Nicole Black, BridgeTower Media Newswires
Have you noticed how it seems like there’s never enough time to get everything done no matter how hard you try? Rest assured, you’re not alone. In today’s hectic world, balance is a goal often sought but rarely achieved. In other words, the struggle is real.
The good news is that there are gadgets and other life hacks that can save time and reduce aggravation. The trick is sorting through all of your options and choosing a few that truly make a difference in your day-to-day life. Fortunately for you, I love learning about and trying new gadgets and technology tools and am more than happy to share the results of my search.
That’s exactly what I did in last week’s column: I shared a few of my favorite life hacks and gadgets. But guess what? There are plenty more where that came from and in today’s article I’ll be sharing a few more of my favorite time-saving and annoyance-reducing tips.
First, there’s Amazon Household. Do you shop on Amazon a lot? Do your household family members also use the same Amazon account? If so, I bet you’ve had more than one holiday gift ruined by Amazon’s shipping notifications and/or algorithms that suggest you view similar items to ones recently purchased. That’s where Amazon Household comes in. It allows you to create a “household” with two parents and additional children/teens. Every person has their own login with its own purchase history, thus ensuring that notifications, such as shipping status, are only sent to the person who ordered the item. Also useful is that Prime benefits can be shared with all family members. Finally, you can set up your kids’ accounts so that they can’t make purchases without permission from a parent. Sound interesting? You can learn more here: https://tinyurl.com/NLB AmazonHousehold.
Another useful Amazon tool is a gadget: AlexaAuto (online: https://tinyurl.com/DREchoAuto). Essentially AlexaAuto brings Amazon Alexa to your car, so even if your car’s system doesn’t have Alexa built-in, you can still take advantage of it. It’s super easy to install, and once you’ve done so you can ask it questions, tell it to play music, control your home’s smart home features, and more. This gadget’s value really depends on how “smart” and connected your car already is and what you’d like to use Alexa for. My car is 3 years old, I hate paying for Satellite radio, and I refuse to listen to commercials, so I find AlexaAuto to be an ideal choice when it comes to easily playing music in my car. It connects automatically (most of the time), and then it’s a simple matter of asking Alexa to play whatever type of music I’m in the mood for. For me, it’s well worth the cost, which is $49.99.
Next up is Sugru (online: sugru.com). It’s a moldable glue/putty that is an absolute lifesaver. You mold it into whatever shape you’d like and then let it dry. Among other things, it can replace broken plastic parts, repair cracks and breaks, make do-it-yourself device stands, and protect cords. I’ve used it for a variety of purposes, including fixing an exposed iPhone charging cord and replacing a leg that broke off of our toaster oven. It comes in a variety of different colors and an 8-pack costs just $15.99.
Last but not least, save time and money with one of my favorite shopping browser add-ons for Chrome: Honey. This tool automatically enters current coupons codes into the proper fields when you check out on merchant sites. Another added benefit is that when you check out on Amazon, Honey will let you know if there are other sellers who offer the same item at a lower price. And best of all, it’s free!
Those are just a few of the tech tools and hacks that I use all the time. Hopefully one or two of them will do the same for you!
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Nicole Black is a Rochester, New York attorney, author, journalist, and the Legal Technology Evangelist at MyCase legal practice management software. She is the nationally-recognized author of “Cloud Computing for Lawyers” (2012) and co-authors “Social Media for Lawyers: The Next Frontier” (2010), both published by the American Bar Association. She also co-authors “Criminal Law in New York,” a Thomson Reuters treatise. She writes regular columns for Above the Law, ABA Journal, and The Daily Record, has authored hundreds of articles for other publications, and regularly speaks at conferences regarding the intersection of law and emerging technologies. She is an ABA Legal Rebel, and is listed on the Fastcase 50 and ABA LTRC Women in Legal Tech. She can be contacted at niki.black@mycase.com.
