7 Pricey Products I Bought But Can’t Recommend
One of my favorite parts about being a blogger in the productivity space is that I get to test out all the fancy new gadgets and write them off as business expenses. :)
Here are things that I bought over the years that I think are worth mentioning.
#1 Gravity Blanket (Any Weighted Blanket)
I know many people love these, but I’m not one of them.
I’m what you might call a “hot sleeper.” Adding 25 LBS on top of me caused me to lose almost every drop of fluid in my body.
Obviously, these are great for some people, but I’d recommend you don’t do what I do and buy the most expensive one on the market before you test out the concept with a lower-cost one first.
#2 Chilly Pad
This was highly recommended by many of the people I follow and trust, like Tim Ferriss.
But it just didn’t work out for me.
It was awkward and never really felt like it was cool enough.
The next thing I knew, it was collecting dust in my closet.
#3 Timeular Time Tracking Thingy
Another product that is so cool in theory but flopped for me in practice.
If you have the discipline to use it consistently, you may get better results than I did; it just wasn’t for me.
#4 Pavlok Shock Band
No, just no…
The Pavlok wristband attempts to use classical conditioning to help you quit bad habits such as smoking or biting your nails by having you shock yourself whenever you act on a negative impulse.
To say the science behind the product is weak is putting it nicely.
This sadistic little device isn’t worth the price or the pain. It didn’t work for me and didn’t work for a lot of other users either.
If you need a good laugh, watch the sharks on Shark Tank shred the founder of this product when he came on the show.
#5 Apple Airpod Max
I bought these to help me focus while editing YouTube videos.
As I expected, they are amazing, and I love mine.
Why is it on this list, then?
Because I can’t recommend them to anyone unless they are…
(1) A diehard apple fan
(2) Ok with paying 5x the cost for comparable headphones
The fact of the matter is that it’s 2022, and the quality of headphones across the board has skyrocketed.
For $99, you can get a comfy pair of noise-canceling headphones that, unless you're an audiophile, will have no noticeable quality in sound.
#6 Freewrite Traveler
The idea of analog, distraction-free writing seems awesome on paper (no pun intended), but this device is a totally unnecessary expense.
I rant more about it on my blog here, but long story short, it’s not comfortable to write on, syncing it is no fun, and there are better options.
#7 Nuphy Keyboard
Not terrible, but just not anything to type home about.
I’ve come to believe that keyboards are completely about preference, and any “ergonomic advantages” are just advertising fluff.
