5 Useful Gadgets To Boost Productivity When Working From Home

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Even though fully remote work is under threat of being replaced by the structured hybrid model, many of us are still working from home at least some of the time. While this offers unmatched flexibility and comfort, it also poses unique challenges related to staying focused and productive. Distractions from family members, the lack of a dedicated workspace, or juggling other responsibilities can make it difficult to get your work done. That’s why we’ve found some useful gadgets that can help you stay productive even at home.

Without the built-in structure of an office, it’s easy to fall into habits that drain your time, blur the line between work and rest, or lead to hours of unfocused multitasking. The right tools can help establish boundaries, encourage healthier routines, and keep you on track throughout the day. Therefore, we’ve rounded up five highly rated gadgets, some award-winning, others backed by expert recommendations, that support a more focused, efficient, and comfortable work-from-home experience. 

Our choices address the key factors of time management, staying motivated, and easing your workflow. So no matter if you’re tackling a long to-do list or hopping from one meeting to another, these devices will support you throughout the day. Rather than just trendy tech gizmos, they’re practical investments in your work and wellbeing.

You’ve probably heard of the Pomodoro technique, which involves working in short sessions of about 25 minutes each and then taking a 5-minute break. It’s thought to help with getting you started on work, maintain efficiency, and reduce stress and anxiety. Moreover, it’s a good way to tackle your tasks while still having time to interact with your loved ones at home. 

While you can use any timer or app to try the Pomodoro technique, the Mindsight Habit Tracker takes things up a notch. This compact cube offers five preset focus‑session timers (including a 25‑minute Pomodoro option) and five guided wellness activities like stretching, breathing, and movement. Rotating the cube to the desired activity instantly starts the timer, delivering a clean, tactile experience that encourages disciplined habits without apps or distractions.

As a fairly new product, it has not garnered a lot of user reviews yet, but we thought it was worth including on this list because of its unique design that’s backed by research and rigorous testing. What sets it apart is the built‑in progress tracking that logs daily streaks, weekly activity, and even awards “levels” as you stay consistent. This gamifies your routine, which can boost motivation as well as add some fun to your day. This unique gadget is priced at $39.95 and can be a game-changer when it comes to maintaining a healthy routine while working from home. 

If you need your caffeine fix to keep going through the day, the Ember Temperature Control Smart Mug has got you covered. Equipped with a heating system and sensors, it maintains your drink at a precise temperature (120 -145 degrees Fahrenheit) that you can select from its app. So, the next time you get caught up in work and realize you forgot about your coffee, you’ll still be able to enjoy it at your preferred optimal temperature. This eliminates the time-sucking interruption of going between the microwave and keyboard.  

The mug comes with a charging dock that’s smartly designed to work as a coaster too. It can keep your drink warm for up to 80  minutes off‑charger and indefinitely when docked on the coaster. There’s also a handy auto-off feature when empty. We love the sleek design consisting of minimalist, ceramic-coated stainless steel. It’s durable and easy to clean for daily use. 

Ranging from $100 to $150 for the 10-ounce variant, this is perhaps the priciest mug you’ll own, but we think it’s worth it for the kind of convenience it adds to your life. It’s earned an average rating of 4.2 out of 5 stars from over 18,000 customer ratings. You can choose from ten beautiful colors to match your style, and it also comes in a travel-friendly tumbler version that was featured in the 2025 GQ Tech Awards. 

AI can now give you a body double to sit in Zoom calls, but we’ve found a device that’s even better than that. The PLAUD Note is a sleek, minimalist device that provides a screen-free way to capture meetings, calls, and brainstorming sessions with AI-powered transcription and summarization. 

Housed in a slim, credit card–sized aluminum body, it slips easily into your pocket or attaches magnetically to your phone so that it’s always within reach when you need it. You can record up to 30 hours on a single charge, and it features an ample storage space of 64GB, which can hold up to 480 hours of recordings. Available for $159, the Plaud Note has earned an average score of 4.5 out of 5 from over 2,000 customer ratings on Amazon. It’s also bagged both a Red Dot Design Award and an IF Design Award.

When you activate your device, you get the Starter Plan, which includes 300 transcription minutes per month. If you need more minutes, you can subscribe to the Pro Plan or purchase more transcription time. It’s equipped with transcription capabilities for 112 languages, and the AI features let you create summaries, meeting minutes, and to-do lists from your recordings. Moreover, the PLAUD App allows you to easily edit and remove unwanted segments from your recordings. You can also import external audio files, and the Speaker Labels function allows you to visually distinguish different speakers within your recordings.

We’re big fans of the Sony XM5 noise-canceling headphones and place them among the best ANC headphones you can currently get. They provide up to 30 hours of playback time on a single charge and also have a quick-charge feature that provides 3 hours of playback with just a 3-minute charge. This makes them perfect for busy days when you’re hopping between meetings or days when your home environment is particularly noisy. 

At $399.99, these headphones are certainly an investment, but worth it in the long run. They’ve got an average rating of 4.3 out of 5 based on over 11,000 customer reviews on Amazon. Many users report that the active noise cancellation almost completely blocks out background sounds. So, whether your partner is speaking on another call nearby or the kids are watching television, these headphones will help keep out the noise so you can focus on work. However, they also have Ambient Mode, which allows you to be aware of your surroundings when you need to. The memory-foam ear cushions finished with soft leather are perfect for all-day comfort. 

The audio experts at Audiophile ON say that the Sony XM5’s “sound quality is still class-leading,” which makes them ideal for calls as well as enjoying your favorite music or meditations. You can connect these headphones to two devices simultaneously, which is great for multitasking. We think they’re a must-have considering how you’ll probably use them every day, no matter where you go. 

It seems like the number of apps we use every day just keeps increasing. If you want a simpler, quicker way to handle repeated actions across different apps, check out the Elgato Mini Stream Deck. It’s a compact control pad featuring six customizable LCD buttons that you can program to launch apps, execute shortcuts, control meetings, trigger macros, or even manage smart-home devices with a single tap. That means it essentially transforms repetitive tasks into one-press actions. So, for instance, with just a tap, you can mute Zoom, open your task tracker, send emails, start a Pomodoro timer, and much more, all without disrupting your workflow. 

This nifty device offers a vibrant marketplace of plugins for apps like Teams, Zoom, PowerPoint, Outlook, Toggl, Spotify, and many more. We appreciate the intuitive software that supports multiple profiles and folders. You can use nested commands and automatic switching based on the currently active app, so that your layout adapts whether you’re writing, presenting, or video calling. Priced at $57.99, this stream deck has earned an impressive rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars from over 7,000 user ratings on Amazon. 

There are plenty of other similar devices in the market, but Elgato stands out with its quality and design. It’s a well-established German company that recently earned a Best of Show award at the prestigious tech show, Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) 2025, for its higher-end Stream Deck Studio device.

Every product in this roundup has been carefully selected based on deep research by our tech experts and genuine user reviews from around the web. We took into account factors like innovation, design awards, expert recommendations, and long-term reliability. Many of these gadgets have received accolades or consistently rank among the top choices in their category. All the products except the fairly new Mindsight Habit Tracker have earned an average of at least 4 out of 5 stars based on a minimum of 1,000 ratings. We’ve hand-picked them after ensuring that they’ve proven their worth in improving productivity for remote workers so that they can offer true value for money.