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If you're reading this, you already know about Black Friday as a shopping event. What you may not know is how much work goes into making sure you don't have to endlessly scroll through pages of false deals and marketing nonsense to get to the things that are actually worth buying.
As a junior writer, I was obsessed with tech and sharing what I thought was cool with the world. Black Friday was a great time to upgrade something in my house for cheap. Now, 15 years of experience later, I am CNET's Director of Shopping Content because I like making sure our audience is able to spend money on things that will actually improve their lives.
To make that happen, my team and I spend the entire month of November preparing for this event. Here are a couple of things I rely on to make it through the month intact.
1. Caffeine
There are many flavors of Alani Nu I like, but the holiday versions are always a fun treat.
Russell Holly / CNETYou'd be hard-pressed to find a tech writer who isn't at least a little caffeine-obsessed, and we've all got deep opinions on what the best way to get caffeinated is. I'm not really a coffee person, which means most days you'll find me at my desk with a cup of tea. For Black Friday, however, I need something a little stronger.
I am personally a fan of Alani Nu energy drinks, and this time of year, there's usually a holiday flavor to enjoy. This year it's called Winter Wonderland, and it tastes like cranberry and sugar plums. These cans are 200mg each, so if you don't usually consume a lot of caffeine, be careful.
2. A good pair of headphones
You won't usually find me at my desk without my headphones on, but I tend to work weird hours this time of year, so my headphones become even more important. If I'm working while my partner is asleep, there's a good chance I have The Lord of the Rings on in the background while the Roku app sends the audio straight to my ears. I get to enjoy the background ambience of my favorite movie trilogy, and no one else in the house ever hears a thing.
Our headphone expert, David Carnoy, spends most of his waking hours thinking about what makes a good pair of headphones and maintains an excellent list of which ones he recommends. Personally, I enjoy my JBL Tune One M2 headphones for this kind of thing. I find them comfortable enough to wear all day, the battery life is fantastic, and they sound great for the kinds of things I regularly listen to.
As it happens, these are 50% off at Walmart right now.
3. Healthier snacking
While my younger self would be perfectly happy with a big bag of chips from the shop down the street and a late-night meal courtesy of DoorDash, which is fine every now and then, I found myself wanting something that was quick, tasty, and not terrible for me. Last year, I solved this with boxes of mac and cheese from Goodles, because they've got a fair bit of protein in them and there's a great selection of flavors. Toss some diced tomatoes and your protein of choice into a bowl of the Cacio e Pepe flavor and you've got a solid meal at 2 a.m. Ask me how I know.
This year, the Goodles folks have released individual-serving mac and cheese cups in a couple of flavors. That means now I save even more time and don't have to think about portions and clean up, but I've sacrificed nothing in terms of flavor and nutritional value. And at $2 per cup, it has quickly become a great option for me.
4. Audiobooks
I love a good podcast, and you've already read about my willingness to watch movies through my headphones. But the thing I listen to the most throughout the day, whether I'm at my desk or in the gym or just on a walk to the grocery store, is a good audiobook. Just about any genre is cool with me, but audiobooks with a full voice cast will catch my attention faster than most things. I'm currently working my way through the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, which has been a wild change of pace after listening to The Empyrean series.
I like to get a fair bit of my audiobooks through my local library, but if the waiting list is particularly long for a book, I'll usually turn to Audible. Right now, there's a deal for new subscribers, offering $1 per month for the first three months and a $20 credit to spend as you see fit. That's four audiobooks for $3, which is a great way to spend $3, if you ask me.
5. Board games
When I'm not at my desk this time of year, I tend to stay away from screens more often than I otherwise would. Instead of picking up the controller for a few well-earned laps in Mario Kart World on my Switch 2, I'm more likely to pick up a new board game and invite a couple of friends to play with me. It's rarely a bad idea, and a great way for someone who works remotely to mentally separate work and home time when working atypical hours.
My colleague James Bricknell has an incredible list of his favorite board games, which I can't recommend enough. Right now though, I've really enjoyed playing Elizabeth Hargrave's Wingspan. It's a slower-paced strategy game with beautiful art and can be played by just about anyone in a little over an hour. I reach for this game quite a bit and likely will continue to do so until Hargrave's next game, Sanibel, drops in January.
