Elgato's Stream Deck has been around for a while, and you may have spotted one or two as a part of your favorite streamer's desk setup. This quintessential accessory for streamers and broadcasters had been on my radar for a while, but it wasn't until recently that I got a chance to try out one for myself. The company's new Stream Deck Neo has only been sitting on my desk for a few days, but it has already become one of my most used accessories over that period.

The Stream Deck Neo belongs to the same family of products as the Wave Neo that's not primarily focused on gaming, so I decided to transform its collection of buttons into a personalized command center for productivity. My idea was to see if I could use it to automate repetitive tasks and streamline my workflow and I must say that it has exceeded my expectations to become the productivity companion I didn't know I needed.

Take care of repetitive tasks

Gets me up to speed every morning

I primarily use the Stream Deck Neo to streamline a lot of repetitive tasks I do on a daily basis as a part of my everyday work rituals. With just a tap of a single button on the Stream Deck — which I have conveniently customized to display an XDA logo — I now open Slack to catch-up with messages that I may have missed from my colleagues who work in a different timezone, open Spotify to play an upbeat Lo-Fi playlist, and also open the most frequented websites on Chrome automatically.

This may not sound very convincing, but I save a surprising amount of time every day now that these repetitive tasks are taken care of. Not only does it get me up to speed with everything that's happened when I was away from work, but it also helps me get straight to my tasks for the day, which my wandering mind usually has trouble getting to. I can improve this workflow more with a little tinkering, but I'm happy with where it is at right now.

Easily trigger macOS shortcuts

Can't live without these

One thing I'll never understand is why the audio switcher on both macOS and Windows 11 is buried deep in some menu, instead of being a simple toggle somewhere on the desktop. Both operating systems make it surprisingly difficult to switch the audio source, and you can't do it quickly unless you are willing to disconnect your wireless headphones manually or yank your wired headset's connector out, forcing them to switch to the next available source. Until both operating systems figure out how to do it more efficiently, I'll use the 'Audio Switcher' plug-in on my Stream Deck, which lets me pick two audio devices that are connected to my Mac and switch between them with just a single press of a button. It's just a simple, no frills plug-in that works as advertised and single-handedly makes the Stream Deck worth it for me.

I also take more screenshots than an average user, which is why I've also set up a button to pull up the screenshot tool for me on my Mac to avoid having to look for it in the app launcher. In fact, I have an entire photo editing workflow set up on the Stream Deck, which is programed to automatically pull up Canva (with two separate canvas of my preferred dimensions) and a background removal tool on Chrome, and takes me to the 'Recents' folder in the Finder to help me pick the screenshot I captured. It's little things like these that have made me appreciate the Stream Deck more.

Access app-specific shortcuts

Quick access to useful toggles

I've dedicated a couple of other pages on my Stream Deck to app-specific shortcuts that give me instant access to some of my most used toggles on, say, the Govee light controller and Davinci Resolve, among other apps. Being able to change the lighting in my room with just a single press of a button instead of having to control them through the app or my voice has been a convenience that's going to be hard to go back from. I totally see myself spending more time setting up app-specific shortcuts with pages dedicated to some of my most used toggles from programs like Photoshop, similar to how I already have toggles to get to the 'Trim Mode' and 'Ripple Cut' in Davinci Resolve.

The Stream Deck works wonders for my productivity

Contrary to what most people think, Stream Deck's magic extends beyond simple actions like displaying video and audio transitions on-stream for broadcasters. I say that because I've barely scratched the surface with my Stream Deck Neo for productivity tasks, and it already feels like a huge upgrade for my setup, helping me launch applications, and automate both complex and simple, repetitive tasks. It has become an indispensable tool on my desk that I use all the time, be it for launching all my essential utilities on Mac for work or to simply change my Slack status and call it a day.