This text is republished with permission from Marvel Instruments, a e-newsletter that helps you uncover essentially the most helpful websites and apps. Subscribe here.
Interested in my precise tech device equipment? I’m sharing the apps and instruments that powered me by way of a latest morning—from wake-up alarm to lunchtime break. This builds on my latest focusing and timeboxing posts. I’d be delighted to listen to concerning the instruments you’re counting on right now in a remark under or an e mail reply.
7 a.m.: Prepare for the day
I welcome the morning by getting my physique and mind transferring, selecting a couple of phrases of gratitude, and gauging my wellness. Once I’m exhausted, working late, or in any other case off-center, this will get blurred.
- Oura Ring: I verify my sleep high quality and resilience rating to calibrate my expectations for the day. Having an goal measure of how properly I’ve slept, my coronary heart charge volatility, and different metrics helps me determine whether or not to push my train more durable or give myself grace. It additionally helps inspire me on dreary days.
- Brain Games: Enjoying The New York Occasions’ Spelling Bee, Wordle, and Connections with my spouse and daughters is a enjoyable breakfast ritual, and fewer hectic than scanning headlines. I additionally like Pointed, Bloomberg’s new (first) sport, and varied different fast considering video games.
- TickTime Cube Timer: I flip this onto its 1-minute facet to provoke a easy countdown. Having this close by helps me persist with a brand new behavior: a trio of one-minute core workout routines. Doing these at first of the day helps get my power going. It additionally means a busy day later gained’t rupture my routine.
8 a.m.: Stroll my daughter to highschool
No tech. No instruments.
8:30 a.m.: Plan the day
Whereas commuting to work, I take heed to podcasts with Snipd. If my subway isn’t too crowded for me to elevate my arms to learn, I take advantage of Readwise Reader to make amends for articles I’ve saved for later. I additionally use Superhuman’s e mail app to verify for work emergencies.
Once I get to work, I map out what’s forward with a digital/analog combine.
- Google Calendar: I verify GCal for conferences. I experiment with different calendars—together with Vimcal, Akiflow, Fantastical, and Notion Calendar—however on today, the straightforward and free GCal is enough.
- Apple Reminders: I preserve at most three precedence duties on the prime of my listing. I solely add to that prime tier after I’ve accomplished one. I adopted that tactic from Oliver Burkeman’s wonderful Four Thousand Weeks.
- ReMarkable Paper Pro: I timebox my day hour by hour, based mostly on priorities, power degree, and scheduled conferences. Having an in depth plan helps me keep away from resolution fatigue later. And after I lose focus, it pulls me again on monitor.
- Generally I take advantage of Sunsama, a digital planner. I like various my routine, so I rotate between planning there or on my Exceptional pill [here’s why I use it], my workplace whiteboard, a Rocketbook erasable pocket book, or paper.
9 a.m.: Writing
I sort out inventive work early when my focus is freshest. Instruments assist reduce distractions and friction so I can focus and suppose.
- Letterly: I dictate my ideas into this app, which cleans up filler phrases and codecs my dictation into an overview, abstract, or sequence of inquiries to discover. It’s good for getting concepts flowing earlier than extra detailed considering and enhancing. Once I need an AI assistant to problem my concepts, I take advantage of ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice Mode, however Letterly is nice for bionic dictation.
- Lex: This writing device offers a easy interface plus an AI editor that lets me verify grammar, spelling, syntax, repetition, and extra.
- Google Docs/iA Writer: Dependable clean canvases with minimal friction.
- Raycast: With out switching apps, I can shortly add objects to my Reminders or Calendar, sustaining my writing circulate.
- Headspace: Focus music with out lyrics helps with focus and blocks out metropolis noise round my Occasions Sq. workplace.
10 a.m.: Wrangle E-mail
I arrange periodic sprints to course of e mail so it gained’t devour my day.
- Superhuman: I take advantage of keyboard shortcuts to maneuver by way of routine emails shortly. Superhuman additionally has useful tags and filters so I don’t drown in messages. The automated reminders guarantee I observe up on open threads. Boomerang is a good different for follow-ups in case you use Outlook or Gmail.
- Shortwave: I like this AI-powered e mail app for simply discovering, organizing, and summarizing messages.
- Lazy: I take advantage of a fast keyboard shortcut to clip and file necessary information from an e mail into Lazy, my notes app, with contextual information mechanically included (sender, date, topic line) with out having to change out of my e mail app.
- Flow: Dictating messages saves my fingers from typing fatigue. It’s remarkably correct in contrast with old style dictation software program. In contrast to Letterly, this plugs textual content immediately into no matter app I’m working with.
11 a.m.: Break
Wakeout: This app options GIFs of atypical folks doing stretching and cardio. I can imitate their actions for a wide range of one-minute workout routines. The train is minimal, however at the least my mind briefly pauses and my physique strikes. These breaks assist clear my head 3 times a day.
11:05 a.m.: Craft a presentation
When getting ready workshops or lessons, these instruments assist me craft partaking visible supplies. I like app-smashing—utilizing a number of apps collectively to learn from their greatest options.
- ChatGPT-4o Image Generation and Ideogram: These assist me generate customized pictures for slides when wanted.
- Beautiful.ai: Slides mechanically alter as I add content material, saving design time.
- Keynote: This dependable Mac presentation software program works offline, helps in-person plus distant displays, and presents slick transferring slide backgrounds.
- iA Presenter: I take advantage of this to create a visible presentation out of an overview. Once I’m turning textual content supplies into visuals, I import my phrases into this (non-AI) app, which shows markdown textual content as visuals alongside presenter notes.
- Claude Projects and NotebookLM: These AI instruments assist me discover frequent themes, key concepts, and examples in prior supplies I’ve created, so I can construct by myself previous work.
- Perplexity: Supplies thorough, citation-backed search outcomes powered by AI fashions that perceive my detailed queries. The useful search abstract ensures I’m not left with a whole bunch of uncooked (Google) hyperlinks to type by way of.
This text is republished with permission from Marvel Instruments, a e-newsletter that helps you uncover essentially the most helpful websites and apps. Subscribe here.
