I am addicted to my phone like most people, so that smooth, smooth frame rate really makes a difference when you have 8h average screen time every single day.
A standing desk and a "premium" chair (Steelcase Leap).
A lot of people I talk to about spending $800-1K on a chair rebuke the very idea; while they themselves are on their second or third IKEA MARKUS ($300/per); while offering a far worse user experience in the interim. Depending on where you live, there's also an unusually large supply on the used market due to telecommutting.
There's a saying: "Spend money on what separates you from the ground." Meaning shoes, beds, and chairs. But I'd also say a desk that is supporting your hands, wrists, and arms should maybe count. Standing desks can help a lot with sitting too long in one position, in particular if your work has times when you don't need to type you can switch to a non-traditional handheld mouse (e.g. ELECOM Relacon), and stand more naturally.
I have an Ikea chair (it might be the Markus) and an Ikea manual standing desk, although it's been in sitting mode so far. What advantages do you feel you get from the more expensive chair. I've been having some muscle issues around the lower back which have been causing a lot of pain so thinking of moving to standing mode, but currently I just get up every 20-30 mins and do some stretching.
I think you can sit all day on a shitty chair as long as you do some strenght training to ensure your spine is sufficiently stabilised. Only time I got some back aches was during Covid when the gyms were closed for half a year.
A Garmin watch. Went from running rarely with no goal or plan in mind to running 20-30 miles a week consistently. The built-in running plans are great have coached me to multiple half marathon and 10k PRs. I've lost more than 60 lbs as well.
I always start running semi-regularly for a few weeks and then stop. I'd love to be more consistent about it, so this sounds enticing. What about the watch made you run more consistently? Was it that the built-in plans gave you motivation by having a concrete goal?
Probably the single purchase that's had the greatest impact for me was my Bose noise-cancelling headphones. That was quite a while back, as they're the QC-15. However, they still work great and I still use them often.
Yeah, noise can have a detrimental effect on wellbeing. I've never tried active noise cancelling headphones but my 3M Peltor X5A headset earmuffs are a lifesaver.
They're big and not the best for very extended periods, but when you need some relief from a noisy environment for a while they really help.
Apple Watch. Any watch with sleep and workout tracking would do (Garmin, Fitbit, etc). I primarily purchased the watch to help track my sleep and was shocked by just how bad my sleep habits were. I've improved my sleep patterns, increasing my average time asleep from 6:30 to 7:30 in two months.
A few added bonuses: the app I use for weightlifting (https://www.hevyapp.com/) has an Apple Watch mode, freeing me from my phone during workouts. I can also use the watch to track runs, as mentioned by the commenter in this thread with the Garmin Watch.
I know nothing about Apple Watches but I know my sleep quality has plummeted recently. Does the watch just accurately track time asleep, and then you tried improving that number via various different thing? Or does it do anything more clever to help you fix your sleep?
That's correct. The built-in functionality is relatively primitive, but it's been enough for me so far. I do know people who use the Apple Watch with more advanced third-party apps but haven't had the need yet.
- A Garmin watch, and I'd reluctantly also say an Apple Watch (HRM, SpO2, ECG).
- A bicycle
- A comfortable pillow and mattress
- A CO2 monitor. I discovered my house regularly has very high levels of CO2 (2500+). We now open windows whenever we can and turn on the circulation fan.
Instant Pot pressure cooker - Great for stews, can do big batches of beans and lentils, brown rice, chickpeas for hummus etc. You can save a lot of money and packaging buying dried beans and soaking them.
Air fryer - Handy for french fries, roasting a couple of peppers, reheating food like pizza slices turns out better than the microwave.
A light therapy lamp to help set my circadian rhythm in the morning. I got a used NorthStar 10,000 off ebay for $100. Highly recommend if you're not a morning person. Hits better than coffee if you ask me.
I've been using TranscribeMe a lot recently!
It's a bot that converts voice notes to text, it's for WhatsApp and Telegram
https://transcribeme.app
It's great for those who don't like voice notes, haha!
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[ 3.3 ms ] story [ 61.2 ms ] threadI am addicted to my phone like most people, so that smooth, smooth frame rate really makes a difference when you have 8h average screen time every single day.
A lot of people I talk to about spending $800-1K on a chair rebuke the very idea; while they themselves are on their second or third IKEA MARKUS ($300/per); while offering a far worse user experience in the interim. Depending on where you live, there's also an unusually large supply on the used market due to telecommutting.
There's a saying: "Spend money on what separates you from the ground." Meaning shoes, beds, and chairs. But I'd also say a desk that is supporting your hands, wrists, and arms should maybe count. Standing desks can help a lot with sitting too long in one position, in particular if your work has times when you don't need to type you can switch to a non-traditional handheld mouse (e.g. ELECOM Relacon), and stand more naturally.
YMMV of course.
They're big and not the best for very extended periods, but when you need some relief from a noisy environment for a while they really help.
A few added bonuses: the app I use for weightlifting (https://www.hevyapp.com/) has an Apple Watch mode, freeing me from my phone during workouts. I can also use the watch to track runs, as mentioned by the commenter in this thread with the Garmin Watch.
- A Garmin watch, and I'd reluctantly also say an Apple Watch (HRM, SpO2, ECG).
- A bicycle
- A comfortable pillow and mattress
- A CO2 monitor. I discovered my house regularly has very high levels of CO2 (2500+). We now open windows whenever we can and turn on the circulation fan.
Air fryer - Handy for french fries, roasting a couple of peppers, reheating food like pizza slices turns out better than the microwave.