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Best Wearables, Travel Hacks & Training Tips - Life Hacks 206 | Modern Wisdom Podcast 398

Jonny & Yusef from Propane Fitness join me for another Life Hacks episode. Sit back & enjoy as we run through our favourite tools, apps, websites, strategies & resources for a productive and efficient life. Expect to learn why I'm moving to Texas, how to track your barbell speed, how to get free golf club trackers, why Yusef thinks that snidely charging VAT is reprehensible, how to hack ASOS sizing, how to stop yourself from buying junk in the supermarket, why you only need one foreign plug converter and much more... Sponsors: Join the Modern Wisdom Community to connect with me & other listeners - https://modernwisdom.locals.com/ Get 20% discount on Reebok’s entire range including the amazing Nano X1 at https://geni.us/modernwisdom (use code MW20) Get 15% discount on Craftd London’s jewellery at https://bit.ly/cdwisdom (use code MW15) Extra Stuff: RepOne Bar Velocity Tracker - https://reponestrength.com/ Digitise Your Photos - https://www.cleardatagroup.co.uk/ Order everything in multiple sizes from ASOS and use free returns. Go monthly, not annual for memberships as a reminder. Toilet cistern pucks - https://amzn.to/3CYQbts Eat a sandwich before shopping. Percy Pigs secret low calorie ice cream. iOS Optical Character Recognition. Ask “What’s the budget?” Avoid overwhelm by clearing your Capture Inbox. Coredy Vacuum Cleaner - https://amzn.to/3EX9iVe Send someone a video introduction. Arccos Ping Club Tracker Deal - https://uk.arccosgolf.com/pages/ping Send a summary email of negotiation calls “As Discussed”. Use a single converter and a multi socket. MacroFactor - https://www.strongerbyscience.com/macrofactor/ Meteomatics - https://www.meteomatics.com/en/ (do not use) "I’ll send a car." Watch Invasion Watch A Quiet Place Watch Kin Watch Dave Not Coming Back Access Propane's Free Training - https://propanefitness.com/modernwisdom Get my free Reading List of 100 books to read before you die → https://chriswillx.com/books/ To support me on Patreon (thank you): https://www.patreon.com/modernwisdom #lifehacks #fitness #nutrition - 00:00 Intro 00:44 Chris is Going to Texas 10:35 Bar Velocity Trackers, Photo Digitisation & Free ASOS Delivery 20:36 Buy Monthly, Toilet Tablets & Eat Sandwiches While Shopping 33:10 Percy Pig Ice Cream, Apple Notes Update & Setting Your Price 44:14 Prioritise Clearing Your Inbox, Cordless Vacuum Cleaners & Video Introductions 59:09 Wearable Tech, Summary Emails & Multi-sockets 1:13:41 MacroFactor, Meteomatics, Send a Car for People 1:28:08 Things You Need to Watch - Join the Modern Wisdom Community on Locals - https://modernwisdom.locals.com/ Listen to all episodes on audio: Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2MNqIgw Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2LSimPn - Get in touch in the comments below or head to... Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chriswillx Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/chriswillx Email: https://chriswillx.com/contact/

Chris WilliamsonhostJonnyguestYusefguest
Nov 14, 20211h 39mWatch on YouTube ↗

At a glance

WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT

Wearables, travel tricks, and training tech: optimizing modern life habits

  1. This Life Hacks episode of Modern Wisdom blends practical travel, tech, and fitness tips with Chris Williamson’s plans to relocate temporarily to Austin to break an 18‑month cycle of monotony and overwork.
  2. The hosts discuss how environment and social circles affect productivity, along with strategies for negotiating freelance rates and structuring digital tools for better focus.
  3. They dive into niche training technology like bar-velocity trackers and golf sensors, lifestyle conveniences such as robot vacuums and photo digitization, and strong views on wearables and subscription apps.
  4. Throughout, the conversation mixes humor with genuinely useful tactics for simplifying daily life, training smarter, and avoiding decision fatigue.

IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING

5 ideas

Change your environment to reset productivity and break monotony.

Chris is moving to Austin temporarily to escape an 18‑month loop of repetitive days, arguing that new surroundings, people, and events create natural constraints (e.g., evening plans) that force more focused work and reduce Parkinson’s Law–style time expansion.

Use objective training data like bar speed instead of relying solely on perceived exertion.

Devices like the RepOne bar velocity tracker can predict daily lifting capacity and track progress via small speed improvements, helping lifters program more intelligently when simple load increases stall.

Digitize legacy photos and documents to preserve memories and save space.

Sending boxes of old family photo albums to a bulk-scanning service converts thousands of prints into a single secure USB archive, making them easier to back up, search, and share while freeing physical storage.

Keep subscriptions monthly unless you’re absolutely sure you’ll use them long-term.

The hosts recommend avoiding annual deals for most apps; monthly billing emails act as a built-in audit, prompting you to cancel tools you’re no longer using instead of being surprised by yearly charges.

Empty your task inbox daily to avoid overwhelm and maintain trust in your system.

If you use GTD-style tools like OmniFocus or TickTick, clearing the capture inbox every day—either doing quick items or assigning them—prevents buildup, reduces anxiety, and ensures you don’t mentally carry unprocessed tasks.

WORDS WORTH SAVING

5 quotes

There is more to life than completing tasks on your to‑do list.

— Chris Williamson

Little fish in big pond time again now, which I’m quite looking forward to actually.

— Chris Williamson

If you train for strength and there is something you can buy that nudges your numbers up even five kilos in a year, it’s usually worth paying for.

— Jonny

If someone says yes to your price immediately, you instantly feel like you’ve undercharged.

— Chris Williamson

Most bad days are just an overflowing inbox of small tasks that haven’t been sorted.

— Jonny

Breaking routine and using travel/environment changes to improve productivity and well-beingFitness tech and wearables (bar velocity trackers, golf sensors, criticisms of Whoop/Apple Watch/Garmin)Digital organization and subscription management (OmniFocus/TickTick, capture inbox, monthly subs)Practical household and travel hacks (robot vacuums, toilet pucks, power strips, ASOS returns)Food, dieting, and tracking tools (MacroFactor app, sandwich strategies, low-calorie ice cream)Negotiation and freelancing tactics (asking for budget, “I’ll send a car,” follow-up emails)Media, entertainment, and cultural commentary (TV/film recommendations, Elon Musk, celebrity anecdotes)

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