Ask Lemmy

If you're looking for an outlet, why not project shop with the aim of making something?

This gives you the opportunity geek out on the gadgets you'll need to pull off whatever you want to make. More importantly, the journey will continue post purchase as chase the thing you want to make.

You can make both digital and physical stuff. With things like CAD, Arduino/Raspberry PI, and IoT you can also blend the two pretty easily.

A very low key example might be a small garden. I've put a bit of time/effort into my seed stating setup, including designing and printing parts for my lighting rig. It seems like the setup iterates a bit every year. In addition, every year I spend a decent amount of time thinking about what I want to grow this year and then diving seed catalogues to find some new-to-me verity of something I've grown before.

You can also design from-scratch speakers and go as far down that rabbit hole as you want to - buy vs build (kit) vs design the amplifier, ditto for the actual speaker, etc.

/a person who likes making things

I carry a spare usb stick and some low-capacity microsd cards, because sometimes its just easier to hand someone a file the old fashioned way.

Sometimes I do play games on my phone, but whenever possible I use a usb or bluetooth gamepad, because touchscreens aren't supplanting buttons any time soon.

And of course the Steam Deck is my favorite gizmo, not just because it can run every PC and emulator game, but also because it doesn't have any bullshit preventing me from installing mods. If phone modding was easy and accessible i'd be willing to spend more on a phone.

Books.

The kindle app might be convenient but it's shit compared to an actual book.

Not electronic, but definitely a (set of) gadgets: a compact set of tools. Specifically, I carry a Wera Tool Check, but most any multi-tool with bits and adapters will do, e.g. the old Gerber Diesel with the bit set and carrier.

Regarding useful and reliable, it's Wera, so high quality, and I've saved so much bacon (including my own) with this kit.

I’ve been very stressed lately and have been doing some window shopping to calm down

Not to minimize your distress but surely there are less wasteful ways of letting off steam than buying a gadget that you didn't know you needed.