Meditative Mind/M.C. Escher puzzle/Prehistoric Planet
Best meditation music
There's rarely a day that goes by that I don't listen to my Meditative Mind: Music & Sleep app. There are hundreds and hundreds of soothing and immersive soundscapes, chants, mantras, nature sounds and world music to choose from. I use it when I need to focus, meditate or sleep. The app is free to download and try out, but I happily pay the $38 annual subscription for access to their full library, unlimited downloads and an ad-free experience. There is also a YouTube channel with lots of long-format music tracks added almost daily. — CD
M.C. Escher shape puzzle
Unlike regular jigsaw puzzles, which have pieces that don’t match up with the artwork, this puzzle’s 40 large pieces are cut in the shape of the black and white creatures from artist M.C. Escher’s 1957 lithograph Mosaic II. The puzzle is a lot harder to solve than you may think. It’s out of print, but used ones are available on eBay and Etsy. — MF
Time-shift nature documentary
Take the legendary Planet Earth TV series and marry it to Jurassic Park technology times one million and what you get is the fantastic new nature series narrated by David Attenborough, Prehistoric Planet. It’s about the life of dinosaurs 66 million years ago. It employs state of the art synthetic beings and the latest scientific understanding to depict everyday dino life with stunning veracity and clarity. It genuinely tracks like an intimate nature documentary. Streaming on Apple TV. — KK
Low-cost tracking device
I am a convert to Apple AirTags. I hide these tiny buttons in my luggage to keep track of where it is. On a recent walk in England our luggage was forwarded each day, and with the AirTag I could track their whereabouts. If I stray too far from my daypack (as if I had forgotten it) I get an alert on my phone. And attached as a fob on our car key, I can track where in the house the keys were left using my phone. I have a friend who slips one in critical packages he ships. I am putting one in all my bicycles. Each AirTag is $29, and its replaceable battery lasts about a year. — KK
The Free Learning List
Freelearninglist.org is a directory for finding the best education resources on the internet — including links and descriptions to free courses, YouTube explainer channels, podcasts, subreddits, effective thinking newsletters, how-to websites and more. Each listing is scored on effectiveness, design and popularity. It makes me want to never waste time on the internet with so many mind-enriching resources like this available. — CD
Learn Getting Things Done in 15 minutes
David Allen’s Getting Things Done changed my life when I read it almost 20 years ago. It describes how to create a process you can trust to capture everything you need to do, and then create physical actions to complete those tasks. The benefit is that you can stop using your brain for remembering what to do and instead use it to focus on what to do next. The book is worth reading, but everything you need to know about practicing GTD can be found on this webpage, GTD in 15 Minutes - A Pragmatic Guide to Getting Things Done. For me, it was a valuable refresher. — MF
— Kevin Kelly, Mark Frauenfelder, Claudia Dawson
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