In a similar vein, lightweight everything is really important to me as quality of life, as a skinny lightweight Asian person who has a lot lower strength than the average American.
After going through many different brands of sneakers as I grew up (all your usual brands like Nike, Adidas, Reebok, Converse, etc.), I've settled on Big5's Denali (low-cut) hiking shoes. It's both cheap in price and cheaply built, so it does worn out every couple of years and I have to get new ones; but it's the most lightweight and comfortable (for the shape of my feet) shoes I've worn. Similarly, for pants and jackets I've settled on Uniqlo, jogging jeans (looks like jeans but feels like sweat pants, and is very inexpensive), ultralight down for jacket.
I'm also a mech keyboard and ergonomic mouse guy (along with good ergonomic office chair, earphones, etc.), but I would say those purchases don't even come close to all the other things I mentioned above, in terms of qualify of life effects.
- Mechanical Keyboard
- Ergonomic Mouse
- A decent pair of headphones. If you enjoy listening music or watching shows using headphones, a good set can make a big difference.
- Two monitor setup for working/wasting time on my computer. Improves posture and it's more comfortable that using just one monitor+laptop since they probably are different size/resolution.
- A big water bottle. I wasn't drinking enough water and always forgot to drink more. So now I just fill up my bottle every morning and take it with me to work.
- This book: "The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living". A ton of good short lessons on how to live.
I never paid much attention to my bed and typically bought a less expensive mattress. My last one was a quite firm memory foam mattress that was definitely firm, but I didn't think much about it and just thought I was generally a light sleeper. I also really looked forward to sleeping in hotels for the nicer bedding. I just didn't know better.
When we moved earlier this year we spent some $$$ and bought a new king mattress, mattress pad, pillows and sheets. It's made all the difference. I sleep through the night with less tossing and turning, and I'm less achy and stiff in the morning. It's been a whole new world and I love the new bed.
The only downside is that it's ruined me for hotels now. I'd say 90% of hotels I've stayed in this year don't even come close to our bed at home. Even in the higher end places like the St. Regis or Edition.
Spend the money and buy a nice bed.
Also, AirPods made a big difference in dealing with my commute. The wires on my other headphones got in the way all the time and seemed to get tangled just by virtue of existing.