Leo Babauta of Zen Habits wrote a wonderfully succinct post on How to Make the Most of Your 24 Hours. There are 4 things he mentions: intentionality, only 3 important tasks, gratitude and the most important being creating multiple moments of transcendence throughout your day. The days I remember the most are not the days I cross everything off my list. It’s the days when I slow down and deepen the moments and spaces in between tasks. — CD

To gauge the proper influence of an influencer you need a tool to sort out all the inactive, fake, bots, and low-quality followers they will inevitably have. The higher the follower count, the higher percentage of hollow followers. Sparktoro will rate Twitter accounts for you. It says 21% of my followers are fakish. (But not you!) — KK

Here are a few favorites from ideopunk’s list of 100 useful tips:

• “Where is the good knife?” If you’re looking for your good X, you have bad Xs. Throw those out.

• Discipline is superior to motivation. The former can be trained, the latter is fleeting. You won’t be able to accomplish great things if you’re only relying on motivation.

• Sturgeon’s law states that 90% of everything is crap. If you dislike poetry, or fine art, or anything, it’s possible you’ve only ever seen the crap. Go looking!

— MF

A while back I recommended Listen Notes as a podcast search engine, but unfortunately the advance search features are now behind a paywall. Recomendo reader Ken Rogan suggested Podchaser.com as an alternative and I’ve been using it for the past couple months to find episodes on specific subjects or keywords for free and without registering. — CD

For the past ten years I’ve packed some Quick Clot bandage in my first aid kit. It’s a bandage that decreases bleeding five times faster than a regular bandage, from 10 minutes to 2 minutes. It is especially useful for scalp wounds which bleed profusely. It is expensive ($15) so I cut one up into smaller pieces to use for smaller gashes. — KK

The MuteMe button is a large illuminated physical mute button that plugs into your computer with a USB cord and sits on your desk. When your mic is off, it glows red. Press the button to unmute and the light changes to green. No more “We can’t hear you, you’re on mute.” — MF

Now that I am a grandfather I interact with kid stuff again. There’s a new generation of drinking cups for toddlers way beyond sippy cups. Munchkin cups ($6) use an ingenious weighted straw that deliver liquids to a child in any cup orientation with zero spillage. They are a hi-tech marvel, with 47,000 reviews on Amazon. They really keep liquids tight. — KK

I’ve been sending more and more PDFs to my Oasis Kindle. I used to attach and email the files to my Kindle email address, but I recently discovered there are easier ways! You can download a PC or MAC app called Send to Kindle and then just drag and drop documents into the application. There’s also a Chrome extension and an app for Androids. — CD

I subscribe to over 100 newsletters. With that many, it’s hard to keep track of which ones are worth keeping. Rishikesh Sreehari, who publishes the newsletter 10+1 Things, has a good system: “Every time I receive a newsletter that I don’t like, I add a star against the name of the publication or author in a small note that I maintain in Obsidian. Once there are 5 strikes, I straightaway unsubscribe from the newsletter.” I’m using a Google Spreadsheet to keep track. — MF

I came across this lovely intention for preparing a meal in the The Creative Independent’s interview with Musician Regina Spektor. She shared that she has trouble sitting still and meditating, so this is an active meditation:

You decide something you dedicate the meal to. It can be peace in the world, or someone’s health, or anything that is stirring you at the time. Then as you cook, every little action of the cooking—washing, cutting, mixing—can be imbued with that dedication. You concentrate on that intention from start to finish and keep repeating the thought in your mind as you cook. In the end, every bite is filled with that wish.

—CD

I am a big fan of YouTuber Ali Abdaal. In this video about Resumes he condenses a whole book of information presenting the best advice for applying for a job into 30 minutes. It’s the same advice I gave to my kids when they started working. Whether you are looking for a job, or hiring someone, this is worth your time. Forward it to a young person. — KK

Investor Sahil Bloom posted a Twitter thread of frameworks that “provide clarity in complex situations.” Here’s an example: “Crazy Idea Framework — If someone proposes a crazy idea, ask: (1) Are they a domain expert? (2) Do I know them to be reasonable? If yes on both (1) and (2), you should take the idea seriously, as it may be an asymmetric bet on the future.” — MF

This Spotify playlist comprises of 715 songs, handpicked by neuroscientists, and meant to elicit “frisson,“ which means a sudden feeling or sensation of excitement, emotion or thrill in French. Music that increases in loudness or has an abrupt entrance of a new voice or deviations from harmony can often induce "frisson.” Human screams also incite the same response. Which makes sense because one of the songs on the playlist made me increasingly uncomfortable. This article on Big Think will give more background on the ways we experience this profound emotional state. — CD

I use Paypal to send money to strangers (like on Ebay or Etsy); I use Venmo to pay friends; but if I need to send a lot of money (more than several thousand $$$) I use Zelle. Unlike Venmo which holds a reserve in your account that you replenish, Zelle is basically a bank to bank wire transfer – for free. But the interface is person to person. Still can’t do it internationally, but it is very handy for larger peer-to-peer payments in US. Easy to set up. — KK

I’m still wearing a face mask indoors. But my ears are paying the price, especially on long flights when the pressure of the loops against the back of my ears becomes painful. Last week I started using these Velcro face mask extender straps, which pull the loops away from the back of my ears. I should have bought these things two years ago. — MF

What came first: Watts Towers or The Beatles’ Abbey Road? The film Tom Jones or Eagles’ Their Greatest Hits? The Dream by Henri Rousseau or England’s Natural History Museum? This Google quiz asks questions like these (and shows relevant images) and challenges you to click what came first. A faster answer will yield a higher score. — MF

AnswerThePublic takes all the autocomplete data from search engines to report back what questions people are asking all over the world. You can test out the the search engine with 1-2 keywords, which is helpful for anyone doing market research or just nosy like me. You can use it twice a day for free without having to pay a monthly cost. — CD

Author Dan Pink has mastered the art of delivering fantastic advice in 2 minutes or less. His latest Pinkcast is his 5 tips for optimizing travel to a foreign city. I concur with these 100% and do them myself. To save you 2 minutes here they are:

1. Go to the highest point in the city.

2. Buy a local newspaper.

3. Ride public transportation.

4. Go to McDonald’s (Seriously.)

5. Spend an hour in a grocery store.

But you’ll miss Dan’s humor and his persuasion if you don’t watch his pitch. — KK

One of our Cool Tools podcast guests, Jeff Waldman, author of Tools: The Ultimate Guide, turned me onto the best construction screw there is. It’s the GKR R4, used to bolt together wood framing, decking, or cabinets. As he describes in our Cool Tools Show-and-Tell video, the engineering in this tiny piece of metal is amazing. It is designed to be super easy to attach large pieces of wood together very securely very fast. In my experience the GKR R4 screws are stronger and faster than comparable screws. — KK

I only recently learned that you can configure an iPhone to perform an action by double- or triple-tapping the back. You can use it to take a screenshot or go to the home screen, for instance. I use it to open the camera app. Here’s how to do it. — MF