I’ve been working from home since March. 100% from home (except for the occasional phone sessions when I’m walking). As the semester approaches, I thought students, parents, faculty, and other clinicians might benefit from some of what I think has made virtual work easier. I don’t receive any compensation for any of these products or services. Enjoy!

YETI Ramber Mug

The YETI Rambler is now my go-to mug. I start with French Roast at 5:00am, transition to Green Tea around 9:00am and then water for the rest of the day (maybe an IPA in the evening) then into the dishwasher. BAM! Super tough, dishwasher safe and keeps things hot or cold. Great mag lid. (YETI $29.99)

ExpressVPN

VPN stands for Virtual Private Network and is a layer of additional security I added to protect clients privacy. All my internet traffic (phone/laptop/iPad) goes through the VPN. I signed up for ExpressVPN after listening to Scott Galloway and Kara Swisher discuss VPNs and their favorites. ($100/yr)

TP-Link AC750 Wifi Extender

This is absolutely essential in our home since my wife and I are both working from home and eat up loads of bandwidth. We also have home offices which are spread out but not super convenient for wifi signal. This extender from TP-Link has been great for all my Zoom and FaceTime calls. (Amazon $35)

Spotify

What can I say, Spotify crushed Pandora years ago and continues to add great content, new artists, and be super convenient.  I leveled up this summer and got premium which has been great. On my heavy rotation right now is Poolside.

Big Glass Whiteboard

So much of my work with students involves organization skills and I’ve found whiteboards to be essential. My current whiteboard is one of those glass whiteboard (no ghosting from the markers) which is also magnetic. It’s huge and allows me to dump thoughts, ideas and to-do list items out of my brain until I can decide what to do with them. (Amazon $100)

Santa Cruz Tallboy

Most of you could probably care less about mountain biking but for me it’s one of the ways I get far away from people and technology for a few hours. It’s my therapy. The Santa Cruz is my most recent bike and has taken me on bikepacking adventures in the Southwest, single track in Brown County and commuting to kids’ school and my office downtown. (Santa Cruz $Pricey$)

Grammarly

Grammarly is layered editing software that automatically scans (and judges!) all of my emails, texts, and Google Docs. Even as I’m writing this in my WordPress backend, a little smiley face and editing bubble is tracking what I write. I opted for premium since I’m also writing a ton of blog posts now for different companies. (Grammarly Free or $12/month)