Life is busy and full of clutter. But anything that genuinely makes life easier, simplifies a task, saves time and makes your day go better is worth the risk of adding to the clutter. There are no shortages of time, space and labor-saving devices, but finding just the right one for your needs can be tricky.
Fortunately, I’m always on the hunt for the latest gadget or time-saving device to solve a particular problem or smooth over some of life’s rough spots. Most of the items listed here are things I’ve owned and used or a reasonable substitute if the model I had wasn’t available anymore.
Car Desk
I’m surprised at how many people work out of their car these days. Contractors, home health workers, real estate agents and a host of others use a car as transportation, a tax deduction and second office. The RoadMaster car desk can make working in the car and organizing that space so much easier and more convenient.
Ozark Trail 30 oz. Tumbler
I own two of these and they’re awesome. If you’ve seen the Yeti tumblers in sporting goods stores for $39, then you’ll be laughing paying just $9.74 for these stainless vacuum tumblers that rivaled the Yeti product in head to head testing. The tumblers even look identical and the lids are interchangeable. Here’s the head to head test our local news station ran on the products.
Solar Powered Phone Charger
I got this device because I frequently go on long bike rides and I’ve absolutely destroyed almost every other type of phone generator product on the market. Now I can use the power of the sun to keep my phone charged when I’m out riding. This device turned out to be far more useful than I imagined when buying it and now it goes with me almost everywhere. With two USB outlets it can charge my phone and my wife’s at the same time and though it charges faster in direct sun, I’ve found I can keep the internal battery topped off by just leaving it by a window. We also live in hurricane country so having a solar backup to keep our phones charged is a great fallback to have, just in case.
Dotz
Can’t remember which cord goes with which device? Or worse, ever end up grabbing the wrong one when you were in a hurry? End the confusion with Dotz color coded cable labels and bundlers. Now you’ll know immediately, provided you’re not color blind, which cable and connectors go with which device.
The “Roomba” for Your Lawn
Yes, they’re expensive, but robot lawn mowers have been around for over a decade and really do the job. I bought one of the first ones on the market and during one of our hottest summers on record no one was laughing when I’d turn the bot loose on the lawn and run back to the comfort of air conditioning to watch its progress. Today robot lawn mowers are smarter and have better batteries. Unfortunately they’re not any cheaper, and you still have to edge, but the machines will handle the bulk of the yard while you do other things. Robot mowers aren’t fast, but they don’t need to be; the machine has all day.