Random Helpful Things You Didn't Know You Needed

Here's a random, unsorted list of some useful things I've found/enjoyed in the last year or so:

• Metal Book Darts (bookmarks that don't fall out)
• Cal Newport's Time Block Planner is a great way to plan your day's priorities (it feels like you don't need it, but your day is so much more impactful if you take 5 minutes at the beginning to prioritize the day!)
• Light for your backyard gas grill, if you don't have good lighting near it
• When traveling, I've found it so convenient to have a magnetic phone charger, like this Anker MagGo Power Bank, to keep your phone charged without having to fight for airport power plugs
• While traveling, I also love this Anker charging station, which is so convenient when you only have a few plugs in a hotel room or while you're charging on the plane or train
• FRIDGGI Referigerator alarm for when your kids (or I) leave the fridge door open
• Apple AirTags to track your car keys, luggage (fun to see their path in the airport when you check them and so helpful if the airlines can't find them), kid backpacks (for tracking bus progress), etc.
• Rocketbook Pen Holder to add to a notebook/journal that doesn't have one
• My cheapness has prevented me from buying many pens in my life, as you accumulate so many free ones, but I've recently found that I'm a fan of the Pentel EnerGel GTX Gel Pens (0.7mm, blue)
• I still love Aqua Notes to capture all those great ideas in the shower
• As a parent of young kids, I love this power outlet cover so the kids no longer bump the power cord of our internet wireless router

Several of these come from Kevin Kelly's (co-founder of Wired magazine) Recommendo email newsletter about cool tools/stuff that people recommend (see also the cool-tools site), and others came from friend recommendations or random googling for a problem (like the kids or me leaving the fridge door open overnight).

See also my 2017 post Products I Love.