Ask HN: What is the best way to spend $1000 to improve your productivity?

Most of us have been working at home for a year, I am curious what you all have invested in to improve your productivity on a budget.

For example I bought Airpod pros ($199), which made it more convenient to do more meetings walking around outside, which has helped me get more exercise and has helped my focus. I also bought a stack of spiral notebooks for $11.99 so I could easily sketch out ideas. If my budget was $1000 that would leave me ~$775, how should I invest the remaining balance to enhancing my own productivity?

acid.

Supplements have been really fun. For example, 2:1 L-Theanine to Caffeine, especially after a nap, is like productivity medicine for me.

I bought a shelf stereo system and keep it turned on at low volume while I work, and it's nice to randomly hear an old song I like, or a new song I like. Local FM is handy during emergencies here too, and it even seems like about 1/4 of the ads are PSAs or local announcements from NPOs, government agencies with helpful info, etc.

I also bought a scanner radio and enjoy listening to local radio traffic on breaks.

I bought some desk mats that I like, and I prefer looking at them rather than my desktop, which is an old banquet table from 2000 (newer tempered glass desk is too cold in the winter).

Regarding stationery, I picked up some horizontal shelving for pens and pencils, and bought a bunch of fountain pens, watercolor pencils, highlighters, and so on...a lot of fun for doodling on those long calls.

Finally I bought an /r/cheapkeys keyboard, then another...anyway, long story short I learned some basic chord progressions for jamming purposes, and now I have a keyboard collection. It's been a lot of fun. (I learned the keyboard solo from "All of My Love" by Led Zeppelin and I swear it was one of the highlights of 2020, amidst all the darkness)

Anyway I'm a bit weird in that I find that enjoyable interests and values-based living is where productivity goes to recuperate and regroup before reaching higher highs. Good luck to you.

Does anyone have good experience using a wacom tablet to replace paper/whiteboard? I tried using an ipad but it's not quite the same. It's too small and there's no way to directly integrate with desktop (I'm on linux).

Invest it into bitcoins? High Risk/Reward