A pickle I’ve avoided for a couple of years has finally been unjarred.1Is this a good metaphor? Two years ago, I was issued a company-owned laptop that was precisely the same make and model—down to the color—as my personal computer. I was loathe to use two computers and felt uncomfortable doing my extracurricular tasks on the work device, so I continued exclusively using my personal laptop as I’ve done since I started there.
To comply with various data privacy laws and ensure the company can provide tech support, it was recently made clear to me that work had to be done on the work laptop. I now have to maintain feature parity between two computers, bring them both with me while traveling, and generally be inconvenienced by this change.
Physical Realities
I’ve never cared much about how heavy my laptop is. Yes, a smaller laptop is more convenient. I love how slim and powerful my MacBook Air is, but I’ve also spent years with 15-inch and 17-inch laptops. There are tradeoffs both ways, and weight is not something I necessarily optimize for.
Yet, carrying two laptops feels slightly absurd to my back. It really does get heavy. They take up valuable space in my bag. Physically switching between computers instead of simply changing browser profiles is tedious. I have to keep both of them charged. The list of mild annoyances I’ve faced in the last week goes on.
What frustrates me the most is that I’m a tech enthusiast. I enjoy having new computers and toying around with my devices. I’ve been saving up to replace my MacBook Air for a couple of years, waiting for the right time to upgrade to a 15-inch Air or a 14-inch Pro. The decision is less straightforward now because that computer will no longer be used 40 hours each week for my work; instead, it will be relegated to various personal projects I don’t have as much time for. I’ve had my eye on a larger screen because, as a remote worker, I thrive on going to local coffee shops or libraries for a few hours to change scenery. Having a larger laptop screen available simplifies certain tasks.
In short, I resent being put in this position.
Sync All the Things
First, a specific nitpick. I installed Agenda onto my work laptop, an app I’ve used for the last few months to create my daily schedule and track other tasks besides. Everything is saved in iCloud, and I’ve had no issues with it syncing between my phone and laptop. However, adding a second laptop borked my data. The collections were improperly sorted, sending everything to “Other Projects.” If I tried to move them to collections on my work laptop, Agenda thought those collections were different from those on my other devices, so the notes would all get moved to “Other Projects” on those. It was a mess. The only thing I figured out how to do was duplicate the entire project, delete any existing collections, rename and delete the original project, create a new collection, and add the cloned project. This worked some of the time.
Disregarding that snafu, using iCloud, Dropbox, and Firefox sync means that the most important parts of my computing life are available wherever I need them. My browser history, bookmarks, login info (via Bitwarden), and data are accessible. In that regard, switching to my work laptop was easy.
Where I get caught up is the inability to easily determine which apps I’m missing. Some tools I use essentially daily, if not hourly—like Raycast, Shottr, Clipy, and PCalc—so I got those right away. But then I had to remind myself what preferences I set for each of these, which keyboard shortcuts I adjusted, and many other details that I can’t fix until my muscle memory takes over and something happens that I didn’t expect.2A small example: I have snippets in Clipy for many color hex codes I use for any documents, slides, and charts I create for work. It was a pain getting those transferred to my work laptop.
Then, there are the many apps I use less frequently and only realize I’m missing once I suddenly need them now. The first time I transferred data between MacBooks, I was hugely impressed by the migration process. But in my current situation, where a “clean setup” isn’t feasible since the laptop is issued to me already configured, I would love an in-between option that’s equivalent to the package install lists you can run via package managers on Linux to bring over software and preferences. Yes, I can go through my applications folder one by one and determine what I’d like to install, but we should have a better way.
Silver Lining
What I said earlier isn’t entirely true. When I first received my work laptop, it was because I had requested one alongside everyone else who was getting work devices due to a much-improved IT department. I had high hopes that physical separation between work and play would keep me more focused at work and let me easily remove myself when I was done for the day. However, I ran into all the issues detailed above and shut down that experiment after a month or two. I’ve spent the last two years remembering to power up the work laptop and update it every six months or so.
Backed into a corner, I must take this change as positively as possible. I plan to embrace the device separation between regular work and my various hobbies. I can literally close the lid each day on my work when it’s time to be done and shift to something else. Though I trust my employer to not spy on what I do—they’re a reasonable company, and the only third-party application they’ve installed on work devices is a tool that allows for remote support when needed—I’m still not predisposed to do any personal work or screwing around on a work device, so I will be more effective with this change.
Sometimes, inconvenience is itself a surprising benefit. Not everything needs to be as efficient as possible; the world isn’t that simple.
- 1Is this a good metaphor?
- 2A small example: I have snippets in Clipy for many color hex codes I use for any documents, slides, and charts I create for work. It was a pain getting those transferred to my work laptop.