Productivity tips I'd give my past self through a time-cellphone with limited credit
Tags: productivity, beginners, tools, webdev
Published: 2020-07-24 07:11:26

> I was reading through [Vito's](https://dev.to/vtrpldn) [post about VSCode shortcuts that he'd tell himself if he could go back in time with very limited time](https://dev.to/vtrpldn/vs-code-shortcuts-that-i-would-teach-myself-if-i-had-a-time-machine-with-limited-fuel-36md) (btw you should totally check his post for awesome VSCode tips), and made me think, **what if I had a quick call with my past self, and very** **limited credit.**

— 📱🎶

— ¿Hola?

— _Lucas, it's me! ~~Mario~~ You! From the future, I don't have time for your, erm, my..., no... our many questions! Your productivity is very questionable, so I'm gonna give you a few things **you need to do with your work environment ASAP**. Also we are going to talk in English so most of the world can read it._

— Erm... okay sure... this is so sudden and I'm **very** busy right now, so please, make it quick!

— _You are playing videogames, so you better pause it and listen to me **carefully**._

— Man... I know myself way too much... 

— _Duh, of course! Ok so, stop tinkering around with the themes, they take you too much of your time, just go with **[Dracula](https://draculatheme.com/)**_🧛‍♀️ _every time you can, you will develop a love relationship with this theme._

![Dracula](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/jwcan9lcmkxbyhbagsk9.png)
— Dracula? Love relationship? Why would I **love** a Halloween themed color scheme? This seems rather mu-

— _**Just. Use. It.**_

— Ok! Okay! I, will us-

— _Also, we both know you wanna learn to use git, but it's too daunting from the command line. Luckily for you there is this **amazing** extension called **[Git Lens](https://gitlens.amod.io/).** It will ease so much of your git journey, letting you have a look at your branches, commits, tags, among a few things right in **VSCode.** Even cherry picking_ 🍒 _will be a breeze._

![Git Lens](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/ven1wfyf6yp68b6g8s3m.png)
— That actually sounds very useful, you seem to know your st-

— _Let's talk about the terminal, you need to learn to use it fast, it will save you a lot of time, and a lot of software is only available for terminals, so get your hands dirty with it fast. Is it **[WSL 2](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/wsl2-index)** out yet?_🐧

— N-no I've heard news about something called WSL, but not that two version thing.

— _Shoot! WSL 2 is amazing, you can have a Linux distribution running **inside** your Windows, virtually and **very well integrated**. Nevermind, add **Powershell**⚡ or **[cmder](https://cmder.net/)** to your VSCode and start using it. You will thank the practice you've earned with those once WSL 2 is out._

![Cmder on VSCode](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/e543yyz00nuqqnrkuwfx.png)
![Powershell on VSCode via CMDER](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/s96gdm4aqbblnahmuvsu.png)

— What about the WSL 1?

— _Don't bother, go straight to WSL 2. It's way, **way better**. Also, as soon as it's available **download [Windows Terminal](https://www.microsoft.com/es-ar/p/windows-terminal/9n0dx20hk701?rtc=1&activetab=pivot:overviewtab)**, it will let you run multiple terminals in tabs._

![Windows Terminal](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/wmp5ezcs9gvq4xbgm2qr.PNG)

— I've been using **cd** and **touch** in the terminal to change directories and create files easi-

— _That's good and all, **but we need more**. I'll give you this tiny bookmark for your future reference: **[ExplainShell](https://explainshell.com/)**_🐚_. This will help you learn more of those pesky shell commands. Think it as a Google for commands._

![ExplainShell](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/643oqm20nq5roma5xj2x.png)

— More? How many more do I n-

— _Speaking about more, you'll spend ages trying to theme your terminal (of course) just right. Leave that to **[Starship.rs](https://starship.rs)**_🚀_, it's exactly what you want and more, having a lot of modules you can turn on and off, and it's written in Rust, so it's **fast** keeping the performance of our console pretty much the same._

![Starship](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/c7ez7ejk06lc68goz0fy.png)

— Erm o-okay that sounds good but I want to customize the prompt with erm... you know...

— *Yes, you can add emojis to the prompt.*

— Sold! But... what about the theme?
— _**[DRACULA](https://draculatheme.com/)** of course!_

— Wow, okay! I mean, chill man, you clearly have strong feelings for our blood thirsty friend, I didn't expect I'd become such a fan of vampires... is emo cool again in the future?

— _No, but dark interfaces are `e v e r y w h e r e`. That said, you'll need to share your code effectively and quickly. Average screen grabbers aren't really good for code, go with **[CodeSnap](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=adpyke.codesnap)**_📷_. It's very customizable and you can take nice pictures of your code just by selecting it. You'll  want to hang those awesome **hotfixing snippets** on the wall now._

![CodeSnap](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/szmpbxg1r3ko3pp2hcp3.png)

— Ok, mhm, okay, hang... in the wall. Mhm. 

— *Where are you writing these things* out?

— In a few Sticky Notes on my desk. Why? Does the future me write things down in a better w-

— _As a matter of fact, yeah, I've been using **[Notion](https://notion.so)** for the past months, and it's the perfect tool for us, you know how messy our desks and mind are; the way we always forget things... Well, no more! That's a thing of the past, erm your present, my past! 
I've been organizing everything I can in Notion it's been such a joy. **YOU NEED TO USE IT.** You'll never become filthy, **filthy rich** if you keep forgetting you forget those million-dollar ideas_ 🌈_._

![Notion.so](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/bf5easllpe08t18mk1do.png)
— HOLD UP A FILTHY SECOND. I'LL BECOME... *FILTHY, **FILTHY RICH?*** 

— *Of course! I've already told you how we pulled it off. Haven't I...?*

— No! I'd totally remember such **special little** piece of information.

— *Oh, silly me! You know, it was actually a very unexpected journey, let me te-*

— *...*
— **You there?** 

> If you've found the post helpful or do you want to **discuss/ask** any of the things I've sent to my past self, please feel free to do so! 
If you are feeling shy just let me know with a 🦄 or a ♥ you've enjoyed it and I might just call myself a few times more. **Thanks again [Vitor Paladini](https://dev.to/vtrpldn) for the idea.**