5 Things I Bought This Year That Actually Made My Life Less Annoying

5 Things I Bought This Year That Actually Made My Life Less Annoying

Look, I'm not one of those guys who lives for product reviews. I don't unbox things on camera. I don't get excited about "unboxing experiences." When I buy something, I want it to solve a problem I actually have, not a problem some marketing team invented for me between focus groups.

That said, I do buy things. Probably too many things, if my Amazon order history is any indication. And every once in a while, something lands on my doorstep that genuinely makes a dent in the daily grind. Here are five of those somethings, field-tested by a guy who's skeptical of everything.

1. The Shaver That Doesn't Make Me Miss My Barber

Here's the scene: it's 7:15 AM. You've got a meeting at 8. Your face looks like you slept in a hedge. You grab your old razor, do a few passes, and realize you've missed a patch the size of a postage stamp right under your chin — the one patch everyone notices.

I switched to the Cremo Rotary Shaver for Men about three months ago, and I haven't had that moment since. It's cordless, waterproof, and the multi-foil floating head actually follows the contours of your face instead of just dragging across it like an angry lawnmower. The IPX7 waterproofing means you can use it in the shower, which saves about four minutes of sink cleanup that I'd otherwise spend wondering where my life went wrong. The battery lasts long enough that I charge it roughly as often as I remember to floss — which is to say, not often, and that's saying something about the battery.

Is it going to give you a straight-razor barbershop shave? No. But it'll get you to 95% in two minutes flat, and those last five percentage points are something only your barber and your mother care about anyway.

2. The Earbuds That Survived My Sweat Test

I've killed more earbuds than I care to count. One pair fell in a puddle. Another just… stopped working, as if they'd collectively decided retirement was preferable to listening to my workout playlist one more time. I don't blame them — my gym mix is 80% Linkin Park nostalgia and 20% questionable decisions.

The Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 are the first pair that's lasted more than six months in my custody. They've got active noise cancelling, which is crucial when the guy next to you at the gym is grunting like he's giving birth to a refrigerator. The secure-fit ear hooks mean they don't pop out mid-burpee, and they're rated for sweat and water resistance — I've put that claim to the test and they're still kicking. The sound is crisp, the bass hits hard enough to make leg day tolerable, and the battery life gets me through a full week of workouts without hunting for a charger.

The only downside is the price tag, which is roughly equivalent to a nice dinner for two. But considering I'd spent more than that on three pairs of "affordable" earbuds that all died within a year, the math eventually works out. Sometimes being cheap is the most expensive thing you can do.

3. The Massage Gun That Replaced My Chiropractor

I'm 35. My back hurts for reasons I can't explain — probably from that one time I thought I could move a couch by myself, or maybe just from sleeping wrong in 2019 and never fully recovering.

The TheraGun Relief is the quietest deep tissue massage gun I've tried, which matters when you're using it at 10 PM and your partner is trying to sleep in the next room. It connects to an app via Bluetooth that guides you through routines, which feels a little excessive for a device that basically punches your muscles — but I'll admit, the guided routines are actually useful when you're not sure whether you're targeting the right spot or just tenderizing your own flank like a piece of steak.

The percussion force is enough to unlock knots that have been squatting in my shoulders since the Obama administration. Use it for five minutes after a workout or a long day at a desk, and the difference is noticeable. It won't fix your posture — nothing fixes your posture except maybe a time machine and better life choices — but it'll make the consequences of bad posture hurt less, which is honestly all I'm asking for at this point.

4. The Backpack That Made Me Stop Using My Gym Bag for Hiking

For years, my "hiking setup" consisted of a drawstring gym bag with a water bottle jammed in the side and a granola bar melting somewhere in the bottom. Functional? Barely. Dignified? Absolutely not.

The Maelstrom 40L Hiking Backpack is what I should have bought years ago. It's waterproof — like, actually waterproof, not "waterproof until it rains for more than ten minutes" waterproof. It comes with a rain cover, plenty of compartments that make actual sense, and a frame that distributes weight across your back instead of concentrating it in one angry hot spot between your shoulder blades. At 40 liters, it's big enough for a day hike with layers and food but not so big that you look like you're attempting Everest on a Tuesday afternoon trail walk.

The chest and waist straps keep it from bouncing around when you're scrambling over rocks, and the whole thing weighs less than my laptop bag. For the price, it's absurd what you get. I've taken it on three hikes, one very rainy camping trip, and a weekend where I used it as my only bag. No complaints. No wet socks. No dignity lost.

5. The Coffee That Tricks My Brain Into Working

I have a complicated relationship with morning coffee. I love it. I need it. But after my second cup, the benefits plateau and I'm just jittery and dehydrated, staring at my inbox with the emotional range of a photocopier.

The VitaCup Lightning Coffee Pods are an interesting experiment that happened to work for me. They're regular dark roast coffee pods — compatible with any Keurig — but they've got added B vitamins, D3, and a green coffee bean extract that's supposed to help with memory and focus. I was skeptical in the way all reasonable people are skeptical of "functional coffee." But after a week of drinking one of these instead of my usual brew, I noticed I wasn't hitting that 10:30 AM wall where my brain turns into warm pudding.

The dark roast flavor is actually good — strong enough to taste like real coffee, not like someone dissolved a multivitamin in hot water and called it breakfast. Each pod has about 2X the caffeine of a standard K-cup, so if you're the type who needs three cups to feel human, one of these might actually cover you. Just don't drink it after 2 PM unless you enjoy lying awake at night mentally replaying every awkward conversation from 2008.

Bottom Line

None of this stuff will change your life in any profound way. That's the point. The best purchases aren't the ones that promise transformation — they're the ones that quietly remove friction from your day until you forget what the friction felt like. A shaver that works, earbuds that survive, a massage gun that loosens what's tight, a backpack that carries what you need, and coffee that makes your brain cooperate: that's five small wins. And at this stage of life, I'll take small wins every day of the week.

If any of these sound like they'd solve a problem you actually have, the links are right here. If not — well, I'm sure there's another overpriced gadget out there with your name on it.