Hello fellow consumer. This post is about my favorite products. The things listed here are recommended for two main reasons:

  1. they make my life better
  2. they have value!

Buy Wisely has a nice post of heuristics for making decisions on what to buy, such as cost per use, smiles per dollar, etc; essentially buy stuff that lasts or things that make you happy (namaste).

Focusing on cost per use, I’m reminded of the Boots Theory which states that the rich can afford to buy expensive, quality items that last longer, while the poor are forced by necessity to buy cheap, low-quality items that must be frequently replaced - resulting in the poor spending more than the rich over time.

The Boots Theory plus “I’m stimulating the economy, baby!” are usually my go-to-responses to Molly whenever she questions a potential purchase. While half-joking, its true! Buying high quality stuff that you enjoy and can frequently use is worth it! So here’s my list.

nooote
Stimulating the economy in a seedy massage parlor

Patagonia Jacket

I love my Patty micro puff. It’s comfy, light, and warm. Plus in Seattle, where it’s pretty much Patty weather ~250 days of the year (September - mid June), it gets a ton of use.

I bought my jacket at Costco in 2018. Conservatively, I’ve probably worn it 400 times. Using the listed online price of $289 (Costco was cheaper), thats $0.72 per wear. Thats only going to go down and thats what you call value, baby.

King Size Bed / 8 Sleep

Let’s say you spend 6 hours a night in bed, multiply that by 50 (for years you’re not dependent on your parents or pooping your pants at a retirement home), that is 10 years. Make that 9 hours a night and that becomes 15 years. Ten to fifteen years just spent laying in bed!!!

So based on that, two suggestions:

  1. if you have a partner get a king sized bed.
  2. invest in temperature control.

To make it really simple:

  • King sized beds rule! You and your partner will be much happier!
  • Cold temperature triggers sleep, optimal temperature = better sleep.

I previously had a Chilipad. I now have an 8 Sleep Cover. The 8 Sleep is magnitudes better. The 8 Sleep is expensive (~2.5k). However, once you actually start calculating the value based on usage, its a good deal. My cover has a lifetime warranty so the per use cost literally approaches zero.

Make your bed a paradise. You’re going to spend a third of your life in it.

Rogue Kettlebell

nooote
Bro needs to lift harder and upgrade his bed

Obviously this is every mans dream but the kettlebell is the next closest thing to an all-in-one home gym. You still need access to a cage to do all of your compound lifts, bro, but for everything else just get this.

The annoying thing is:

  1. shipping is expensive
  2. used ones are also expensive because they’re timeless and indestructible.

I guess just think of it like a Rolex. You’re just caring for it until you pass it onto your children.

Knee Ability Zero

I’m pretty late to the Knees Over Toes Guy hype train but he is the real deal. If you have any knee, ankle or foot pain, I highly recommend Knee Ability Zero. Its drastically improved my knee and ankle stability/mobility and largely cured my terrible case of plantar fasciitis. This is after trying lots of other different exercises, massages and physical therapy.

Readwise, Matter, Kindle

I’ve converted to a full blown digital > paper book guy. While books are great for making your office look very sophisticated, they take up space, are heavy, and difficult to move. They also add friction to noooooooote taking.

By going full digital, my current flow looks like this: nooote

Instead of having to keep random note cards or write illegible notes in the margins, I can annotate directly in Kindle or Matter app. All highlights and notes, as well as tweets flow into Readwise before ending up in Obsidian. Essentially it creates a system where I have a pointer + notes to everything I ever read. Very big brain.

I rock a five year old Kindle and use the Matter, Readwise and Obsidian almost every single day, so their costs of $60, $60, and $50 per year, are worth it.

Freedom App

I can admit two things:

  1. I’m addicted to Twitter.
  2. I’m powerless against it.

I’ve tried different strategies and made and broken many promises to myself trying to limit usage. The only thing that actually works is Freedom. With Freedom, you mark a set of apps/websites, set a schedule and then boom, those apps become unreachable.

Sometimes Freedom doesn’t actually kick off when its supposed to, allowing me to cheat, but most days it blocks social media, sports blogs, and the Athletic during the work day. Freedom is the app most conducive to me doing Deep Work and allows me to save my will power for other things. For $50 a year, it is so worth it.