In this video I'm going to show you my top 7
products that helped me be more productive and happier in 2021.
Hiya, my name is Shu. Since it's almost the end of 2021,
I thought I'd reflect on what I bought this year, and share some of the best ones.
This list will cover physical products that have been life-changing for me, so let's get started!
The first product that I really like is this phone wallet case.
Unlike typical ones, it has card pockets on the back instead of the front. This is great because
there is nothing covering the front screen so you can check the notifications quickly.
Then, you can put your cards in the back pockets. This way, you don't have
to take out your wallet when you're buying something. You can just take your phone out,
open the case and pay with your card, or just Apple Pay or something like that.
So, nowadays, I don't carry my wallet at all when I go outside. I just take my phone with
my cards and driving licence, which is more than enough for most situations.
Also, in my experience, it's much less likely to lose your phone than your wallet because you're
constantly checking your phone for new messages or emails, whereas you don't check your wallet
at all. And even if you lost your phone, you can easily find out where your phone is using apps.
Speaking of going out without a wallet, my Apple Watch has been incredibly useful. This
is Apple Watch SE. There are so many things you can do with this little piece of technology,
but by far the best use case for me is the Apple Wallet.
You can register your credit card and train pass on your watch and use them with just two taps.
That means you don't even have to take your phone out when you're paying at a restaurant,
cafe or supermarket. It may sound like such a trivial thing,
but it saves so much time and is super convenient.
Other than the wallet feature, there are a few things I love about Apple Watch. For example, you
can customise your watch face so you can see what you need to see instantly. On my watch face, I can
see things like the weather, my heart rate and my task list. But my favourite is the Pomodoro timer.
This app is called Focus which is free to use on Apple Watch. You can set a timer for 25 minutes
to focus and see the progress. When the session is done, it lets you set a timer for a break,
then start another focus session again. I use it almost every day when I work.
I used to use an app on my phone for the Pomodoro timer, but your phone gives you
so many distractions and temptations. So,
ever since I got my watch, I just leave my phone somewhere I don't see,
set a timer on my watch and start working which helped me tremendously to get more things done.
Having plants in your room and office feels relaxing and helps you
focus. I got these fake plants from IKEA recently and brightened up my room a lot.
I spend most of my day working in my room in front of the computer,
so having even a bit of green makes it bearable and less depressing to stay here all day.
Also I remember a book called "59 seconds" talked about studies where how having plants
and trees near people helped them become more creative, happy and helpful towards
other people. Since I read that book, I bought a bunch of plants for my room.
I used to have about 10 real plants, but I killed almost all of them because I watered them too
much, and now there are only 3 guys left. Having real ones is great, but this is why I decided to
get fake ones because I don't have to worry about watering the right amount at the right time.
Anyway, these fake plants were super cheap. The small ones cost about
$3 each. The big ones cost about $40 to $80 which isn't really cheap but I recommend getting
at least one big plant like this because it's big enough to completely change the vibe of your room.
Also, you can use them as a background of your YouTube studio if you're a creator.
I used to do all my work on MacBook Pro, but then I got this second monitor from Dell this
year, and it totally changed how I work especially when it comes to video editing.
My work mostly consists of having meetings, writing and making videos. My MacBook Pro
is more than enough for meetings and writing. I actually prefer to write on a small screen
because it helps me focus and write more. But when it comes to editing videos, this screen comes in
incredibly handy. Because it's got a wide screen, you can see the whole timeline of your video,
which means less scrolling left and right. It made the editing process 10 times easier for me.
Also, it's kind of nice to play video games on this wide screen too.
This ergonomic keyboard is one of my favourite purchases of
this year too. It's called Kinesis Freestyle 2.
The idea is that it's separable so you can type in a more
natural posture. With this keyboard, it's easier to open up your chest when you're writing. For me,
this helped reduce my shoulder pain and just general stiffness in the area.
It's about $100 so, definitely not cheap. But I think it's a great investment if you tend to have
tense shoulders after work like me. I've been using it for probably more than
6 months now, and I don't think I can go back to the normal keyboard. It's that comfortable for me.
I was a little late to the party, but I got AirPods Pro earlier this year.
Before that, I was using these Sony headphones, but they are a bit chunky to carry with me when
I go outside. So I decided to get AirPods Pro because it's small and works great with iPhone.
Honestly, this might be the best thing I bought this year.
I love using it. It's got a good battery and sounds great. Especially I love its ambience
mode where you can listen to the noise around you. It feels like nothing is covering my ears.
Also, Apple recently added voice isolation feature which makes your voice clearer on phone calls.
This is great because I always use Airpods when I call someone or have meetings on Zoom.
But my favourite use is making audio highlights. It means if you use some podcast apps like
Airr and Snipd, you can make highlights to save bits of podcast you like by triple tapping your
AirPods. Then you can import your highlights into your note app like Evernote or whatever you use.
I find it so valuable because there are tons of golden nuggets in podcast episodes.
The last one is this little camera, Sony ZV-1. It might be the most expensive thing on this
list. It costs about $1,000, but definitely one of the best things I bought this year.
What's great about this camera is how compact it is. It's small enough to fit in your pocket, but
very powerful. It's great for casual photographers like me and also for filming too. It's perfect for
vlogging because it's got a flip out screen so you can see yourself while recording. Also, because
it's small, it doesn't attract so much attention from people around you, which is probably the main
reason why many people hesitate to vlog in public. But with this camera, I find it much easier.
If you're looking for a compact camera that you can carry in your pocket,
or a camera for vlogging, this is perfect for you.
Alright, that was my top 7 products I bought this year. I hope you found something interesting!
If you liked this video, make sure to leave a like and subscribe to my channel.
Also, share your favourite things you bought this year in the comment below!
I'd love to know your best purchases of the year.