Go Between - Truman's Tools

Personal tools

What Truman uses

Here's what I use on a daily basis to get work done, stay productive, and maintain a healthy work-life balance.

The objects that fill my workspace arrive through a process of gentle curation rather than purposeful collecting. I tend to find something that works—whether it's a text editor or keyboard—and stick with it until some natural evolution prompts a change.

Workspace Essentials

My standing desk from a local Grand Rapids maker shares space with an Eames aluminum group chair rescued from a Chicago office exodus. Both reflect my preference for things that last, combining utility with clean aesthetics. The space adjusts as I do—sometimes standing with a balance board underfoot, sometimes settling in for focused work, reflecting the natural rhythm between movement and stillness that good work requires.

The digital foundation rests on an M1 Max MacBook Pro connected to a Samsung 4K monitor. My audio setup—Rode Podcaster microphone and AudioEngine speakers—acknowledges that communication is as important as code. The NuPhy mechanical keyboard represents one of those occasional departures from the familiar, a deliberate step away from years with an Apple keyboard.

Digital Tools

My software choices blend established reliability with careful evolution. Arc browser and iTerm2 frame my digital windows, while Zed slowly earns territory previously claimed by Sublime. These gradual shifts happen not from restlessness, but when the right moment for change presents itself.

Perhaps most meaningful is Musicbox, our in-house creation that connects our team through shared listening experiences—a digital manifestation of how technology can facilitate human connection when thoughtfully applied.

Physical Presence

The greenery surrounding my workspace—from spider plants to string of turtles—represents an aspirational care. They add life to a digital environment while reminding me that growth requires consistent attention, even when I don't always provide it perfectly.

Wall art and mementos—a crocheted Enterprise from my partner, caricatures from college friends, paintings of the Golden Gate, a reframed kinder aphorism—aren't decorations but physical embodiments of relationships that matter. They create a workspace populated by connections to people rather than just things.

Analog Counterpoints

A small collection of RPG books and carefully selected pencils represent an intentional counterbalance to digital work. They don't directly inform my professional thinking, but perhaps reflect the same underlying values: empathy, storytelling, creativity, and playfulness that naturally extend into my approach to problem-solving.

My workspace isn't a carefully constructed environment but a natural extension of how I move through the world—valuing longevity over novelty, relationships over collections, and finding a balance between the established and the evolving.