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Kelly's setup

I've been tinkering around with an optimal work from home setup ever since I went fully remote in January 2020. Over time, I've managed to piece together what works well so that I can hit the ground running should I ever need to migrate to a new machine.

My desk, featuring a widescreen monitor

Installs

  1. Node
  2. XCode (which includes Git)
  3. NVM (node version manager)
    curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.37.2/install.sh | bash
  4. Homebrew (optional)
    /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
    Note: Follow this guide instead for M1 Macs
  5. Yarn
    npm install --global yarn
    If you're getting errors using brew to install yarn, you can do the following:
    sudo chown -R $USER /usr/local/lib/node_modules
npm install --global yarn

Storing your local repos

  1. Create a folder in your home directory called ~/dev
  2. Store your repos in there

Terminal

I highly recommend using iTerm and ZSH instead of the default terminal for more customization and an easier workflow. My friend @hipstersmoothie put together this nifty guide to get you started.

~/sites/website main*

My own personal setup includes:

  • Option 4 (pure theme)
  • The branch is always magenta
    typeset -g POWERLEVEL9K_VCS_FOREGROUND=$magenta
  • For convenience, you can check out my zshrc and p10k gists
  • Assigning a default directoryUsing iterm2 settings to set a default directory

GitHub

Register an SSH key by following these directions.

To see if this works, try forking a repo and cloning it.

Note: You'll be asked to fill in your username and password. For your password, you need to enter your personal access token, which can be found under Developer Settings in your GitHub profile.

Generate a personal access token in GitHub

Need a visualization of your branches? Check out GitUp to help manage your workflow.

VS Code

I use Settings Sync, which exports all my settings into a gist that I can import on a new machine. This allows me to pull in all my extensions in one click, which is incredibly useful for myself as well as others who want to copy my config.

My Overwatch themed D.Va chair

Hardware

I use my setup for work & gaming, which means my peripherals are plugged into a USB hub that connects to my monitor. This allows me to switch back and forth by changing the monitor input from HDMI and Thunderbolt.

For gaming:

Software

I tinker with a lot of different apps, but here's a list of common ones I use:

Common Projects

Here are a few projects that I typically clone because I've either maintained, contributed towards, or been an advocate:

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