I’m Linus Sebastian From LinusTechTips and This Is How I Work
If you are the type of person who enjoys building a computer – when choosing a case, finding the best processor (and cooling system so you can overclock it), be careful about all the components to maximize your installation and bring it to perfection with LED lighting – then you should probably know Linus Sebastian .
Linus started out, like many hardware enthusiasts, working in an electronics retail store while tinkering on the side, but as he climbed the career ladder at NCIX, his video production took on a life of its own for them. You can now find daily videos on LinusTechTips , his eponymous YouTube channel, where he and his team discuss the latest hardware and techniques to bring your computing system to the fore . We contacted Linus to find out about his current settings and how he works.
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia. Current concert: Technology YouTuber / vlogger. One word that best describes how you work: Frantically Current mobile device: I’m using the Galaxy S6 Active, but most likely I’ll switch to Droid Turbo again. The camera is much worse, but battery life is everything for me. Current PC: I’m using a discharged (512GB SSD, 16GB RAM) Razer Blade 14 (2015) right now with Windows 8.1, but I’m very happy with the upgrade to Windows 10. I didn’t spend a lot of time on Win10. but I hear a lot of good things about it. My personal desktop machine is (sort of) out of order right now, but is a special liquid-cooled deal with an Extreme Edition 8-core processor, GTX Titan, 32GB of RAM, and a 1.2TB SSD. I already have Windows 10 RTM running on it, but I * just * installed it the other day for video and haven’t even set up my desktop background yet!
What apps, software or tools can’t you live without?
Dropbox and Teamviewer make my life better. I am self-employed, which means that I could work almost anywhere without having access to my files or suitable computers, and being able to use that time is very important to me. I also find Twitter and Instagram incredibly important tools for my work, as they give me valuable insight into what my viewers are thinking over time that would otherwise be wasted playing Jetpack Joyride in the closet.
How is your workplace arranged?
I think the only way to describe my workspace is with a picture. Chaos is everywhere. Currently my desk is occupied by my new video editor because our new office is not finished yet, so I am working on what used to be a B-roll desk in a random room downstairs. It has my laptop, the server I’m working on, my hydraulic cylinder, and a bunch of other random knickknacks.
What’s your best time-saver or life hack?
I don’t know if it matters, but the best time saving measures I’ve introduced are OTHER PEOPLE. I know that a lot of people in my position try to do everything by themselves, but I’ve spent the last 2.5 years building a fantastic team of people around me to do things that I had to do myself, like selling ads (uh-huh).
What’s your favorite to-do list manager?
Until recently, I used a draft email for myself to manage my to-do list, but last week I refactored it into a Google Doc. My to-do list is public, so the “periodic update” model of something like Evernote doesn’t work as well for me as Google’s real-time multi-user editing.
What device, besides a phone and a computer, can you not live without and why?
I’m a smartwatch guy. I get so many notifications that the Pebble Steel smartwatch only lasts about half of the claimed runtime between charges, so not having to pull my phone out of my pocket to find out if something matters or not is a HUGE time-saver for me.
What are some of your best everyday activities? What’s your secret?
I’m pretty sure I rock socks and sandals better than anyone else on Earth. I wear them with pride, confidence and even cool. Moreover, my skills in wearing sandals make people cry who “can’t run right now because I don’t wear sneakers.” I did everything from walking in the snow to riding electric scooters and traveling over rooftops in sandals. There is no better shoe.
What do you listen to while you work?
Usually crappy pop. I like it and it is easy for me to disconnect. When I really want to focus, I put the song I like on repeat. I find that the headphones I use play a bigger role here than the music I listen to. What works best for me is that which isolates well outside noise, so I prefer in-ear monitors to bulky headphones.
What are you reading now?
I gave up on Anandtech’s Apple Watch review and recent leak article on AshleyMadison.com to answer these questions and answers. Both were interesting for different reasons.
How do you replenish?
Family time is the best medicine for me. It doesn’t help me rest – I think it’s better to sleep for that – but it definitely gives me a reason to get up every day and build my company.
What is your sleep routine? Are you a night owl or get up early?
I used to be more like an owl and rarely slept before 2 – 2:30 am, but these days exhaustion has started to overtake me, and I sleep from 1 to 1:30. This sounds later than probably because I am NOT an early bird and rarely get up before 9am.
Fill in the blank: I would like _________ to answer these same questions.
Elon Musk.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
Execution is everything. Sitting and planning is useless if it doesn’t translate into something tangible. It is better to have 100% fulfillment of 50% of the plan than 50% fulfillment of 100% of the plan. Nothing drives me crazy more than sitting and talking about the “perfect way to do something” when we’re in a hurry, which is always the case when you want to do something.