These 4 Products Can Boost Your Productivity
This article contains affiliate links to actual products I’ve used. This means I will receive a small commission at no cost to you if you end up buying something. I hope they help you as much as they’ve helped me!
1. Laptop Table With Fan
When you’re working, you don’t want to have to think about your working tools because it breaks your focus and flow.
Before getting a laptop table with a fan, my flow of thinking was constantly interrupted by my concern about the whirr of my overheating laptop Macbook, or I’d have to adjust my posture because my laptop wasn’t high enough.
When I got the adjustable-height laptop table with a fan, I didn’t have to think about my tools anymore and could enter a blessedly uninterrupted flow state.
How it works — you sit on a recliner, bed, wherever you like to work. Place the table over your lap (I ended up falling in love with one with legs I could adjust), adjust the legs (if you choose a desk that has legs) to the height you desire. If your laptop computer tends to overheat, plug in the USB from the table (which powers the fan to help keep your computer cool) into your computer, put your computer on the desk and you’re good to go.
The fan option is great if you have a laptop, like my Macbook, which is prone to overheating. Oftentimes I don’t even plug in the fan and just use it as a table so I can work from my recliner.
There are many choices (the link is to a whole selection you can choose from based on your needs): some with legs, some without, some with fans, some without, some with space for a mousepad and/or drink, some without.
The particular one I had gotten a few months ago is no longer available but this one looks a lot like it. Adjusting the legs was a big pain but luckily I only had to do it once, and have been using it every day since.
2. Doodle Boards
How many wonderful ideas have flitted through your mind but were lost to the universe because you failed to capture them? I’d estimate thousands, at least.
I finally found a solution that works for me and will likely do so for you too: Doodle boards.
I consider them extremely lightweight idea capturers. They replace paper for me.
If I have an idea in the middle of the night, I can grab one from next to my bed and write it down. I can carry smaller versions in my purse, and if an idea comes to me, I can jot it down and then lock the screen so it doesn’t get erased.
When I’m back at my computer, I type in whatever I had noted on my doodle board, and then press a button to clear the screen whenever I want.
I have a few of these in multiple sizes because I find them to be so useful.
3. Cross Ion Gel Pen or Sheaffer Pen
Cross Ion Gel Pens tend to be more expensive than Sheaffers but they are similar in size and function. They have that clean, futuristic midcentury-modern aesthetic I adore.
I love them because they are futuristic looking, expand open and contract shut, come in cool colors, and you can use replace the ink cartridges when you need to — so they last for years. They actually make me want to write more.
I have a Cross Ion Gel Pen with a keyclip and lanyard so I can wear it around my neck if I’m going to be somewhere where I have to sign documents or take a lot of notes, because I hate constantly fishing through my abyss of a purse for a pen.
4. Digital Voice Recorder
This Sony ICD-PX470 digital voice recorder has great sound, and has an extendable USB that you just click in and out — no parts to lose — so you can connect it to your computer to transfer over files.
You can use this to record conversations and make memos to yourself. It’s light enough weight that you can carry it around with you.
If you want to record phone calls (for interviews, to remember family members by, etc.) you can even get an earbud that you put in one ear, connect to the Sony, and then put your phone over the same ear while you talk and record the conversation. Just be sure to be familiar with the telephone recording consent laws by state — both your state and the person your recording’s state.
These are the tools I use all the time. They’re quite simple really, but so are my needs :-) I hope these products are as helpful to you as they continue to be for me every day!
Love, Breezy
