22 Products I Fell in Love With

You know those things you buy that make you go "WOW AWESOME"? The same ones that make you think "man I'm glad I own these" when you use them? Well, I have a bunch of those. These are my recommendations.

Gear & Technology

Rha MA750i Earphones

These are in-ear earphones with memory foam. When wearing them I hear less than with noise cancelling headphones. The sound is great and the cable has a nice protector so it doesn't break as easily.

Sony SBH20 Bluetooth Headset

This is a little bluetooth square where I can plug in any headphones. They give you shitty/basic earplugs with the device, but I plug the Rha's in there. I use this combo to:

• Make calls wirelessly
• Watch tv series on a big screen when there are more people in the room (laptop is 5 paces away)
• Listen to podcasts with my phone in my bag while biking

Bluelounge Eco Friendly Backpack

A solid, high quality, versatile and nice looking backpack. I love it very deeply. I use it:

• For work (laptop, food, cables, tools, notebook & sports gear all at the same time)
• For weekend trips
• For week trips (yes it can fit a week worth of guy wardrobe) I'm convinced I could live out of this bag for a month. It's also adjustable so I can resize it on days I don't need to drag around a bunch of stuff.

Sugru

This stuff is basically clay that dries up as waterproof and durable rubber I use it to:

• Protect my cables (like laptop charger) at that annoying spot that always breaks
• Make the bottom of my laptop anti-slip (great for in the train)
• Stick a lego block onto my door (so I can stick my keychain with a lego block to it)

Macbook Pro 13 inch

I switched from windows to mac. Why? My brand new Dell XPS 15 died after a few days. It was a convenience thing (Apple store was open on sunday, dell was not reachable). And I'm not going back.

• Battery lasts a whole day, but like 6-12 hours depending on usage
• I could get a 16GB RAM version
• The terminal is basically Linux (programmer brain happy)

Alpine Party plugs and Sleeping plugs

I mentioned these before. They come with a little keychain capsule so I always have little near-invisible earplugs for loud places. I use them for:

• Parties & performances
• Noisy public transport
• Working in public places

Keysmart keychain

Looks like a swiss army knife, but contains my keys. It's portable, it's cool, it doesn't take up any bulk in my back pocket. Props to girlfriend for finding this birthday gift.

Rubytec microfiber towel

I like going to the gym/sauna in the morning, but dragging around a fluffy wet towel all day is impractical and annoying. I use a microfiber towel that rolls up to be the size of my fist, but is big enough to lie down on as a full-length towel.

Clothing and style

Slo Jo Watch

This is an analog 24 hour watch. Nono, not like a regular one. It has one hand, so it turns one circle per 24 hours. It's more like a progress meter for the day than anything else. Why I love it:

• It reminds me to slow down
• It's a fun conversation starter
• It's water proof etc

Vivobarefoot shoes

I love these. Like LOVE them. They are good looking shoes that make it feel like you are walking near barefoot (maybe like thin flipflops). Unlike shoes like vibram fivefingers these look like good shoes. I have pairs of:

• Gobi (I and II)
• Drake
• Offroad

They are perfect for everyday use, but also sports. Simply amazing and comfy.

Xeroshoes

These are sandal like footwear designed to feel close to walking barefoot. I have the amuri cloud and amuri venture ones. I love how lightweight they are while still being suitable for walking, regular life and sports.

Tech Stretch jeans

H&M started making these. I have the habit of ripping pants because I jump around, stretch randomly and sit cross legged on desk chairs. These pants are jeans with extra flexible fibers in them. I wish they made them as non-skinny jeans as well though.

Secrid wallet

I despise cash money. Any establishment that does not take cards is an annoyance. Maybe I'm just too 2016... This slim wallet holds:

• My contactless pay cards in an RFID protected metal case
• My RFID access cards (train etc) in a leather scan-friendly compartment
• Some physical paper money in case of prehistoric emergency

What I love most is the fact that it is small and light while offering protection against unauthorized scanning.

Consumables

Japanese Matcha Tea from Aiya

For me the main reasons to drink Matcha are:

• Better focus than coffee (and more relaxed due to L-Theanine)
• Great taste, I love green teas
• High level of other potentially longevity increasing compounds like EGCG

With Matcha tea the quality is very important. Bad Matcha tastes horrible. Good Matcha is heaven.

Canned Sardines

I'd never really thought I liked sardines. Then I started eating them and loved them. Fast forward a few months and I struck a deal with the owner of my favorite brand to buy in bulk at retail prices. They are perfect for many reasons:

• Great nutritional value
• Super easy food on the go
• Tasty and versatile

Huperzine A Supplement

While originally intended as a memory boosting herbal extract it can be used to buffer nights of little sleep. You should only do this once a month or so, but taking a tablet of Huperzine A lets me get away with a short night without too many repercussions. This supplement is a acetylcholinesterase inhibitor. It's also sometimes used by lucid dreamers, though I've not had great effects from it on that front.

Software

Copy'em Paste

Amazing clipboard manager for mac. The windows software 'Ditto' is similar. Basically it saves everything you copy to your clipboard. It's amazing. I use it to recover:

• Interesting paragraphs I copies last year, but I only remember one phrase in it
• Piece of code I copied last month I want to reuse
• Five things I copies separately but all want to paste

Callrecorder

This is an android app that records all calls. This is such a lifesaver.

• Customer service lied? Recording
• Business partner twisting words? Recording
• Forgot that important name mentioned on the phone? Recording

Next to that it gives be a lot of emotional relaxation, knowing everything is on record.

A text expander

There are a number of phrases you will find yourself writing a lot. A text expander automates this process. Basically you set a trigger (for example $personalsignature) which the program replaces with your formatted signature. Me particularly I have shortcuts for:

• My email
• My address
• My bank account IBAN number
• My credit card number
• etc

Basically it saves me typing. I've used different software products on different systems:

• TextExpander for Mac/iOS
• PhraseExpress for Windows
• Texpand on android

YNAB (You Need A Budget)

This piece of software single handedly revolutionised my finances. I might just write an article on finances soon, and this software would feature prominently in it. Basically it structures your finances really well, and thus helps you spend no more than you should. My favorite features:

• 'Every dollar/euro needs a job' is a great philosophy
• It tracks net worth and spending per category
• It's very flexible, making sure you don't lock yourself in

Health and medical

Invisalign braces

My teeth are pretty ok, but not perfectly symmetrics which can become a problem in the long run. Hence I considered some braces. As an adult this is even more complicated than as a teenager. Let's just say I want my clients to see me as professional, not a teenager. My housemate recommended invisalign braces. They are basically plastic transparent shells that fit around your teeth. You switch then every 2 weeks, and move your teeth that way. I love them. Nobody notices them, unless they have had them themselves.

Regular blood tests

I never really regularly got my blood tested unless something was wrong. My insurance covers blood tests, so I basically ask my doctor for a spectrum of blood test that seem relevant for longevity and overall performance.

Philips wakeup light

I mentioned this one before. Basically it is an alarm clock that instead of going 'beep beep' slowly starts emitting light. I set mine to simulate sunrise with a duration of half an hour. At the end it plays piano sounds in case the light didn't wake me. Using this instead of a traditional alarm clock makes me wake up far more relaxed and energised.

Things I want to try

• Mizzen and Main shirts
• Betabrand pants, shirts and suitsy