My NYC apartment has little room for kitchen gadgets, and I’m clumsy w/ drills & wrenches. 🍳🛠 Instead, I geek out over digital tools, as you might have noticed. For this post I’m spotlighting a few of the new ones I most appreciated this year. - Jeremy
Craft: Create digital handouts
Why use Craft: Create polished handouts, notes or lists.
My fave feature: Adding slick sub-pages represented by gorgeous preview cards to streamline long docs.
Example: Here’s my reading list-in-progress for 2022
Limitations: Not yet available as a native app for Android or Windows
Cost: Free for basic usage. $45/year for the full pro version.
Read more in my post about why to add Craft to your toolkit
Readwise: Highlight your reading
Why use Readwise: Highlight anything you’re reading
My fave feature: When reading print books, I open the Readwise app to snap a photo of a page with text I want to highlight. Then I just drag my finger on the screen across the part I want to save.
Example: Below is a highlight I saved from The Art of Gathering
Limitations: Doesn’t yet work as well as I’d like for saving highlights beyond text (videos, podcasts, PDFs). Coming in 2022.
Cost: Free for 30 days, $4.50/month for basic features; $8/month to export highlights to Evernote or Notion and for other pro features
Read more in my post about why Readwise is the best highlighting tool
Sorted: Schedule your day
Why Use Sorted: Map out your day, blending tasks and events
My fave feature: Sorted automatically suggests a schedule for me that weaves my tasks and deep work time around my scheduled meetings
Example: Here’s a screenshot that illustrates a planned-out day
Limitations: For now, iOS and MacOS only
Cost: Free for basic use. The Pro upgrade is $14.99 on iOS and $24.99 on macOS through a one-time in-app purchase. No subscription fee.
Read my post on Sorted and other task apps I like (Streaks & Slash). I also mentioned Sorted in my post on 10 apps I use for deep work.
Sponsored Message
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Updates
Join me today, Thursday, Dec 23 at 2pm ET live on Twitter Spaces for an audio chat about our favorite tools of 2021. Visit @jeremycaplan on Twitter at 2pm ET for the link to join.
Next week I’m taking a break from Wonder Tools. I’ll be spending time with family, reading and trying to avoid tools and screens.
Know someone who might find this👇 newsletter interesting in 2022?
New to Craft here ... wonder if you've found a way to facilitate moving content from Craft to Substack.