Five months ago, I was en route to my older brother’s wedding. While leaving the hotel and getting into the car, I realized I didn’t have my wallet. Positive I’d grabbed it from the hotel room—this was A PROBLEM.

But then? It wasn’t.

I pulled up the Tile app and chimed the tag in my wallet. In moments, I heard it chime back—from literally underneath the car. My wallet had fallen from my tux pants and bounced behind the front tire as I entered the vehicle.

Given THAT location, it would’ve taken me hours (if ever?) to find my wallet. Tile got me to my brother's wedding on time—and in the right frame of mind to give a best man’s speech.

Research shows investments that save us time create greater levels of happiness than simply buying something nice for ourselves. (Source)

Now consider the following statistic: The average American spends 2.5 days per year searching for misplaced or lost items. (Source)

The solution? A smart tracking device that quickly locates over 3 million items per day.

INTRODUCING TILE

Tile Mate Essentials ($79.99) is a 4-pack of Tile’s best-selling smart tracking devices. The bundle includes:

• 2 Tile Mates (used for my keys and passport holder)
• 1 Tile Slim (in my wallet)
• 1 Tile Sticker (on my AirPods case)

You can also buy individual trackers or upgrade to Tile Pro for additional features, like extended Bluetooth range and replaceable batteries. I use Tile Mate Essentials, which appears to be the best bang for our buck.

Sidenote: In April 2020, Apple released a rival product, AirTag. You might prefer AirTag if you’re in the Apple ecosystem. However, AirTag doesn’t have buttons on its trackers that let you reverse-chime a lost phone (a Tile feature I love).

SUPERHUMAN SCORING

Get to know the evaluation system.

Impact (8.0/10)

Unfun fact: “Americans collectively spend a whopping $2.7 billion every year—two-thirds of us spending up to $50 yearly—simply replacing the items they can’t find.” (Source)

Maybe participants lost track of their expenses too? I spent WAY MORE in the 3 years before owning Tile. Not to mention the opportunity cost (of time) searching for lost items.

Tile gets a solid 8/10 for Impact. It may not revolutionize your personal development. But, in aggregate, these “small” life systems add up.

Btw, Tile makes for a stellar present (which is how I first discovered the product). Whenever Tile saves my day, I instantly feel gratitude towards my girlfriend.

Setup (9.0/10)

Setup is fast: Download the Tile app (Apple | Android). Pair with Bluetooth. Place Tile on chosen item(s). Done.

Now for a couple of pro setup tips…

Pro Tip #1: Add Tile to the most frequently misplaced items that steal your time. Here are some stats on the top lost items—percentages show research participants who lost items at least once per week (Source):

• Remote control (45%)
• Phones (33%)
• Car and house keys (28%)
• Glasses (27%)
• Shoes (24%)
• Wallets and purses (20%)

Pro Tip #2: Use a virtual assistant (like Amazon’s Alexa) for hands-free locating. Activate Tile in Alexa Skills.

Maintenance (9.0/10)

Productivity is a simple equation: Productivity = Value Created / Time Invested.

With Tile, it’s set it and forget it. This means putting a near-zero for time invested while creating value (of reclaimed time). In other words, the productivity returns are theoretically exponential.

One caveat: Tile Essentials has a 3-year non-replaceable battery life (covering you during your come-up). Tile Pro has a 1-year replaceable battery.

Aesthetics (8.5/10)

Sleek, subtle, minimalist. My type of tech.

Did I say slim? Tile Mate is about the width of four quarters (Tile Slim is about one).

They’re water-resistant and have a Bluetooth-finding range of 250 ft. Use your phone to see your Tile’s most recent location on a map if outside this range.

Great in-app design: Tile’s 4.8 stars (with 510k reviews) in Apple’s App Store reflects my own experience. Well done, Tile team.

BRINGING IT HOME

There are rare purchases in our lives that signify the true meaning of materialism—items that make a material difference in the quality of our lives. They’re the purchases that give us time, rather than take it.

Tile joins an exclusive list of Superhuman-scored products with a robust 8.45/10.

All systems go,

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Resources

• Newsletter Archive: Read past issues of All Systems Go
• Energy Dashboard: Get an under-the-hood look at my self-tracking metrics for energy management (updated weekly)
• [Quick Win] Phone Charger Challenge: Save 60 hours every year with this simple morning hack