My Favorite Tech Hacks for 2025

Would you clip a light to an ice bucket to look professional on video? ????

I would (and do!).?

That’s one of my favorite hacks—and this week, I’m sharing some of my other tips for technology and productivity.?

These aren't just theoretical tools—they're solutions to real challenges: How do you look professional when you're presenting from a hotel room? What if there's construction noise next door during your important call? How do you get AI to capture your authentic voice?

From makeshift studios to multi-engine testing, here are some of my favorite solutions.

Eight Solves for 2025?

1?? The Lighting Challenge When I travel, lighting is never as good as my home office setup with its perfectly positioned lights and controlled background. My solution? For quick day trips, I pack a simple portable light. For longer stays, I bring my dual-light setup—two adjustable LED lights that can display different colors. Here's a real travel hack: In hotel rooms where I can't clip lights to the unmovable desk, I secure them to an ice bucket. They fold flat in my suitcase but create a professional portable studio anywhere.

2?? Crystal Clear Audio Great lighting means nothing if people can't hear you clearly. I use Krisp, an AI-powered noise cancellation tool, as my default microphone. While Zoom and Teams now offer decent noise cancellation, Krisp works across all platforms—Zoom, Teams, podcasts on Riverside—eliminating everything from barking dogs to construction noise. It's platform-agnostic, so I never worry about individual program settings.

While I use other tools like Otter AI and Fireflies AI for transcription, I particularly like how Krisp handles meeting summaries. Rather than generating them in real time, it takes the complete transcript and summarizes it afterward. It's a subtle difference, but one I've come to prefer.

3?? The AI Conversation Starter Looking for better AI chats?? Add "Before you start, ask me any clarifying questions you may have" to your prompt. The quality of questions that come back is fascinating—they catch all the things I hadn't considered, just like a thoughtful colleague would ask.

This way of working with AI leads to much better responses because you can fill in gaps before the AI starts working.

4?? Multi-Engine Testing I keep ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity all lined up in my browser tabs. Rather than assuming which will work best, I send the same prompt to all four, including my clarifying questions request. Then I choose based on which asks the most insightful questions. Since these tools constantly evolve, I'm often surprised by which one understands my request best. For important content where I need to go deeper, this comparison approach is invaluable.

5?? Custom AI Partners Custom GPTs on ChatGPT (and similar tools like Claude's Projects) have transformed how I work. Instead of repeatedly explaining my preferences or uploading the same reference materials, I create specialized AI assistants trained on my specific needs:

• A Book-Wise Editor for working with my co-author Katia Walsh. It’s loaded with examples of our writing style and our brand voice
• An Interview Analyzer. It searches thousands of pages of interview transcripts and finds exact timestamps when I need specific examples
• A Functional Medicine Advisor. It contains my lab reports and doctor's notes, helping me track supplement timing and interactions
• An Adventure Travel Planner. It knows my travel preferences and can quickly suggest activities when I have spare time between meetings, drawing from my past itineraries

Having an assistant that already understands my context and preferences has been a game-changer.

6?? From Meeting to Proposal One of my most time-consuming tasks used to be writing proposals after client meetings. Now I've developed a system that makes it much more efficient: I feed the meeting transcript into AI along with my standard format (problem statement, situation analysis, proposal details) and specific requirements like timeline options. By giving it both the conversation transcript and examples of previous similar proposals, I get a solid first draft that captures all key points while maintaining consistency.

7?? Time-Saving Shortcuts I use Text Blaze for all those phrases I type repeatedly. Here's what I've automated:

• My upcoming book title
• My LinkedIn address for filling out forms
• Calendar links for scheduling
• A thoughtful "my plate is full" response for requests I need to decline
• That crucial AI clarifying questions prompt

Having these snippets ready means no more retyping or risking typos in important links. I activate them with simple forward-slash commands, like "/clarify" for my AI prompt.

8?? Bridging the Platform Gap One of my biggest challenges has been connecting LinkedIn conversations with my CRM. LinkedIn Navigator felt like overkill for my needs, but I needed a way to track relationships across platforms. Using HubLead, I can now easily sync LinkedIn conversations to my CRM, HubSpot. When I'm in a LinkedIn message, it simply asks if I want to add the contact and sync messages. While it requires manual confirmation, it's far easier than trying to recreate conversations later. This has transformed how I maintain relationship context across different platforms.

These tech hacks have transformed the way I work. They’re also deeply personal—what works for me might not work for everyone. The key is experimenting and exploring until you find what fits your workflow.

If this information was helpful, there’s plenty more! Sign up for updates and early access to my upcoming book, co-authored with Katia Walsh, which is all about creating a winning generative AI strategy.

Catch my most recent webinars:

“Unlocking The Power of Generative AI.” I explain how to set up a generative AI “playground,” three ways to elevate your leadership with step-by-step instructions, and the broad outlines of creating a strategy. Get the recording and slides here.

“Developing a Winning Generative AI Strategy for Competitive Advantage.” I walk through the steps needed to create a cohesive AI strategy that will last. Get the recording and slides here.?

Your Turn What are your favorite tech hacks? I'd love to hear about the tools and approaches you're using—they might help others too!