Gadgets and Helpful Things

I haven’t shared the list of my top resources in quite a while so I figured it was time to do so. These are some of my favorite gadgets or things that I find helpful and use regularly. By the way, if any of these catch your eye, the pics are active links to each product.

I’ve been a kindle reader for years and have gone through a number of types and models.

If you are both a reader and listener of kindle books you ought to consider one of the Amazon Kindle Fire devices. Kindle Fire models are priced below standard kindle readers and offer features available only on Fire models.

Aside from being able to get email and watch movies on the bright screen, you can also read and listen to books. (Most, not all, kindle formatted books allow this listening feature that works with the computerized voice.)

Are you doing outreach in the time of Covid-19?

Have some fun and draw great attention to what you are doing in the community. I wear a Tyvek suit like this on our national outreaches. To top off the look I have wrap-around sunglasses and a five-foot long metal handled toilet brush.

I’ve been using an Echo Wall Clock for several months and find it helpful throughout the day.

 When it is paired with any model Alexa speaker, it allows for a visual look at a timer countdown. I time my day in 20-30 minute increments to limit how much time I spend on top projects versus wasting away the minutes without an awareness of how much time I’m burning. All I do is tell it to start a timer for a certain number of minutes. At zero it announces your time is up. You get a lot for less than a $30 investment.

 Are you doing a lot of Zooming these days?

If you don’t have great control of the space behind you on video, I recommend you try this popup chroma background that fits on the back of an office chair. It’s portable so you can take it on the road or to the office.

I’m a little bit obsessed with Post-It Notes.

I’ve been using them since they first came out when the sheets cost approximately a dollar a sheet. That was okay with me since they were so useful in so many settings. Of all the innovations in recent years, the Super Sticky notes have been most helpful to me. If you are a person on the move, these Super Sticky Post-It Notes are for you. I use these in my daily schedule with different colors denoting unique meaning. The 2×2 size is useful for that application. Larger sizes and even more colors are available. I rarely do outreach ministry when one of these heavier duty versions come in handy.