Wonder Tools

6:49

Free Tools to Start Writing Faster ✍️

Wonder Tools ·

2026/10/09

The hardest part of writing is the first 10 minutes. Get past that, and momentum kicks in.Once you start scribbling a few sentences, you’re on your way. Having gotten stuck and unstuck a lot over the past 325 weeks of writing this newsletter, I’ve found a few tricks that help. Pick one to try, and leave a comment to share what you do to get unstuck.As a little experiment, I’ve made an Unstuck Studio page to accompany this post and to help you get unstuck playfully.As Daniel Pink explains, starting

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9:41

The Newsletters I Read First

Wonder Tools ·

2026/10/03

I subscribe to hundreds of newsletters. Most weeks I read only a fraction. These are the dozen free ones I turn to first, all written by humans, plus five bonus picks from two guests. Share your favorites as a comment below. 1. Dense Discovery by Kai BrachThe best curated email I get. I find interesting sites, stories, and ideas in each post. It’s also gorgeously designed. It has a 63% open rate, roughly double the typical newsletter. For a sample, check out the recent “Cynicism is not a strategy”

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12:04

🔕 Too Distracted? Try These Tools

Wonder Tools ·

2026/09/26

Now that fall is here, my focus has been fragile. Noise, notifications, news, and email grab at my attention. To help cope with distractions, I've stitched together a focus toolkit with apps, sites, and sounds. Some are new, others old. My goal this season is to concentrate for a bit longer when my attention might otherwise drift. I hope this collection will be useful for you too. Stop email interruptions 📧 Inbox Pause This simple email add-on temporarily freezes what you see in your inbox. Any new

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6:44

🧠 How to Improve Your AI Skills

Wonder Tools ·

2026/09/19

Today I’m sharing a guest post on how to strengthen your AI skills. It’s by Frank Andrade, an AI instructor who has helped thousands of people on Substack master ChatGPT and Claude with beginner-friendly guides and in-depth tutorials.Frank: The gap between AI novices and experts is growing.* One group is saving 5 minutes on emails.* Others are running systems that work while they sleep.The good news? You can progress faster than you might think.The Five Stages:* Stage 1: AI Beginner* Stage 2: Prompt

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11:44

My 20 Favorite Google Docs Features ❤️

Wonder Tools ·

2026/09/11

Google Docs turned 20 this year, so I’m sharing 20 of my favorite GDocs features you might find useful. What are your favorites?✨1. Type with my voice 🎙️Tools > Voice typingWhen I’m tired of typing, I dictate. I like voice typing with Google Docs to add sentences to a blank page as I think out loud. Here’s a sample of my dictated text. Read it aloud to test your voice typing. The transcription isn’t perfect, but it’s free.2. Match a prior doc’s format 📋File > New > Help me create > Match doc

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16:38

Your AI Teaching Toolkit 🍎

Wonder Tools ·

2026/09/03

I’m excited to be starting a new semester this week, like millions of other teachers. As a resource for my fellow educators, I’m updating a piece I wrote for The 74, the nonprofit education news site. The average K-12 teacher works 49 hours a week. About a quarter of that time is uncompensated. In higher ed, adjuncts make up about 40% of the faculty workforce. At many institutions, time spent on course prep and administrative tasks is unpaid. Most teachers I know didn’t become educators to spend

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62:26

🤔 Odd Tools That Are Actually Useful

Wonder Tools ·

2026/07/25

I’ve always admired the way bestselling author A.J. Jacobs turns his life into a laboratory for testing quirky ideas. He’s written books about following every biblical law for a year, reading each entry in the encyclopedia, and thanking a thousand people responsible for his morning coffee. I consider it immersion journalism. He calls himself a human guinea pig.So I was delighted to meet A.J. at a recent Substack event. Afterwards we spent an hour talking live on Substack about two dozen of the odd

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9:28

Connect Your Tools to AI 🔗

Wonder Tools ·

2026/07/18

I’ve changed how I use Claude and ChatGPT lately. They’ve become my digital dashboards, linked to many of the tools I rely on. I can ask Claude to add to my calendar, query my meeting notes, update me on my email, or find a passage I highlighted in my digital notebook.Claude Connectors and ChatGPT plugins connect to hundreds of services. These include Superhuman Mail for email, Google Calendar, Granola for meeting notes, and Readwise for my online highlights. Read on for how and why to link your

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7:41

📍 Pinpoint, Explained

Wonder Tools ·

2026/06/05

Google’s Pinpoint is now open to everyone. It’s a surprisingly powerful free tool for making sense of giant piles of digital stuff. (Before June 3, it was restricted to journalists and academics). Read on to learn more about creative ways to use Pinpoint; its new AI features and their limitations; and how Pinpoint differs from NotebookLM.How Pinpoint WorksPinpoint lets you store and analyze hundreds of thousands of files so you can find tiny needles in gigantic digital haystacks. * Pinpoint can

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62:51

🛑 Skip the Upgrade

Wonder Tools ·

2026/05/21

I love new gadgets and gizmos, and I’m constantly trying new sites and apps. So I was intrigued by the title of Eric Athas’s upcoming book, Saying No to New.Eric’s an editor at the New York Times, where he helps journalists make the most of new tools. He’s also a lifelong early adopter. He told me he used to wait in line for new iPhones. But his upcoming book is about thinking twice about new stuff.In our Substack Live conversation, we talked about old gadgets we still love and new gadgets we never

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64:23

What I Learned About Time 🕰️

Wonder Tools ·

2026/05/08

I love Laura Vanderkam’s books about how to make the most of time. It’s never about stuffing more into our days. It’s not about productivity. It’s about savoring and being creatively thoughtful about what we choose to do. Her books 168 Hours and Tranquility by Tuesday changed how I think about my own weeks. For example, her argument for “effortful before effortless,” nudged me to spend more of my discretionary time on my hobbies. Her latest book, Big Time, new this week, makes the case for time

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71:46

✍️ Let AI Interview You

Wonder Tools ·

2026/04/30

The following is a guest post by Jay Dixit, founder of Socratic AI Most people treat AI like a question-answering machine: Ask a question, get an answer. What is chili crisp, and why is Gen Z so obsessed with it? What’s the best starting guess for Wordle? What’s the best time of day to post on LinkedIn? (My own real queries from today.)There’s nothing wrong with using AI to get answers to your questions. But there’s another mode of interacting with AI that many people never consider — one I find

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6:46

My Quieter Toolkit 🌙

Wonder Tools ·

2026/04/10

Mornings are for deep work. Afternoons are for everything else — teaching, planning, thinking, movement, and meetings. This is part two of my daily kit. Part one covered my morning apps. Here are the apps and gadgets that carry me through from noon to bedtime. I’ve included a few AI tools, but mostly the quieter tools that don’t get as much attention.Catch up on Part 1 👇12pm: Midday BreakHealthy Minds 🧠 This free app helps me with mindfulness. The 5-10 minute audio lessons work well as walking

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13:41

Meet Granola AI ✨

Wonder Tools ·

2026/04/04

I’ve tried a dozen AI note-taking tools. Granola is the one I use daily and recommend most. Read on for 10 ways to make the most of it.Bottom line: Granola transcribes and summarizes nearly every meeting I have. 998 so far. It helps me keep track of what I’ve learned and promises I’ve made.What it does: It’s software you download, not a bot, so it doesn’t attend meetings. It just runs on my computer or phone. I can use it to record in-person meetings, or anything online: Zoom, Google Meet, or even

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47:08

AI, Art, and Drawing the Line 🖌️

Wonder Tools ·

2026/03/27

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wondertools.substack.comI recently talked with Jason Chatfield a New Yorker cartoonist and creator of the lively New York Cartoons Substack. He sketched while we talked, as part of his video series Draw Me Anything. We traded ideas about writing, editing, tools, and where to draw the line with AI. 📺 Watch the conversation above, or read highlights below. Takeaways from Our Conversation 🛠️* Teach your AI assistant to offer personalized

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3:27

☀️ My Morning Toolkit

Wonder Tools ·

2026/03/20

After my 7am wake-up alarm, I lean on about 20 morning apps, sites and gadgets for reading, writing, listening, and getting stuff done. I revisit this toolkit every year. Here's what's stayed, what's changed, and what's new.🌤️ 7:00 am Wake up and prepare for the day ⏰ Peakeep “Invisible” Alarm Clock This $14 bedside clock wakes me up. I set its brightness at zero to keep the bedroom dark at night. I tap the top to check the time if I need to. I bought the clock when I decided to store my phone in

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64:04

Teach Smarter with AI

Wonder Tools ·

2026/03/05

I recently talked with Lance Eaton, Senior Associate Director of AI and Teaching & Learning at Northeastern University and writer of AI + Education = Simplified. We traded ideas about what’s actually working. We came up with 10 specific, practical ways anyone who teaches, coaches, or leads can put AI to work.📺 Watch the full conversation above, or read highlights below.10 Ways to Use AI 🛠️Note: Lance and I alternated tips below 👇1. Spark Richer Student Reflection 🪞Lance: Ask students to reflect

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7:11

📚 Find Fantastic Books

Wonder Tools ·

2026/02/27

Escape AI slop by reading more books. 📚 That’s my plan for making the most of leisure time this year. One book a week. Some short. Others mostly visual — I love graphic novels. Plus a new AI & tech book group I’m starting. Books get my eyes off screens, and my brain welcomes that break from news, vitriol, and ads. Read on for my updated guide to finding great read this year. 📖 Find your next read * Most Recommended Books Pick the name of an expert to see what books they recommend and why.*

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10:15

Make Gatherings More Engaging ✨

Wonder Tools ·

2026/02/13

The hardest part of teaching — or leading meetings — is sparking engagement. Getting people to engage enthusiastically with something new can be tough. It’s especially challenging if people are overwhelmed, super busy, or just tired. As we aim to stretch people’s thinking in a new direction, tools are just one part of the overall picture. But they can help. Last week I shared five tools for creating learning paths, interactive lessons, and new kinds of digital notebooks. Today’s follow-up

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18:17

Top Teaching Tools for 2026 🏆

Wonder Tools ·

2026/02/06

I tested more than 200 educational sites, apps and services last year. Some were so confusing that I quickly gave up. Others were too costly. A few went out of business. Many were narrowly useful, e.g. for 3D modeling, math, or music.The top tier tools have consistently been super valuable for me — in my teaching, in my job at the City University of New York, and as a dad of two daughters. To save you the time and effort of sifting through the chaff, I’m sharing the ones I find most useful. Even if

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