for many years, I didn't touch a single instrument. 2-3 years ago, I decided to get back to it. I initially bought the Novation Mini [MK3]. It was nice creating some songs in [Ableton](https://www.ableton.com/) with it, but I quickly felt that I needed normal keys. After weeks of research and comparison, I chose the [Novation Launchkey 49 MK3](https://kit.co/thedaviddias/office-extras-gearing-up-for-ultimate-efficiency/6718487-novation-launchkey-4).

![](/images/articles/ideal-desk-setup-personal-journey/music-setup-01.jpg)

I'm fortunate enough to afford access to [Kontakt and Komplete Standard edition](https://www.native-instruments.com/en/catalog/) from Native Instruments. They have so many instruments, I'm still exploring them all!

## Electronics desk setup

I started tinkering with electronics in 2011. I have left many electronic gears in every country and place I lived in! I have built a lot of unfinished projects. These days, time is the only thing that is missing to finish them. But I still love playing with electronics. I have the amazing Weller Digital Soldering Station (WE1010NA) and a few boxes filled with tools and components. I might write an article exclusively about my tools!

![](/images/articles/ideal-desk-setup-personal-journey/electronics-setup-01.jpg)

Ironically, what took me a long time to find was the magnifying glass. I had a specific idea in mind. I finally found one that seems to be using exactly the same arm as Rode. Funny.

Maybe one day I will have a dedicated desk for electronics. But for now, I'm happy with what I have.

## Craft desk setup

I wish I was a better artist! At least, I've been trying! I have a lot of respect for people who can draw, paint, etc... But whenever I can, I try to learn something new. Doing something with my hands is a great way to relax and forget about the computer and coding. I wish I could spend more time doing that.

A few years ago, when I was living in Paris, I would spend a fortune at [Aroma Zone](https://www.aroma-zone.com/). I would make products based on essential oils. I would make my own shampoo, shower gel, etc... I also made my own candles. It was amazing! Unfortunately, in Canada, I've never found a similar shop.

![](/images/articles/ideal-desk-setup-personal-journey/craft-setup-01.jpg)

## And you, what is your ideal desk setup?

Everyone is different, and our needs and aspirations are different. I am curious to know - what is your ideal desk setup? What do you like to have on your desk? What do you enjoy doing? What is your dream setup?


Join me as I take you on a tour of my desk setup, showing how it has evolved over the years, and how it enhances my productivity and creative pursuits. Let's discuss and share our ideal desk setups!

The Ideal Desk Setup: A Personal Journey


I published my first website around 2001. Probably before that. Almost 20 years ago. Unfortunately, the exact date I started doing web development is probably lost by now.

Everything began when my dear friend, [Christophe Raimbault](https://www.la-croix.com/Religion/Catholicisme/France/Pere-Christophe-Raimbault-Il-faut-vivre-lEvangile-pouvoir-transmettre-2018-05-20-1200940389), a priest in the [Diocese of Tours](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholic_Archdiocese_of_Tours), asked if I was interested in managing and building a website for the "Notre-Dame La Riche" parish. If you are not too familiar with what a parish is, it's mostly a local community of different churches. At the time, this sounded like an amazing challenge but I had no idea what I was getting into. I had never touch a line of code before, I was only 15 years old. I never stopped coding since then.

The following list of websites are the ones that had the most impact on my life. I build a lot more websites but smaller and less important. I'm not including them here.

## "Notre-Dame La Riche" parish website (2000-2005)

"Notre-Dame La Riche" parish website was my first website. At the time, no blogs, no Google, no Github... most of my time was dedicated in studying code source of other websites, reading books about HTML, CSS, PHP. It was definitelly a fun time. I was learning a lot, things seemed to be a lot more simple than nowadays.

![](/images/articles/decade-web-development-personal-journey/david-dias-present-ndlr.jpg 'Me presenting the website in 2005')

I still have some code source and I can't bear looking at it just for few seconds 🤣: CSS mixed with HTML, no version control, layouts build with tables... as I said, it was fun but I'm glad things have changed. The website had multiple refactoring along the years. I remember having some animated banners build with Flash.

![](/images/articles/decade-web-development-personal-journey/paroisse-ndrl-2004.jpg 'Notre-Dame La Riche parish website in 2004')

![](/images/articles/decade-web-development-personal-journey/paroisse-ndlr-2005.jpg 'Notre-Dame La Riche parish website in 2005')

- Internet Archive URL: https://web.archive.org/web/20050204174756/http://paroissendlr-tours.cef.fr/
- Stack: HTML, CSS, PHP, MySQL
- Current URL: https://paroisse-ndlr-scel.jimdo.com/

## WikiKto (2005-2006)

Wikipedia was launched in 2001. At this time, wikis were popular and Wikipedia was just beginning. I remember how much criticism this community project received. For many reasons that I have somewhat forgotten, I decided to create a dedicated wiki related to Catholic knowledge. I named it WikiKto (Kto is the French abbreviation for Catholic).

To my great surprise, the project gained a lot of contributors. I was no longer alone. I was not the only one who thought that a wiki about Catholic knowledge was a good idea. I was not the only one who believed that Catholic knowledge should be shared and made accessible to everyone.

The project was officially launched on May 13, 2005. I had to shut it down a little over a year later when I moved to Brazil and could no longer manage it.

![](/images/articles/decade-web-development-personal-journey/wikikto-fr.jpg 'WikiKto homepage in French')
![](/images/articles/decade-web-development-personal-journey/wikikto-en.jpg 'WikiKto homepage in English')

- Internet Archive URL (French): https://web.archive.org/web/20060207015812/http://fr.wikikto.org/index.php/Accueil
- Internet Archive URL (English): https://web.archive.org/web/20051227152637/http://en.wikikto.org/index.php/Main_page
- Internet Archive URL (Portuguese - Launched October 12, 2006): https://web.archive.org/web/20070917013037/http://br.wikikto.eu/index.php/P%C3%A1gina_principal
- Stack: MediaWiki, PHP, MySQL
- Old URL: http://wikikto.org/

## WikiKtosource (2005-2006)

WikiKtosource was launched few weeks after WikiKto and was the equivalent to [Wikimedia](https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page). It was a wiki dedicated to offer open source resources for the catholic community. It was a place to share and download resources like images mainly.

![](/images/articles/decade-web-development-personal-journey/wikiktosource-fr.jpg)

- Internet Archive URL (French): https://web.archive.org/web/20060207032908/http://fr.wikiktosource.org/index.php/Accueil
- Old URL: http://wikiktosource.org/

## David Dias Blog (2010 to today)

I created a first version of my personal blog in 2010. Few months before I started my first job as a web developer. For many years, creating new content and maintaining a blog has been a challenge for me with so many things and ideas to create. The current version of my blog (2022-2023) is probably the one that finally got the most attention to me.

![](/images/articles/decade-web-development-personal-journey/david-dias-blog-2012.jpg 'David Dias Blog in 2012')
![](/images/articles/decade-web-development-personal-journey/david-dias-blog-2015.jpg 'David Dias Blog in 2015')
![](/images/articles/decade-web-development-personal-journey/david-dias-blog-2020.jpg 'David Dias Blog in 2020')

- Stack: from Wordpress, to Gatsby (2020) and Next.js (2022)

## França Brasileira (2009-2011)

![](/images/articles/decade-web-development-personal-journey/franca-brasileira-logo.jpg)

Back from Brazil, I decided to create a forum to help Brazilians to move to France and to connect to other Brazilians living in France. Thanks to all my contacts made in Brazil, I was able to get a lot of exposure and the forum and blog got very popular.

- Internet Archive URL: https://web.archive.org/web/20111210020959/http://www.francabrasileira.com/
- Stack: Workpress, PHP, MySQL
- Old URL: http://www.francabrasileira.com/

## Frontenddeveloper (2013-2014)

`frontenddeveloper.fr` was another trial to create a blog about front-end development. I was not very active on it and I decided to close it after few months.

![](/images/articles/decade-web-development-personal-journey/frontenddev-fr.jpg)

- Internet Archive URL: https://web.archive.org/web/20130205064050/http://frontenddeveloper.fr/
- Stack: Workpress, PHP, MySQL
- Old URL: http://frontenddeveloper.fr/

## Front-End Checklist (2017 to today)

The Front-End Checklist is an open-source project I created just few month before leaving Mauritius. Initially build for my frontend team, it became a worlwide and very popular project around the globe. I have been meaning to build a V2, more modern and with a better user experience. Not sure if and when I will have time to do it.

![](/images/articles/decade-web-development-personal-journey/frontendchecklist.jpg)

- Stack: HTML, CSS, JavaScript
- Current URL: https://frontendchecklist.io/

## World Web Stories (2021 to today)

I officially start the podcast [World Web Stories when I was living in Mauritus](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYtcNF7cuGU&list=PLVrgPXb9LZwjRK2cL1uQ0IllT9Ljokxrz), in 2016. I was not very active, only had 5 episodes and it was in French. In 2021, unemployed for few weeks, I decided to relaunch the podcast in English with a new format and with the goal to interview one person from each country in the world.

Unfortunately, I choose to spend more time on my other podcast "Erreur 200". I still want to continue this project, but I'm not sure when I will.

![](/images/articles/decade-web-development-personal-journey/worldwebstories-podcast.jpg)

- Stack: Gatsby, React
- Current URL: https://worldwebstories.com/

## Erreur 200 (2021 to today)

Erreur 200 is a French podcast I co-host with Jean-Rémy Duboc about web development. We talk about our experience, our mistakes, our successes, our tips and tricks. We also interview people from the web development community.

![](/images/articles/decade-web-development-personal-journey/erreur-200.jpg)

- Stack: Gatsby, React
- Current URL: https://erreur200.com/

## Conclusion

Looking back more than 10 years, I'm very proud and grateful for all the opportunities and projects I had the chance to work on. I'm also very grateful for all the people I met along the way. Those projects shaped in a way my career and life and I'm not even mentionning all the professional projects I've worked on.


Dive into my decade-long journey in web development, chronicling key projects that have shaped my career.

Tag: dev-journal

The Ideal Desk Setup: A Personal Journey

My Decade in Web Development: A Personal Journey and Showcase

Posts associated with dev-journal

The Ideal Desk Setup: A Personal Journey

My Decade in Web Development: A Personal Journey and Showcase