2020 was a year of major lifestyle changes, and I spent it experimenting with different tools and gear to match. Here are the things that made the biggest positive difference — the ones that genuinely supported and enriched my daily life.
1. Kickboard (kick scooter)
My morning commute to the gym used to be about a 10-minute walk. After getting this kick scooter, that same ride became genuinely enjoyable. Highly recommended for gliding freely through empty streets early in the morning.
2. DESCENTE ALLTERRAIN Mizusawa Down Mountaineer
Light, warm, and water-repellent. I love the high-neck silhouette too. I wear a size L.
3. Under-desk hot carpet (foot warmer)
My feet get cold easily. This became indispensable for working from home through autumn and winter.
4. Pop-up tent
This was a secret fort for my kids during the COVID lockdown months. In summer we took it outside for bug-catching adventures. It became our go-to second (and third) space. Kids loved it.
5. CBD vape by Wan Inch
Taking deep belly breaths while using this CBD vape genuinely calms me down and helps me reset. The founder Shibata-san came on the Free Agenda podcast (which I co-host) at one point too.
6. Weighted blanket
I was working on improving my sleep quality and tried a lot of things. This one was by far the best fit for me. The difference in how rested I feel when I sleep with it versus without is night and day.
7. Xiaomi Mi Band 4
I've tested many smart bands over the years, but this one wins. It's waterproof so you never have to take it off in the bath, and more importantly the battery lasts close to 30 days. It made me completely forget that charging wearables was even a concept — that alone is 10x.
8. WHO YOU ARE (by Ben Horowitz)
The best book I read this year. It's about company culture — what it is, why it's the most important thing in a company, and how it actually forms. Horowitz builds the argument from concrete case studies upward to abstraction. Essential reading.
9. Large wall-mounted whiteboard
I originally bought it for working from home. But now my kids have claimed it — they sketch on it whenever inspiration strikes, and we use it as a family board for daily menus, shopping lists, and to-do items. The friction around "writing something down" dropped dramatically, so it worked out great. (The kids' marker ink has already escaped onto the actual wall. Sigh.)
10. HARIO glass-lid rice cooker
I threw out my electric rice cooker and switched to cooking rice in this glass-lid pot, and the experience of eating rice has been completely transformed. There's a zero-evidence "low-carb" diet trend going around, but white rice is actually an extremely versatile and high-quality food that works well even when watching calories. And cooked this way, the rice just stands up. Every grain. Every time. Cooking is also dead simple — set a 12-minute timer and you're done.
