I've been an i3 user for a few years. (I discovered Ratpoison many moons ago and found the tiled approach an efficient way to use a laptop.) My configuration is

I've been an i3 user for a few years. (I discovered Ratpoison many moons ago and found the tiled approach an efficient way to use a laptop.) My configuration is nothing special, but here are a couple things I've found helpful: 1. Opacity follows the focus (see compton's "-i" option). If I look at a window and see my wallpaper showing through, I know that whatever I type won't be going there. 2. A generously sized terminal window lives in the scratchpad. Since I'm on a laptop, I sometimes find myself bouncing among workspaces fairly often--yet the same terminal is always a keystroke away. Also, not i3-specific, but having a key binding for opening a specific notes file in an editor ensures that I make notes much more often.