Hi! I’m Celena, the new intern at Spring Partners.  As a freshman from one of the colleges here in Boston, I have pulled my fair share of all-nighters. During this past semester, I have had countless sleepless nights of intense p-setting (for those of you who aren’t nerdy, that means working on homework), test cramming and, of course, you-tubing.

After reading about caffeine naps on Persistence Unlimited, I decided to give it a try.  I’ve found that caffeine naps are a quick, warm & inexpensive way to re-energize myself.

What you need:
- A cup of your favorite coffee (I like mine with a splash of Silk vanilla soymilk) Spring It!
- A nice, cozy sleeping area.

Directions:
- Drink your cup of coffee.
- Immediately take a 15 minute nap (no more, no less).
- Wake up feeling refreshed and re-energized.

The theory behind this is that it takes the coffee approximately 15 minutes to kick in. The caffeine hits you right after your nap, and you have enough juice to run for a couple more hours.

Has taking caffeinated naps simplified my life? Totally.  I have the energy to complete all my tasks.  Now if only I could find the willpower…

In a recent post, Jeff talked about gadgets that have simplified his life. It got me thinking… Some of the best ideas for simplicity are – just that – simple. And surely they don’t have to cost lots of money. The wristband coffee sleeve is a perfect example.

There are lots of fancy reusable coffee sleeves out there, but I prefer the simple sweatband version. Why?
1. Really cheap
2. Great for gripping & definitely does the job in terms of insulation
3. Easy to keep clean – pop it in the wash, or just buy a dark color
4. Folds down to practically nothing in the bottom of bag
5. Simple way to show strangers that it’s easy to be green
6. Usually come in a 2-pack, so you can share!

Does using a wristband coffee sleeve simplify my life? Yup.

What simple, inexpensive solutions have you implemented in your life?

Recently, I decided to declutter my apartment and only keep gadgets that do indeed simplify my life. What I found was that the gadgets I need, sit in the background, do their job, never complain and just work.

Here are 4 gadgets that made the cut:

The DeLonghi Magnifica Automatic Espresso / Coffee Machine
Sure there are cheaper solutions out there, but if you want your choice of beans (mmm…Peets) and you don’t need the end-to-end ritual of a french press or manual espresso machine, the Magnifica is for you. At the beginning of the week, I fill it up with beans and water. Then, each morning I effortlessly have the perfect cup of freshly ground coffee. At the end of the week, I pull out a container with the old coffee grinds – and that’s it for cleanup!

Macbook Pro
Yeah yeah. The beautiful UI, the end to end ecosystem, the industrial design, but for me it’s the simplicity. Using my Macbook is transparent. I focus more on the things I’m doing on the computer than the computer itself.

iPhone
I still have a technogeek crush on my iPhone (I’ve got the older version…. *cough* Katin *cough*). But once I put away my ‘I heart Steve Jobs’ t-shirt, I can say the iPhone has indeed simplified my life. Smartphones all promise the world with traffic conditions, weather, maps, email but usually the hype is followed by 115 frustrating clicks to get to where you need to get to. Like the Mac, I think less about the iPhone itself than the task I need to get done and that’s what makes it great.

Sonos
Speaking of hanging out in the background and just working, that’s the Sonos music system. Sonos allows me to wirelessly stream my digital music to speakers all over my house. There’s a slick remote that lets me select songs w/o being close to a computer. And, the brilliant part about Sonos is setup – Plug one module into the router, and Sonos does the rest.

And 2 that didn’t make the cut:

Slingbox
The Slingbox allows me to stream home cable (including DVR controls) and other media to a computer wherever I am in the world. Last Fall my wife and I were on our honeymoon in Europe during the Red Sox World Series run and,  aside from a couple hiccups, it worked great.  But here’s the thing:  I was in Europe. On my Honeymoon. Opening a laptop to watch TV at 2am. Sometimes having access to information anywhere doesn’t make things more simple.

The Nintendo Wii
I think the Wii is great for entertaining. But with 4 controllers, 4 nunchuks, 1 wii fit board, a mario kart wheel, a guitar hero guitar (not to mention batteries), the sheer clutter is enough to be able to live without the Wii for a while!

Do gadgets really simplify my life? Yes. And No.

What gadget do you love?   Does it simplify your life?