14 Workday Essentials
I shared my desk essentials a couple of weeks ago but I've never spoken about the items that I need every single day for work. Some of them are the same as my desk essentials but most of them are things that I would be completely lost without. So here are my average work day essentials:
Canon 400d + 50mm lens: My camera is now 8 years old and in dire need of an upgrade and was something I had saved for until my old MacBook Pro decided to die in the summer. Although I do need an upgrade, my camera means so much to me that it will always hold such a special place in my heart and really it still does everything I need. My 50mm lens is something I use every single day, it's rare that I use anything else. If you're a beginner or an expert I would recommend anybody to use a 50mm lens at some point.
MacBook Air: I was a Pro girl until this summer when I had to replace my laptop and went for an air instead. I was worried about the memory but I purchased a large external hard drive to avoid any problems and an external hard drive is far cheaper than built in memory. I love that I take my laptop around with me now when I travel around for work. I'm still able to do all my work without it lagging behind or Photoshop being slow, so I think unless you edit videos or images all day then I would highly recommend an air.
Google Chrome: As I work so much online I take my internet browser choice seriously. I used to use Safari but I found it so slow and painful whenever I wanted to stream something so I switched over to Chrome. I find it super simple to use and it easily connects all my Google accounts too which is really handy as I work across three on a daily basis. I also use the GC app on my phone too and I love that it syncs all my bookmarks and information across.
Photoshop CS6: During university I hated Photoshop with a passion, I found it so confusing and I always hated my tutorials on it. Now I understand the programme a lot more I don't find it so daunting and I use it every single day. The editing that I do is very minimal, I wrote a post over on ALO recently about my day to day editing process.
Lightroom & Bridge CS6: If I'm doing strictly colour editing then I will mostly do it in Lightroom, I find it a lot nicer to work in than Photoshop sometimes. You can install different filters into Lightroom too which can make a fun addition to your images. Then if I need make PDF's or contact sheets for client work I will always use Bridge, it's also really handy if you need to make a batch save too.
iPhone 5: As I look after social media accounts for ALO I rely on my phone a lot. Nowadays I do refrain from checking up on own Instagram & Twitter throughout the day as I found it was becoming too much of a distraction.
Moleskine Diary & iCal:Keeping two diaries might seem a little extreme but I like to write everything down to make sure I'm on track. I colour ordinate all my work into my iCal so I know what needs doing on what days.
Spotify: I didn't give into Spotify for a long time and refused to pay £10 for it, but the adverts got too much for and I gave in. I would be lost without my Spotify playlists and my 2000's r&b guilty pleasure sessions.
Blogger & Squarespace: I'm still one of the bloggers who uses Blogger as a platform, so many have switched over to different ones but I think I will still remain loyal to Blogger. I love the simplicity of it and with basic HTML knowledge you can really transform the way it looks. ALO is hosted on Squarespace and for the most part I love it as a platform, you have a lot more creative freedom with how you can put your posts together so it is great for running the magazine.
Stationary: My obsession with stationary is no secret but I rely on it every single day for work. I use multiple notepads to keep track of projects and for all of my admin work to keep track of finances.
What are your workday essentials?
