5 Nifty Gadgets That Will Make Your Winter Life Easier

"Winter is coming" sounds ominous enough if you've seen Game of Thrones. Winter in Delhi-NCR, or anywhere else in the country, is worse. Cold, smog, pollution and chilly head winds make life difficult. However, since we don't live in a fictional winter where we'd be relegated to furs and hearth fires, let's talk about some nifty gadgets and tech that will make your office life and commute that much easier.

Run of the mill coffee mugs lose heat rapidly, meaning you're forced to either drink tepid coffee or keep making trips to the coffee machine. Enter Ember Mug 2. Instead of sitting on a basic heating pad, the mug itself contains an internal heating system and sensors. Controlled via a smartphone app, it maintains exact drinking temperature down to the degree for up to 80 minutes off the coaster or all day on it. With a sliding lid (sold separately), you can double the standard battery life when you are on-the-go.

Price: ₹18,000 (approx.)

Whether you work from home or in the office, heaters and central HVAC heating strip moisture from the air, causing dry eyes during monitor use and skin irritation. Unlike ultrasonic humidifiers that leave mineral dust on dark wood desks and create visible mist, this product uses invisible evaporative matrix filters to silently humidify rooms up to 50 square metres. The best part is that it will take care of those pesky dry coughs and your blocked nose, too.

Price: ₹57,000 (approx.)

I don't know about you, but I hate it when I reach work with my hands and chest all frozen up. It takes me 20 minutes and a strong coffee just to get my mind space from survival to work mode. Enter the solution. The Gerbing heated vest is an actively warmed piece of clothing which brings you world-class heating performance with five microwire-powered heating zones: one on the collar, two on the chest and two on the back that provide you with maximum warmth in seconds. While it requires additional components (sold separately), it's made of water-resistant rip-stop nylon, which is, in all honesty, a life-saver for professionals who ride to work or just aren't okay with how the office handles its cooling.

Price: ₹39,000 (approx.)

According to estimates, between 10 to 45 million people in India suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder, a type of depression primarily triggered by changes in natural daylight and extreme weather, which affects serotonin and melatonin levels, disturbing mood and sleep patterns, respectively. During winters, shorter days, fog and lack of sunlight compound this problem. A good solution is Verilux HappyLight Tumi Plus. It's a bright white LED therapy lamp rated to 10,000 Lux that mimics natural daylight indoors. The ultra-thin tablet light comes with a detachable stand and wall mount design, portable to use in your home and on-the-go. It's perfect for dealing with insomnia, sunlight deprivation and shift work.

Price: ₹8,000 (approx.)

If you think you are safe from the curse of winter pollution at your workplace because the glass windows keep out the smog and there are a couple of air purifiers running here and there at random points in the office, you are mistaken. In fact, in winter pollution spikes and closed windows create poor indoor air quality that drain energy. A desktop air purifier from Avari targets your breathing zone, not the entire room. Its electrostatic filters capture particles down to 0.1 microns. And the best thing is that its ultra quite operation won't distract you during work.

Price: ₹15,000 (approx.)