Life as an unmarried grad student/SEO guy allows me to be pretty mobile.  A long time ago I decided to live by the adage “Never leave the house without a book.”  My list has grown to the following essentials.  If you work remotely, or are a student, or just wish you could spend more time out and about, here are a few things you’ll absolutely need.

1. Macbook Air
   I switched to the MacBook Air from a MacBook Pro about 6 months ago and have never looked back.  It’s beautiful, incredibly fast and super light.  I chose a 13″, mainly because of the longer battery life, but the 11″ is just as good.  Don’t let the bells and whistles of the MacBook Pro fool you.  Unless you are a professional video editor, the Air is all you need.
2. A Quality Bag
   The essential parts of my lifestyle and career deserve a good home.  I’m thrilled Mamba Courier Booq I got for Christmas. It looks great, has just the right number of pockets, an easily adjustable “seatbelt” style belt and is water resistant.
3. Moleskine
   So essential, I actually carry two.  One is for journaling, ranting and doodling.  The other is for taking notes and creating To Do lists.
4. Kindle
   When it comes to having a book at all times, Kindle is the best way to go.  Two best practices:
   -Always have two books loaded.  I suggest one serious reading and one throw away novel.  The worst thing is to find yourself in an airport terminal, and finish the last line of your only book.  It helps if you have prepared a Reading List.
   -Schedule time to charge your Kindle once a week, just in case.
5. Pocket Bible
   I’ve extended the goal of “never leave the house without a book” to include “never leave the house without a Bible.”  I have a small NIV (2011) that I try to keep with me at all times.  I want to be one of those guys who has a beautiful marked up copy of the scriptures, and I hope by keeping this with me, I will be someday.
6. Headphones
   Whatever you do, don’t leave the house without headphones!  You never know know when you’ll get stuck with the Mimosa girls yapping about nothing next to you at the coffee shop, or be given a mindless task at work.  There are a few things I don’t even get out of bed without, and one of them is headphones.  Start saving up today for a nice pair: something comfortable enough to wear for hours, that provides a quality of sound that you can listen to for awhile.
7. iPhone To be more specific, I should say “audio content delivered by iPhone.”  I would be lost without my constant stream of audiobooks from my Audible app and a good podcast app.  Hours of commuting, mindless labor and things like cooking and cleaning become opportunities to learn.

What do you have with you when you leave the house?

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I started listening to podcasts.  It started with some of my favorite preachers, then NPR shows I never could seem to catch on a regular basis, but that wasn’t enough.  That’s when I came upon Audible.  John Maxwell introduced me to business and leadership books, and Malcolm Gladwell gave me a taste for psychology and sociology.  For a few years I had the two book a month subscription, by which I ventured into theology and history.

Having developed a taste for nonfiction, I have found myself reading (even with my eyes) fiction and literary non-fiction most of the time.  While, I still devour an embarrassing number of Star Wars novels, my interests have broadened.

These days I don’t listen to much music.  Each week I listen to about 10-12 podcasts and at least one audiobook a month.  I’m not bragging: if nothing else, it’s testimony to how nerdy I am.  But I am thankful, because audiobooks have given me a chance to do more of something I love: learn.

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