I consider that a good workflow with the correct tools are essential to be productive. Who doesn't want to be comfortable and efficient? When I was in college, I was always looking to help my classmates with tools I found useful. I think that can be impactful for them, so I decided to share them here.
Installed in my Thinkpad T470 and desktop computer. I switched to Arch Linux because I can better manage the configurations and share them between machines. My window manager is Sway , so now I'm in the fields of Wayland.
For years I used bash, but I decided to switch to zsh due to its better plugin support.
My swiss army knife. I use it for everything since my first year of college.
For me, one of the best software made in the last years. The only downside is that it's written in Rust (ugly).
I use it because of my JetBrains free license for students.
Chosen for simplicity and no privacy concerns. I prefer avoiding Mozilla's trend of bloating the browser with AI features, like everyone else in software these days.
Running Sehyo/Qwen3.5-35B-A3B-NVFP4. Useful for code generation and code explanation. However, I don't rely on it entirely because I'm not a vibe-coder. I prefer to "operate" it and understand the solution before using it, avoiding the "copy-paste" mentality that can be harmful for learning and understanding the code.
Since I use it for daily notes, my mind is more focused and I can remember things better. The decision to stay away from digital tools for this purpose is because of the distraction they can cause.
Don't look me in the eyes, I know it's not physical as the notebooks, but it's extremely useful for managing events and tasks. I use it in Neovim thanks to nvim-orgmode, and thanks to it a message is always sent to my family and friends on the day of their birthday.
Using it as my wallet too. I write down ideas, to-do lists, and other things I want to remember or to transfer to another notebook later. Thanks to its size, I can carry it everywhere and never forget what I should do or what I want to do.
My resume, books, papers, orgfiles, and other important files are synced between my devices. I don't want to rely on third-party services for this. Adding a VPN to the mix, I can access my files from anywhere without worrying about privacy or security.
Jose Esparza | 2026