As the year draws to an end I wanted to start a yearly habit of reflection and review. And one part of it is to take a good look at what I’ve bought and try to find some patterns to make better buying decisions in the future. And here are my picks for 2023:
- Apple Watch Ultra
- Keychron Q1 Pro
- Red Rising
- Spigen Magsafe Wallet
- Kizer Mini Sheepdog Micarta Grey
Let’s take a closer look at my choices.
1. Apple Watch Ultra
The Apple Watch Ultra was one of the most expensive items I’ve bought this year. I’ve been a no-watch-type-of-guy for the last 20 years so starting to wear a watch again was a big deal for me.
But after wanting to start being more active, focus more on my health, sleep rythms and so on I figured I’d try out the Apple Watch Ultra.
After all I already was rooted (still am) in the Apple ecosystem and compared to other wearables the Apple Watch seemed like a jack of all trades in terms of what I wanted it to do.
First and foremost I was trying to reduce screen time on my phone. The essentials (notifications above all) are still accessible but getting distracted by opening certain time-consuming apps and getting sucked into content-doom-scrolling got a lot more difficult for me.
There are times I won’t pick up my phone for the first hour or two after getting up - something I never would’ve done without the watch.
How do I use it?
After using the watch for some time I also want to share on how I use it exactly in my day.
I use my watch extensivly for my training. Wether it’s tracking my indoor rowing warmup, keeping track of weightlifting sets and rest times in between or analyzing how I swim - it’s perfect for my kind of training.
Seeing other people in the gym looking at their phone, getting distracted and not using their time well only reinforces my choice to leave my phone in the locker and only use my watch.
Apart from that I mainly use it for pretty mundane tasks like setting a wearable timer instead of using a locally fixed timer (e.g. oven) or remotely switching on my portafilter coffee machine after dropping off the junior at the kindergarden so it’s ready and warmed up when I get home.
I use the text function occasionly but only if neccesary. Also a wearable flashlight comes in handy if you’re having kids who still call to you after having a bad dream.
Conclusion
The big question after a few months - why the ultra? I haven’t been to the Mount Everest nor started deep diving but that wasn’t the goal anyway. I chose the Ultra for only one specific aspect - battery life. And it didn’t dissappoint.
To give you a quick example: Charged to 100% on monday morning. Tracked a 1 hour workout on monday evening. Re-charged it on wednesday evening. Averageing in about 2-2.5 days worth of battery life I couldn’t be happier.
Timing couldn’t have been better as I’ve bought the watch a couple of months prior to the Gen 2 release. But I haven’t seen the need to upgrade until now.
2. Red Rising
After 10+ years of reading only non-fiction Red Rising by Pierce Brown was the first sci-fi book I’ve devoured in a long time. I can’t recall my discovery exactly but I think it was through some Instagram post or reel.
To make a long story short - I’ve bought it, read the first part in about 2 weeks on holidays and been hooked ever since.
The story is set in a dystopian future of intergalactic human civilization. I really like that the world building is realistic enough to imagine humanity heading down that path. Of course there are some exceptions but over all it seems like a very reasonable and plausible sci-fi universe.
One thing I particularly enjoyed was the abscence of traveling at the speed of light. While still being faster than the average rocket nowadays journeys through the galaxy really take a couple of months. Pierce does a great job of fleshing out those scenes and what they do to the characters.
So if you’re into a old greek and roman culture and mythology, belief system and hierarchy, battles in space and on earth (not planet earth but other plantes), leadershop, a fast pace and great world building and enjoy a couple of plot twist definately give this one a go.
There are six books availiable with the 7th currently being written. Part one to three can be seen as a trilogy and there’s no real need to continue unless your into the story and what to find out what comes after.
Red Rising was the book that got me back into reading just for the joy of it. It does not always have to be some sort of productivity book.
After I’ve finished all of the six books follow up books for me were “Dune” (similiar and obviously a big inspiration for Red Rising) and currently “The will of the many”.
3. Keychron Q1 Pro
The Keychron Q1 Pro is a mechanical keyboard which I consider a absolute luxury item in every way. Not only do I not need it but I also get to use it every day and it brings me joy.
I’ve bought it in an effort to focus more on buying products that assist or help me on a daily basis. Which a keyboard definately does.
Since the pandemic I almost exclusively work from home which brings it’s own challenges. My current desk fits snugly betwee our couch and a sideboard in the living room. Therefore space is a limiting factor and I needed to downsize from a full 100% size keyboard with a num-block.
I’ve used the K2 for quite some time but wanted a bit more. The Q1 features more prominent arrow keys and is remarkably heavy. One of the key features I already liked about the K2 and now for the Q1 Pro are the three bluetooth slots and the ability to switch between a Windows or Mac based keyboard layout with a switch.
The bluetooth slots give me plenty of room for my devices and are used completely. I use one slote for my Windows based work laptop, the second for my Macbook and the last one for my iPad if I ever have the need to type anything in it. Switching is super easy (hold FN + 1,2 or 3).
The factory switches (brown) are perfect for me as I don’t want to get into another time and money consuming rabbit hole that is mechanical keyboards.
So if you’re ever in need of a premium, compact-sized mechanical keyboard, I can highly recommend the Keychron Q1 Pro.
4. Spigen Magsafe Wallet
While I write this post I feel 2023 was a year of me trying to make things easier for myself. Which brings me to the next item which helped further to declutter my life - the Spigen Magsafe Wallet.
I deliberately chose an off-brand wallet as the Apple ones are just too expensive (imho). The spigen one features enough space to hold my public transportation card, my drivers license, my insurance card and some cash. If I need more (like my actual wallet) I’ll probably bring my backpack anyway.
With the wallet attached to my phone it’s one less thing to think about when leaving home - I only need my keys and my phone.
The only downside to non-Apple wallet is that it doesn’t feature the personalization feature. For example if I attach a unknown Apple wallet to my phone I get a notification that the wallet does not belong to me.
5. Kizer Mini Sheepdog Micarta Grey
I’ve been a long time lurker. Watching the occasional EDC video always got me thinking and tinkering. Since germany has pretty strict laws in regards to carrying knifes my journey never really started. I had my swiss army knife I got from my grandpa in my backpack and that’s about it. It was too bulky to carry in my pockets and I didn’t always want to bring my backpack.
Fast forward to the day I found some specialized pages listing germany-legal knifes. Turns out there are some manufactures with our (or any other country with strict law regards carrying knifes) country in mind.
I started with the CIVIVI Ki-V, a slip-joint knive, and used it for some time. But once you enter the rabbit hole there’s no turning back. Obviously I felt the need to upgrade. That’s when I found Kizer Mini which fit my needs perfectly.
- It has a clip so I can carry it in my pocket.
- The blade has a great shape and is not too long.
- It can be openend with one hand therefore providing enough fidgeting action.
- It has a double detent locking mechanism which makes it a non-fixed blade (another requirement by german law).
- Although it’s not fixed and can be closed easily there are some safety mechanisms in place so you don’t accidentally close it and cut yourself while using it.
Conclusion
To be honest - it comes in handy everyday. Wether it’s cutting open letters or boxes, prying off some tight Lego pieces or removing loose threads on my jacket. One might argue that once you have a knife you start looking for opportunites to use it more extensively and that might be true. But it still is a fundamental piece of my everyday carry since I’ve got it.