I’m a video editor. For the past several years, I worked on a $400 ASUS laptop from Walmart. I pushed it to its limit.

Editing videos was a long and laggy process. Anytime I edited, I knew I’d be waiting on my computer, having it freeze, and constantly having to reset it. If you’ve worked with video, you know how damaging this time loss is.

Now I have the most powerful MacBook Pro money can buy. It blazes through any task with ease. Doesn’t take a second to load anything. My productivity has doubled or even tripled.

I’ve always said I don’t believe equipment shouldn’t hold anyone back from creating. I still believe this. You can make engaging videos on a phone without any computer.

However, there are two important things that actually change with an equipment upgrade.

The first is simple productivity. When I have a fast computer, I work faster. Waiting on a slow computer makes it take longer to get things done.

I don’t think this rule just applies to video. Companies have a productivity boost when they upgrade to Slack from texting, Trello from marker boards, or Salesforce, Hubspot, Shopify, and so many others.

It’s definitely possible to be productive without the best tools (that’s how most startups begin) but I’m thoroughly convinced they make a huge difference when it comes to getting things done.

The second is more important: creative motivation. After years of waiting on my caveman computer, I saw the process of creative expression as a chore. I didn’t look forward to editing; I dreaded it. What a terrible relationship to have with something so important!

My sister’s a painter. I asked her how she’d feel if her paintbrush broke in half every ten minutes. Like me, she said she’d keep creating but that it’d take a toll on her long-term motivation.

I wasn’t expecting what happened with my upgrade. I woke up the second day of having my new computer and realized I was genuinely excited to make videos. I didn’t dread all the lagging frustrations of my old computer. I simply started creating and got lost in flow.

To be clear, I believe in creative endurance. A lack of tools is rarely (if ever) an excuse to roll over and not create. But there’s no denying the benefit of having the right tools. Even more, there is no glamour in using garbage equipment just to have a narrative about grinding through equipment blocks. If you can afford the right tools, get them.

---

Good tools make a difference. It doesn’t mean it’s impossible to create without them, but it’s always a good idea to upgrade when it’s rational to do so.

Edit: I think it’s worth mentioning being over-equipped. It’s important to have the right tool for a job, not the most expensive one. There’s nothing inherently special about any brand or the price of equipment. Nobody wants to work with the person who annoyingly boasts about the unnecessary specs of their stuff.