10 Tech Tools for a Better Life

I haven't (yet) gotten into the more advance personal knowledge management systems yet, but I use Evernote to bookmark web links, keep important documents and notes, drafts for my idea lists, etc. Whatever you use should be available on desktop, web and mobile.

Texts and WhatsApp messages are read out loud to me when driving, and as long as I keep it simple, I can reply back. I thought Microsoft Teams messages were supported too, but now I'm unsure. I wish it could read my Outlook emails, but it keeps me online while driving, so the commute or errands don't have to be a liability to my productivity.

Speaking of driving, it's important to keep commutes and other drives as short and fast as (safely) possible.. I use Waze even when I know exactly where I'm going to avoid traffic jams.

I haven't gotten as much mileage out of this as I'd like, but transcribing speech, whether conversations, meetings or simply dictating a longer message for later can be a game changer. I'd love to quantify who does the most/least speaking in some conversations I've had...

My doctor gave me some tips including having a vibrating alarm on my wrist which would let me wake up without having a noise - I'm suffering from tinnitus and would love to reduce the amount of piercing noises in my life, especially sudden ones. Most of these units can also track health metrics and activities and let you access some of your phone functionality without looking at your phone.

Takes out droning noises like nearby highway traffic, appliance hums or jet engines. A Bluetooth headset version is also great for being on conference calls and zoom meetings.

Another way to block out noise. Can be used as a sleep aid.

I keep trying to cancel my subscription to save money, but I can't give up having any song I want to hear at my beck and call. That can seriously help my mood.

An erasable notebook that can be scanned and synced to Cloud services. Keep your analog creativity, yet store and search digitally.

I don't have one, but I'd love to have cleaner floors without having to do any manual labour myself.