I came across this encouraging Reddit post for all creatives: “Read this if you’re concerned your idea has been done before and you’re feeling unmotivated.” A reminder that “The idea doesn’t matter nearly as much as the execution does. No one will have your taste, your mind, your unique perspective on the matter.” — CD

We changed sides a few years ago. We went from being a live-Christmas-tree family to embracing a fake tree. Artificial trees have gotten so good looking, so inexpensive, and so easy to assemble, that we are now happy owners of a forever tree. And new ones get better each year. The most realistic trees come from National Christmas Tree Company; they are usually at the top of Wirecutter’s recommendations. The best ones have LED lights built in. We went with a budget, light-less 7.5ft tall Douglas Fir from National for $180. Once decked out with our own lights, and covered with ornaments, you can’t really distinguish it from a real tree. — KK

Journey to the Microcosm is a YouTube channel that uses high quality microscopic video to explore lifeforms invisible to the naked eye. The narration includes interesting stories and histories, too. — MF

I read a Cool Tools review of the Nada Chair S’portbacker from several years ago, and since my back has been sore from sitting at my desk so much lately, I bought one a couple of weeks ago. Basically, it’s an adjustable strap that goes around your knees and lower back, which allows you to lean back without slouching. As the maker says, you wear the chair. My back soreness is gone, and I don’t get as drowsy while working when I wear it. It also allows me to sit cross-legged on the ground comfortably for the first time in my life. — MF

The “Urgent-Important” decision making matrix seems to be trending real hard (according to all the productivity posts I come across 🤓), and it’s exactly that which inspired this task-mapping tool called Baller ToDo. It will help you visualize and figure out the stuff that really matters and most importantly, what you can put off. — CD

We have been practicing gratitude all wrong. Instead of noting what you are grateful for, you should try “mental subtraction” and think of one positive event or aspect of your life and then mentally take it away. Contemplate what your life would be like without your home, health, job, partner, etc. and the effect of this will be an enhanced sense of appreciation. — CD

Google’s Ngram is a nifty tool for researching historical word use, such as the first use of a word/phrase, or how its popularity changes over time. Ngram is 10 years old, but it got a significant upgrade last year so now it includes a lot more old books. I use Ngram to visualize — to a first approximation — the relative importance of a concept over time. Its cool interface lets me click on a date range, and then it will show me excerpts from the historical books from that date with that word or phrase. — KK

Even if you’ve never held a guitar, you can have fun playing a blues lead on this simple web app. Just press the play button to start the backing track and roll your cursor over the buttons at the top of the page. You can’t make a bad sound. If you’re aware of a more sophisticated virtual lead guitar app, let me know! — MF

The TV sitcom Ted Lasso is as good as everyone says it is. It’s a sophisticated feel-good comedy drama that we really needed in 2020. It’s full of no cliche, no sap, smart positivity that is rare and so welcomed. The world would be a better place if there were more Ted Lassos. The show is very bingeable. I’m eager for more seasons. The 10-part first season runs on Apple TV. If you’ve bought an Apple product in the past year (or know someone who did), you may have free access to Apple TV. — KK

A few years ago, Mark recommended the no-graphics version of CNN’s website and I just recently discovered the text-only version of NPR. It’s very serene scrolling through news headlines without attention-grabbing images or annoying ads. — CD

Until recently, I used crumpled sheets of newspaper to start fires under my charcoal chimney, but I stopped subscribing to print editions of newspapers. I started buying Weber Lighter Cubes instead. They’re the size of an ice cube and ignite charcoal briquettes even faster than newspaper. — MF

In a recent issue of my Magnet newsletter, I asked readers to help me separate two coffee cups that somehow got stuck together. (It’s the second-to-last item in the newsletter.) Almost all of the hundreds of suggestions I received involved cooling the small cup and heating the big one to allow thermal expansion to do its work, but that didn’t help. Can Recomendo readers come up with a solution? Send email to: markfrauenfelder+stuckcups@gmail.com — MF

I came across this cool visual guide to making your own spice blends on Reddit. It made me realize I should be utilizing my coriander more often. — CD

Every now and then I come across some text whose style I find attractive and I wonder what font they are using. I grab a shot of it and slip it into the “What the Font” website which usually can (90% of the time) identify the font. I don’t know if there is a better identifier but this free one works for me. — KK

I’m a fan of colorful plates, cups, and bowls, so when I saw this set of six porcelain bowls last month on Amazon I bought them without first checking the size. (A rookie mistake!) Fortunately, they aren’t the size of thimbles. In fact, they’re bigger than I expected, which is a bonus, as I’m a hearty eater. — MF

Kiddle.co is an illustrated, large-font search engine designed specifically for kids . It’s powered by Google Safe Search so only family-friendly results are returned. If any “bad” words are entered you get an “Oops, try again!” I tried to break it by searching for whatever “adult” words I could think of. “Death” told me to try again, “Dying” directed me to a Death facts for kids page, which is interesting. I don’t have a kid, but if I did this would be their homepage. — CD

Unexpectedly, you can decrease the fatigue of zooming all day if you don’t see your own image on the screen all day. The easiest way to hide your self picture in Zoom is to hover over or right-click your image until a blue square appears in the upper right corner. Click on the 3 white dots, and in the dropdown menu, click on “Hide Self View”. Once it was gone I noticed the absence of an irritant I had not been aware of before. Zooming is calmer. — KK

My guilty pleasure is watching people work, watching machines work, and watching people and machines work together. I can’t explain it. I am utterly hypnotized by repeating exactitude. My source for mesmerizing videos of machines at work is the twitter feed of Machine Pix. — KK

A cleaning hack I just learned: cut the corner of the sponge I use solely for the cast iron vs all the other dishes. Found in The 30 Most Brilliant Cleaning Hacks of All Time. I guarantee you will find some tips you’ve never heard of before on this list, like microwaving your cleaning rag or using a mesh laundry bag in the dishwasher. — CD

As I write this, construction workers next door are nailing shingles on the roof. But I don’t hear the nail gun or the air compressor because I’m wearing my AirPods Pro and playing the sounds of coffee shop chatter at the Rainy Cafe website. You can mix in the sound of rain, too. The sound helps me concentrate. It’s better than silence. — MF