You Need A Budget is a cult favorite budgeting app for a reason—it works. The app and its simple 4-rule method will change the way you think about money and get you laser focused to live the life you want. With You Need A Budget, you’ll finally experience clarity: you’ll know your average grocery spending down to the cent and have all the data points you need for making informed financial decisions. With all that information at your fingertips, you can finally home in on buying that dream house, paying off that last debt, or setting yourself up to retire early. And the You Need A Budget team offers daily, free, live classes—including video courses, bootcamps, and challenges—as well as active fan groups in every corner of the internet.

Wealthfront pioneered the automated investing movement, sometimes referred to as ‘robo-advising,’ and they currently oversee $28 billion of assets for their clients. It takes about three minutes to sign up, and then Wealthfront will build you a globally diversified portfolio of ETFs based on your risk appetite and manage it for you at an incredibly low cost. Smart investing should not feel like a rollercoaster ride. Let the professionals do the work for you.

Shopify is one of my favorite platforms and one of my favorite companies. Shopify is a platform designed for anyone to sell anywhere, giving entrepreneurs the resources once reserved for big business. In no time flat, you can have a great looking online store that brings your ideas to life, and you can have the tools to manage your day-to-day and drive sales. No coding or design experience required. More than a store, Shopify grows with you, and they never stop innovating, providing more and more tools to make your business better and your life easier.

Do you sell stuff online? Then you know what a pain the shipping process is. ShipStation was created to make your life easier. Whether you’re selling on eBay, Amazon, Shopify, or over 100 other popular selling channels, ShipStation lets you access all of your orders from one simple dashboard, and it works with all of the major shipping carriers, locally and globally, including FedEx, UPS, and USPS.

Secureframe’s industry-leading compliance automation platform, paired with their in-house compliance experts and former auditors, helps you get audit-ready in weeks, not months, so you can close more deals faster. Secureframe simplifies and streamlines the process of getting and staying compliant to the most rigorous global privacy and security standards. They help thousands of businesses achieve compliance with security and privacy frameworks including SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, PCI, and GDPR.

With MasterClass, you can learn from the world’s best minds—anytime, anywhere, and at your own pace. Offering more than 180 classes from a range of world-class instructors, that thing you’ve always wanted to do is closer than you think. MasterClass’s cinema-quality lessons give you unparalleled access to renowned instructors, who share everything from how to execute specific techniques to insights about their craft that can be translated across many fields and disciplines.

LinkedIn Marketing Solutions is the go-to tool for B2B marketers and advertisers who want to drive brand awareness, generate leads, or build long-term relationships that result in real business impact. With a community of more than 950 million professionals, LinkedIn is gigantic, but it can be hyper-specific. You have access to a diverse group of people all searching for things they need to grow professionally. LinkedIn has the marketing tools to help you target your customers with precision, right down to job title, company name, industry, etc.

HEY is “a beautiful rethinking of everything wrong with email,” according to my friend Kevin Rose. It’s a premium email service for people who are tired of having an inbox overflowing with things they don’t care about and who value their privacy and online security. For almost two decades, email has remained unchanged, soulless, chaotic, and borderline abusive, with inboxes packed with emails from people that you don’t care about, full of intrusive trackers, and all framed by a multitude of ads that watch your every move. That’s why HEY made the Imbox (where Important things go). With HEY, emails never land in your Imbox by default. You get to screen senders the first time they email you and decide if you want to hear from them or not.

For over ten years, GiveWell.org has helped donors find the charities and projects that save and improve lives most per dollar. Here’s how: GiveWell dedicates over twenty thousand hours a year to researching charitable organizations and hand-picks a few of the highest-impact, evidence-backed charities. Since 2010, GiveWell has helped over 50,000 donors direct over 500 million dollars to the most effective charities. Most importantly, these donations will save over 75,000 lives and improve the lives of millions more. This year, support the charities that save and improve lives most, with GiveWell.

I’ve been talking about FreshBooks—an all-in-one invoicing + payments + accounting solution—for years now. Many entrepreneurs, as well as the contractors and freelancers that I work with, use it all the time. FreshBooks makes it super easy to track things like expenses, project time, and client info and then merge it all into great-looking invoices. FreshBooks can save users up to 200 hours a year on accounting and bookkeeping tasks.

I have used Audible for many years now. I love it. Audible has the largest selection of audiobooks on the planet. I listen when I’m taking walks, I listen while I’m cooking… I listen whenever I can.

99designs is the global creative platform that makes it easy for designers and clients to work together to create designs they love. Its creative process has become the go-to solution for businesses, agencies, and individuals, and I have used it for years to help with display advertising and illustrations and to rapid-prototype the cover for The Tao of Seneca. Whether your business needs a logo, website design, business card, or anything you can imagine, check out 99designs. You can work with multiple designers at once to get a bunch of different ideas or hire the perfect designer for your project based on their style and industry specialization. It’s simple to review concepts and leave feedback so you’ll end up with a design that you’re happy with.

You have roughly 80,000 hours in your career. That’s 40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year for 40 years. They add up and are one of your biggest opportunities, if not the biggest opportunity, to make a positive impact on the world. Some of the best strategies, best research, and best tactical advice I’ve seen and heard come from 80,000 Hours, a nonprofit co-founded by Will MacAskill, an Oxford philosopher and a popular past guest on this podcast. If you’re looking to make a big change to your direction, address pressing global problems from your current job, or if you’re just starting out or maybe starting a new chapter and not sure which path to pursue, 80,000 Hours can help.

What to do for cellular data when traveling overseas? For a while, my answer was the app GigSky, but on a recent trip abroad, I had all sorts of problems, so I posted a plea for help on social media. Special thanks to Noah Kagan (@noahkagan) and everyone else who responded to my query in this Twitter thread. Airalo was extremely easy to use and did the trick. To avoid expensive roaming bills when traveling abroad and using data, you can install the Airalo app (iOS, Android) and buy a local eSIM. In minutes, you will have data at an affordable price. The app might be easiest, but I personally did something slightly different: I visited their website on my laptop and then took a pic of the QR code with my phone. Here’s the official description: “Airalo is the world’s first eSIM store that solves the pain of high roaming bills by giving you access to 200+ eSIMs (digital SIM cards) globally at affordable prices."

App I’m exploring — Kevin Rose (@KevinRose) originally created Zero in 2016, and it is now the most popular fasting app in the world. It has millions of downloads and 4.9 out of 5 stars on the Apple App Store with 268,000+ ratings. Dr. Peter Attia (@PeterAttiaMD), one of my go-to doctors for anything performance- or longevity-related, is co-founder and chief medical officer. He is the person I call for fasting advice, and now Zero gives access to that same advice. For a short sample Q&A on fasting with Peter, click here. They recently released Zero Plus, an upgrade for power users that I’m now using: “Your personal fasting coach, Zero Plus, is complete with expert resources and custom fasting plans that evolve with you over time—you’ll be equipped with knowledge and motivation to stay on the fast track.” You can download and test the app here: iOS, Android.

You Need A Budget is a cult favorite budgeting app for a reason—it works. Many of my podcast guests are fans of this app, and many users literally have “YNAB” somewhere in their license plates to celebrate things like buying a car for cash, paying off all debt, etc. The app and its simple 4-rule method will change the way you think about money and get you laser focused to live the life you want. With You Need A Budget, you’ll finally experience clarity: you’ll know your average grocery spending down to the cent and have all the data points you need for making informed financial decisions. With all that information at your fingertips, you can finally focus on buying that dream house, paying off the last of your debt, or setting yourself up for early retirement. Last but not least, the You Need A Budget team offers daily, free, live classes—including video courses, bootcamps, and challenges—in addition to active fan groups in every corner of the Internet. Try the app free for 34 days (no credit card required) at YouNeedABudget.com/Tim.

App I’m experimenting with — Description: “The WeCroak app is inspired by a Bhutanese folk saying: to be a happy person, one must contemplate death five times daily.” This app sends you five prompts per day to stop and think about death, each complete with a related quote. I love how social sharing is disabled. Thank you to Josh T. and Matt M. for the recommendation.

App I’m using daily - Sam Harriss Mediation App meditation app. I absolutely love this app and have recommended it to nearly all of my closest friends. I was a beta tester for months and provided feedback, but I have no stake in it whatsoever. What makes it different? This app offers a guided meditation progression that builds multiple skills as you move from one class to the next. It’s a logical sequence, instead of a collection of ad-hoc readings. Sam has succeeded at producing a world-class program for mind training, IMHO.

Hiring can be hard, but it doesn’t need to be. LinkedIn Jobs makes finding the right hire as seamless as possible. Post your job in minutes using your own job description or one of their easy-to-use templates, and LinkedIn will target your job post to qualified candidates to ensure every applicant is the best fit possible. Review, contact, and keep track of every candidate on one simple screen. Visit LinkedIn.com/Tim to post your job for free. Get started today at LinkedIn.com/Tim. Terms and conditions apply.

AI tool I’m paying attention to. This tech could have a huge impact on leveling the moviemaking playing field. Advisors and investors include Steven Spielberg and Founders Fund, and the company was co-founded by Nikola Todorovic and Tye Sheridan. From the demo on YouTube: “An AI tool that automatically animates, lights, and composes CG characters into a live-action scene. No complicated 3D software, no expensive production hardware—all you need is a camera.” Here is a two-minute video taste of the tech.

Tool I’m really enjoying. Finally started playing with Procreate. This is my first attempt at a quick, original piece. My old friend Bacchus was kind enough to pose. I still have a LOT to learn, and I’m awkward with the tools, but it makes me really happy to start sketching again. Anyone have any favorite video tutorials for Procreate out there? If so, please do let me know in the comments here.

Another tool I’m enjoying — During quarantine and social distancing, my kitchen table has become my office. Last week, it was covered in notes, to-do lists, bills, and various scraps of paper. Clutter causes me undue stress, and, for me, a clear desk is often a clear mind, so I used Scannable to scan it all. It was a glorious little win. Kevin Rose (@KevinRose) first recommended Scannable to me. It quickly scans documents while cleaning up the pic, removing shadows, etc., and generally making it easier to read. Once scanned, you can email a PDF to yourself or save the scan to Evernote.

App I'm loving. Want an incredible rotating view of the QL or any other muscle you can imagine? Check out the Essential Anatomy 5 app for iOS and Android (note: some reviewers report the app crashing on Android). Monster drummer Dave Elitch shared this with me, and I’ve been nerding out ever since. For a taste of its capabilities, check out this short YouTube tutorial.

I love my newest MacBook, but I sometimes run into a problem: no matter how I fuss with settings (System Preferences), my display will inexplicably sleep and stop things like Dropbox from syncing. It’s a real hassle, especially when uploading large audio files. My brother ran into a similar problem when running programs that take hours to execute, and he found an app called Caffeine that fixed the problem. To my dismay, Caffeine had been discontinued by the developer, but I found a similar app to fill the void: Amphetamine! Hilarious. The app has also worked like a charm. Here’s the description: “Welcome to Amphetamine, the most awesome keep-awake app ever created for macOS. Amphetamine can keep your Mac, and optionally its display(s), awake through a super simple on/off switch, or automatically through easy-to-configure Triggers. Amphetamine is extremely powerful and includes advanced features for those who need them, yet remains intuitive and easy-to-use for those who don’t need all of the bells and whistles.”

I’ve been looking for a lightweight text2voice solution for listening to articles, blog posts, essays, etc., and I just started experimenting with Matter. It’s remarkably simple, and there are a handful of voices to choose from. Here’s the official description: “Matter pulls everything you want to read into one beautiful place. With powerful tools, curation, seamless audio and more, we’re building a reader for today’s internet.” It was originally put on my radar by M.G. Siegler, who is an investor. Since I’m old-school and also still use Evernote, if anyone has an Evernote-native solution or simple workaround, or other dead-simple text2voice solutions, please let me know by sending a tweet to @tferriss.

This is the world’s most popular language-learning app and for good reason. More Americans are learning languages on their phones with Duolingo than in the entire US public school system. I’ve used it for multiple languages, and I’m now using it 20 minutes a day for Korean. This has been the easiest to stick with, now that I’m back in the US and running around. I’m also one of their early investors, so I might seem biased, but I canvassed everything in the language-learning world at the time, and Duolingo was my sole bet, as the approach made perfect sense to me, and their beta testers were rabid fans. More than three million people have used Duolingo every day (365 days unbroken) in the last year.

New AI tools I’ve been playing with nonstop: Udlo and Suno. Here’s one of many prompts from Suno: “Heavy metal song about panicked polar bears that eat too much edible cannabis on New Year’s Eve.” It produced two song variations about 90 seconds later, and the quality was unbelievable. This AI-music arms race is heating up fast, and it’s also straining under the explosive demand. When I tried to use Suno for this bullet, it was freezing and producing errors, so I tried a competitor named Udio for the first time. I was up and running in seconds. From coverage in Tom’s Guide: “The brainchild of former Google DeepMind engineers, the [Udio] platform has already drawn both investment and attention from parts of the music community, including [will.i.am](http://will.i.am/) and Common.” I used this prompt: “an upbeat reggaeton song about a newsletter named 5-Bullet Friday that brings joy like a bathtub full of puppies” Click here for the song it created in about 90 seconds, which I then extended. https://www.udio.com/songs/bhmhExfKbjrhnBZYW1gSLi It’s unreal. I suspect some of you will also get a laugh out of the cover art, which I generated on the platform with “Tim Ferriss in a bathtub full of puppies.” Click the heart, and perhaps it’ll trend. :) You could throw a lot of these AI songs on a sound system at a party tonight, and no one would raise an eyebrow. My song is in Spanish, but the English lyrics via Google Translate are below. It sounds a lot better in Spanish! The “extend” function could use some work blending the segments, but it is already a mind-blowing experience: The newsletter that lights up the week, joy Five bullets that wake me up every day, every day Like puppies playing, they make me smile, smile Bathtub full of joy, there is no better breeze, that breeze Their stories carry us, every Friday is a party 5-Bullet Friday, the joy it injects you Fresh news arrives, Friday is ready, oh yes With each bullet, my heart bursts, bursts Rhythm in words, like a complete, complete party 5-Bullet Friday, is the spark that resonates and connects Under the Friday sun, the vibration does not stop Five pure moments, drive away sadness Once again, here’s the link to listen. And if the links are down for some reason, I downloaded my creation, so here’s a backup version. Mere moments after making the above, I got the warning “Due to heavy load, generations are much slower than usual. We’re working hard to improve performance.” The race goes to the swift!

You can see my screen in the photo and the message I had for myself when I was working on Tools of Titans back in 2016. Momentum Dash is outstanding, but you’ll likely end up paying for it. My close friend found a free alternative with basic functionality, and it gets the bare-bones job done: New Tab Random Quote.