# notes regarding my workflow and intended use of workspaces

## workspaces layout

idea from the ThePrimeagen: designated workspace/label/desktop per app/purpose

### current layout/plan

| workspace number                                             | wm layout/mode         |
|--------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------|
| 1. notes/drawing (stack: nvim, obsidian, gimp)               | stack                  |
| 2. music makeing - misc                                      | stack                  |
| 3. music making - daw                                        | floating (workaround)  |
| 4. music/audio listening                                     | stack                  |
| 5. general - misc (catch-all)                                | stack                  |
| 6. comms (stack: emails, chats, av/calls)                    | stack                  |
| 7. programming - misc (whatever is not in terminal)          | stack                  |
| 8. terminal (primary; one-offs & tui apps can be anywhere)   | stack                  |
| 9. web browser                                               | stack                  |

### ideas/guidelines:
- use this consistently accross all machines
    - if something not applicable for a given machine, just don't have apps or screens
      present, but maintain absolute position/numbering of each screen
- structure the above so that programs which i'm likely to use with one hand off of the
  keyboard (i.e. to use a trackpad, mouse, stylus, etc) are on the screens that allow
  for one hand (i.e. the one still on the keyboard) to navigate those screens
    - for me, using peripherals with right hand, so put programs likely to be used with
      peripherals where my left hand can switch to them single-handedly (screens 1 to 5)

## workflow / use notes

- related to the layout above, my approach is to run almost every window in fullscreen
    - note: on macOS, this is not mac's notion of fullscreen, which basically moves
      windows to new workspaces/desktops when going to fullscreen mode; instead, when i
      say 'fullscreen', the idea is taking up all of the normal screen (excluding the
      menu bar at the top of the screen)
- key bindings are set for moving window focus up/down (vim style: mod + k/j)
    - the mental model here is that every fullscreen window is in a stack, so i can move
      focus up and down the stack (and i try to maintain consistent order in stacks,
      e.g. in the comms workspace, email is always on the bottom and chat apps are above)
- for apps with tabs, pair the above mental model of a stack with a mental model of a
  circular list being in any position in that stack
    - so, keybindings are also set for previous/next tab (vim style: mod + h/l)
    - specifically, mod+h is mapped to ctrl+shift+tab and mod+l is mapped to ctrl+tab,
      so it should work anywhere ctrl+tab and ctrl+shift+tab work
- all this said, it is better to keep things simple when possible and avoid having too
  many windows and/or tabs open at one time; however, with the designated purpose for
  each workspace and the mental models above, it rarely takes me long to find what i need

## example cases

- if i want a particular browser window, i jump to workspace 9, then move focus
  up or down until i get to the window i want; if the window is right but i need
  a different tab, i then just move "right or left" through my tabs
- if i want a particular music-playing app/tui, i jumpt to workspace 4 and move
  focus up or down as needed to find it
- variation case: if i want a particular terminal workspace, i jump to workspace
  8, but then i'm in tmux land and navigate via the methods i've set up for tmux