For quite some time I've used a 3M Privacy Filter for my laptop screen. It keeps prying eyes from my seatmates away (useful when I'm doing things like studying budgets, dealing with personnel reviews, etc. on planes).
The problem is that these privacy filters get scratched up over time since they rub up against my laptop keyboard (to a lesser degree, my laptop screen got keyboard-shaped scratches and wear marks even before I used the privacy screen).
Last year, I came up with a lifehack that helps prevent this. 
I used that rubberized shelf liner stuff to make a pad to go between my keyboard and the screen. It not only adds a bit more cushion to protect the screen, it also prevents those scratches (click the picture for an enlarged view).
- Pick a color that coordinates with your laptop, so you can be truly fashionable.
- Cut a rectangular section to fit within the outer bounds of your screen (you can use scissors for this, or I like to use the paper cutter at my office).
- Place it in between the keyboard and the screen when you close your laptop.
Voila - you prolong the life of your screen at a very low cost.
By the way - I previously had a black sheet of this, but I lost several of them because I'd forget about them on dark planes. I switched to the lighter shade you see in the picture and haven't lost one in a while.
Read MoreAs a very frequent flyer, I wanted to share a best practice I picked up from a friend of mine, John Palazza. After noticing that John always had a bottle of hand sanitizer with him, I realized this small idea 
would be handy to get rid of traveler germs as I made my way through airports and other places where the unwashed masses may gather.
I have seen the following things on planes and in airports:
- very grungy airline tray tables that haven't been wiped in who-knows-how-long
- people leaving public restrooms without washing their hands (not me, I assure you)
- people of all ages coughing and sneezing all over the place
- other things I'd rather not mention
I then see people eat off those airline tray tables.
I believe this is why I have always had at least one good bout of flu or something more exotic every year. For example, I caught German measles (aka Rubella) after a flight full of coughers about 3 years ago - apparently my childhood vaccine didn't work the way it should've.
But that didn't happen this year! I've been using John's little trick since last summer, and I've now officially made it through a season of heavy winter travel without getting the flu, or even a cold. I attribute it to the wondrous anti-germ powers of my travel-size Purell hand sanitizer, complete with its own handy little rubber harness that allows me to attach it to my briefcase.
I then sanitize my hands before and after meal and beverage service on the flight, and when I get off the plane.
If you travel a lot, why not give it a try? John puts the "Pal" in Palazza.
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