From smartwatches to devices designed to help you focus, we’ve gathered tools to help you make lasting changes.
From smartwatches to devices designed to help you focus, we’ve gathered tools to help you make lasting changes.
It happens every year: we set ambitious New Year’s resolutions — work out more, spend less, keep the house cleaner — full of optimism and motivation. Then life happens, and suddenly it’s June and you can’t recall what your resolutions even were.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. Sometimes the problem isn’t a lack of motivation but rather a lack of tools, the kind that can make those goals feel more manageable and easier to achieve. After all, the right gear can help turn good intentions into habits that actually last.
Below, we’ve rounded up a few of our favorite tools, all of which are designed to help our readers achieve many of the most common New Year’s resolutions. If improving your health and fitness is at the top of your list, we’ve included fitness-focused earbuds with built-in heart-rate tracking, along with wearables in a variety of styles. We’ve also sprinkled in powerful robot vacuums and bullet journals to support cleaning and organization goals, while budgeting apps and bento boxes that help you prepare lunch at home can help you save money.
No matter what you’re hoping to improve, our guide is filled with all kinds of tech and other tools designed to help you get started — and, hopefully, keep going long after January ends.
We’ve all heard about the benefits of meditation. Actually sitting down and doing it is the hard part. Headspace makes it a little easier to turn meditation into a habit, with hundreds of expert-guided meditations designed to help reduce stress, improve focus and creativity, and even sleep better. The app also goes beyond meditation to include breathing exercises, sleep sounds, and even optional mental health coaching for an extra fee.
Staying hydrated is one of the simplest ways to improve overall health and fitness. The Owala FreeSip Sway helps make it part of your daily routine with a lightweight design and handle so you can carry it anywhere. It’s also got a spout that lets you sip through a built-in straw or take a swig, while triple-layer insulation helps keep drinks cold for up to a full day.
The latest Kindle can help you achieve a range of New Year’s resolutions that are easier to stick with, whether that’s reading more, building better habits, or picking up a low-cost hobby. Its pocketable six-inch design and sharp, glare-free display encourage reading anywhere, while its long battery life lets you enjoy long, uninterrupted reading sessions without worrying about recharging.
If you’re looking for a budget-friendly wearable that plays nicely with Android, the Amazfit Active 2 is our top pick. The platform-agnostic smartwatch punches well above its price with features like continuous heart rate and blood oxygen monitoring, along with offline maps and turn-by-turn navigation. It even looks more expensive than it is, thanks to an OLED touchscreen and a sharp, stainless steel build.
If getting fitter is one of your New Year’s goals, knowing how hard you’re working matters — and that’s where the Powerbeats Pro 2 come in. The wireless earbuds offer built-in heart-rate monitoring so you can track and work out at a more effective intensity level without needing a dedicated fitness tracker. They’re also just a great pair of workout earbuds, with solid sound, ANC, and a secure ear-hook design.
It may be considered an entry-level smartwatch, but the latest Apple Watch SE is the one most iPhone owners should buy. It brings features once reserved for pricier models, like an always-on display and on-device Siri. And, more importantly, it covers the health and fitness basics most people need and extras like abnormal heart-rate and sleep apnea alerts, making it a smart investment for anybody looking to improve their health.
The Thermomix TM7 is the closest thing to hiring a cook for your kitchen. This all-in-one cooker can replace over 20 appliances, handling everything from chopping and blending to steaming. Its 10-inch touchscreen also guides you through recipes, making restaurant-style dishes easier to make at home. It’s easy to clean, too, thanks to a built-in self-cleaning mode.
The portable All In Motion Adult Bento Box makes it easier to spend less on meals when you’re away from home. Its three divided sections help with portion control so you don’t overindulge, while the included fork and knife mean you don’t even have to remember to bring utensils when packing food. It’s a simple way to save money and also avoid the temptation of grabbing fast food on the go.
If you want a wearable that won’t disrupt your sleep, the fourth-generation Oura Ring is far more comfortable to wear overnight than a smartwatch and lacks a distracting screen. It’s particularly well suited for tracking sleep and recovery, but you can also use it to monitor light workouts, stress levels, menstrual cycles, and other core health metrics, making it a great tracker for wellness-focused people. Just note that to get the most out of the ring, you’ll need a membership that costs $5.99 a month.
Whether your New Year’s goals include traveling more or spending less, the AeroPress Coffee Maker Go is a useful tool for achieving both. It brews rich, delicious coffee in under two minutes, while offering full control over brew time, temperature, and grind size. It even comes with its own small microwaveable mug, making it easy to drink great coffee on the go.
If you can’t afford the Thermomix TM7, the Instant Pot Pro is a more affordable all-in-one machine. It combines 10 appliances in one, working as a pressure cooker, rice cooker, slow cooker, yogurt maker, and sous-vide machine. Simply choose a recipe, tap a few buttons, and it can prepare an entire meal for up to six people, making cooking at home a lot less stressful.
The adjustable Te-Rich Smart Weighted Jump Rope adds smartwatch-like tracking to an otherwise basic jump rope, helping you stay accountable as you work toward your fitness goals. It tracks reps, time, and calories burned via a built-in backlit LCD screen, while the weighted handles add extra resistance for more effective workouts.
You Need A Budget (YNAB) makes intentional spending easier. Instead of simply tracking what you’ve already spent, the app helps you assign every dollar a job by breaking your income and expenses into clear, customizable categories, so you can see where your money is going before it’s gone.
One of the easiest ways to keep your home clean is to automate the job. The Ecovacs Deebot X9 Pro Omni is a top-notch robot vacuum and mop you can schedule in advance and even control hands-free through major smart home platforms. It offers powerful 16,600Pa suction with lidar-based navigation, and can even maintain itself thanks to a self-cleaning roller mop and a self-emptying, self-washing dock.
Nothing ruins the mood of a trip quite like a dead phone when you’re exploring somewhere new. The tiny Iniu P55-E2 Power Bank offers up to 45W charging speeds along with two USB-C ports and a USB-A port, so you can quickly power everything from your phone to a gaming handheld while traveling. It also includes a detachable lanyard that doubles as a USB-C cable, making it one less thing to pack.
If you have trouble waking up or falling asleep early and want to fix that this year, the Philips Hue Twilight sleep and wake-up light can help. It offers six sunlight-inspired scenes, simulating a gentle sunrise to ease you into the morning and using warm, red-toned light at night to promote relaxation without blue light. As a bonus, it also doubles as a bedside reading lamp.
The Original Magic Bullet Blender makes it easy to quickly whip up post-workout smoothies or protein shakes, and it even includes portable cups so you can drink it on the go. It’s also shorter than a ruler, so you don’t have to reorganize your kitchen counter to fit it in.
The new year is the perfect time to reset your routines and get organized, and the Echo Show 15 is a great tool for doing just that. Designed to function as a shared household hub, it keeps calendars, schedules, reminders, to-do lists, and notes visible at a glance, making it easier to keep on top of things. As an Alexa-enabled smart display, you can also add events by voice and control compatible smart home devices.
Despite the name, you don’t need to own a Peloton device to use a Peloton membership. A base plan grants access to thousands of on-demand classes, including strength training, yoga, stretching, meditation, outdoor running, and more, with extras like live classes and leaderboards available on higher-tier plans. With sessions ranging from quick 10-minute workouts to one-hour programs, it’s easy to fit fitness into your schedule without necessarily leaving home.
Sitting for long hours at a desk can take a toll on your body and make it harder to concentrate. The Vivo standing desk converter sits on top of your existing desk and uses a simple handle to let you switch between sitting and standing throughout the day. It helps reduce stiffness, ease back and neck strain, and encourage movement, making it easier to stay energized and focused while you work.
If premade planners feel too confining, the Leuchtturm1917 Bullet Journal offers a more flexible way to organize your year. Its dot-grid layout lets you design your own system, so you can plan your days your way. Helpful additions like an index, a guide, and stickers also make it easy to get started.
Big New Year’s resolutions often fail because they’re too vague. In Atomic Habits, James Clear offers science-based strategies for building good habits and breaking bad ones by focusing on small actions that add up over time. It’s a genuinely helpful read for anyone looking to make lasting changes this year.
If you need help sticking with Dry January, a subscription to the Curious Elixirs Curious Cocktail Club can help ease the transition. Each month, you’ll receive four or 12 nonalcoholic beverages — from cocktail-inspired drinks to beer and wine alternatives — all made with organic juices, herbs, spices, roots, and botanicals with no refined sugar.
We’ve all been there: you mean to hit the gym, make that deadline, or finally read that book — and then get lost in TikTok videos. Thankfully, The Brick helps cut down on distractions. By tapping your phone against the small device, you can block apps or sites and set up custom focus modes. To regain access, you have to physically return to The Brick, making it less likely you’ll give in.
