Everything Else
How To: Reframe "But" to Share Criticism More Kindly
There's perhaps no statement more classic (and more annoying) than the "but" sentence. We've all heard it before: "I love you, but..."
How To: Improve Your Mood to Increase Brain Power
We've all heard the cliches: always look at the glass as half full; a smile can change your entire day; and there's always a silver lining.
How To: Woke Up Before Your Alarm? Stay Awake, Don't Go Back to Sleep
There's nothing more jarring than the sound of your morning alarm. Even hearing it on others' phones, hours after your own abrupt wakeup, can cause you to flinch in fear. Though we depend on that shrill sound to get up each morning, it's actually better to wake up naturally—so don't even think about hitting that snooze button.
How To: Spot a Heavy Drinker with Eye Contact
Did you know that your face shows others how much alcohol you drink? Whether you've never had a sip of booze with those around you or you're known as the party animal of the group, the genes that shape your appearance also show others just how much you enjoy liquor. Pinpointing the big drinker in any setting is easy to determine: you just need to make eye contact.
How To: Ignore the Future to Make Smarter Decisions
The future: that time that lies ahead, unknown and overwhelming. Whether you're an obsessive planner or someone who can't think more than two days ahead, considering the future can be frightening with all of the "what ifs." Don't let the future keep you awake at night—in fact, the less you think about what life holds in store for you, the better off you'll be.
How To: Prevent the Harmful Effects of Working in a Windowless Cubicle
Sitting in a cubicle and never seeing sunlight during the workday is unpleasant to even think about—and sitting in a flourescent-light cube can have terrible effects on both our work performance and overall attitude. Yet there are ways to counteract the effects of cubicle sitting, even if you can't sit in a sunny office or work from home.
How To: The Best Times to Make Important Decisions
Decisions are rarely easy to make, and there are countless ways to mull your options over. You can sleep on it, pluck flower petals, make a list of pros and cons, or even follow the advice of a psychic. Yet to make the best decision possible, you might want to consider holding off until a certain time of the day—or even until you feel specific emotions. The state you find yourself in has significant impact on each decision you make.
How to Beat a Telemarketer: 8 Surefire Ways to Keep Them from Calling You Back
Telemarketers can be as terrifying as a villain from a horror film. Your phone rings with an unknown 800 number, and you immediately fill with a sense of dread. There's no way to get them to stop calling; you imagine the number appearing on your phone at all hours of the day and night, haunting you.
How To: 8 Reasons Why You Should Be Playing Even More Video Games
Although your friends might roll their eyes every time you talk about playing Clash of Clans, Call of Duty, or Candy Crush Saga, your excessive gaming habits might actually be making you healthier than everyone else.
How To: Make Your Lies Undetectable in Email & Text Messages
Developing an imperceptible lie is difficult, especially when you're lying right to someone's face. Thanks to smartphones, getting people to trust you is now easier than ever. You can craft a lie in seconds and hit send, all without ever seeing their untrusting faces.
How To: David Lynch's Hair as the World's Greatest Masterpieces (+ How to Meditate)
San Francisco writer Jimmy Chen over at HTMLGIANT cleverly composited the beloved filmmaker/artist/furniture designer/transcendental meditation expert David Lynch next to the likes of Cy Twombly, Vincent Van Gogh, John Singer Sargent, Roy Lichtenstein, Claude Monet and Katsushika Hokusai.
How To: Get Over Your End-of-Vacation, Back-to-Work Blues
The end of a weekend can be depressing knowing just how bad Monday morning will be when you get back to work, but that feeling is tenfold when coming back from a lengthy vacation with zero work responsibilities.
How To: Pet Peeves Have Benefits? 5 Annoying Things That Are Actually Good to Hate
What's your top pet peeve? Open-mouthed chewing? Nail biting and knuckle cracking? The sound of silverware scraping? Or perhaps it's a bigger behavior, like leaving the toilet seat up?
How To: Attention All Neat Freaks—A Messy Desk Can Actually Make You More Productive at Work
When it's time to get down to work, a clean, organized workstation is key to accomplishing tasks and being more productive. Or, so we thought.
How To: The 15-Minute Trick to Boosting Your Memory & Being More Productive
From day to day, it can be difficult to remember everything that's required of you. I tend to forget exactly where it is I'm supposed to be during my busiest moments, and it's even easier to delete each day's events out of your brain when there's so much else that dominates your mind. Yet taking the time to remember exactly what it is that happens during each of our days can be a vital part of our memory—and with nothing more than 15 minutes, we can strengthen our brains and remember more tha...
How To: The 15-Minute Trick That'll Stop Your Junk Food Cravings for Good
Who doesn't experience food cravings? Whether you're trying to adhere to a strict diet, or simply hoping to avoid sugary, fatty foods, curbing cravings can feel like a monumental task.
How To: Learn More in Class by Leaving Your Laptop at Home
From laptops to tablets, technology is taking over classrooms. Elementary schools offer kids tablets, and college students are bringing laptops into lecture halls, leaving their notebooks behind. Today, many students prefer putting their fingers to a keyboard rather than pen to paper, but are these helpful devices truly beneficial?
DIY Pain Relief: 7 Weird Ways to Reduce Aches & Soothe Burns
No one ever wants to experience pain, whether it's as small as a stubbed toe or as great as recovering from surgery. Yet so much of our lives causes pain, lasting or brief in its form. With a few mental tricks and unusual home remedies, you can relieve some of the most common aches and ailments that arise painlessly.
How To: Stop Anxiety from Stealing Your Sleep
It's 3 a.m. and you're wide awake—your mind is running wild with worries, workplace stress, and panic about the day that lies ahead. How can you possibly slip back into sleep and snag a few more hours of rest when you're so anxious?
How To: Fall in Love by Looking a Stranger in the Eyes
Eye contact is key in conversations, job interviews, and honesty, and it can help you access others' thoughts and spot heavy drinkers. Locking eyes with someone can even help you fall in love, whether you know them or not.
How To: Want to Appear Smarter? Stop Using Impressive Vocabulary
We've all been there: facing a lengthy, complex word that ignores the phonics we were taught in elementary school, unsure of not only its pronunciation, but also its meaning. These words, from autochthonous to esquamulose, are both terrifying and impressive. After all, if someone knows how to use them—and even say them—they must be quite smart. Yet before you begin stuffing every email and presentation with verbose prose, you might want to reconsider what others perceive to be intelligent.
Dating by Profession: Retailers Don't Say No; Students Can't Get a Date
Are you a lawyer who's married to a computer programmer? Chances are you might not have even dated if you first met online.
How To: Use Reminders to Help Rather Than Annoy
When you're expecting an important call or text, it's pretty annoying to hear or feel your phone go off just to find out it was your reminders app telling you that you need to buy more contact lenses. Not quite as annoying as phantom phone vibrations, but it's up there.
How To: Succeed in Group Settings by Shutting Your Mouth
What type of person are you in group settings? Are you the social butterfly, eager to get to know everyone and interested in the people more than the setting? Or are you a wallflower, afraid to catch anyone's eye out of fear?
How To: Ace Every Essay Assignment with Less Substance, More Fluff
Essay writing is the bane of most students' educational existence. Whether you're a college student tired of slaving away over 30-plus page research papers or a high school student just trying to get through AP Language, chances are you'd love to find a way to cut down on all the writing. Before you spend hours googling facts and figures to cram into your next paper, work smarter by cutting down on content.
How To: Control Your Buying Impulses by Window Shopping
Shopping: you either love it or hate it. With a tight budget, shopping can become a huge headache for even the biggest shopaholic. We've all been there, and we've all given in to our impulses and bought something we probably shouldn't have. Yet strolling through the mall doesn't have to require a strong will to keep your credit card from entering a downward spiral. You just need to keep your hands to yourself.
How To: 5 Reasons You Shouldn't Trust TV Doctors
With the countless daytime talk shows starring and featuring doctors, nurses, and other medical specialists, discovering new ways to live a healthy life is just a remote click away. Although their shows might draw you in with incredible facts and mind-blowing secrets to weight loss success, it's important to take each televised recommendation with a bit of suspicion—most of these familiar faces aren't exactly telling the truth.
How To: Why Keeping Good News to Yourself Is a Good Thing
Can't stand seeing your Facebook news feed full of peoples' good news and awesome accomplishments? Those oversharing friends are, in a sense, hampering their great news simply by sharing it. If you hold back and keep your accomplishments from friends, you might find even more success than if you'd shared with your support network.
How To: Improve Your Memory by Daydreaming
When you're trapped at your desk before a jumble of data just waiting to be categorized, or zoning out during an important meeting, your mind wanders and, chances are, you feel a little guilty because of it. Yet you shouldn't try to reign in that distracted thinking. Instead, let your brain get distracted, and you'll unconsciously strengthen your memory.
How To: Like the Way You Smell? You're Making Yourself More Attractive
Each morning, we spend a significant portion of our time staring into the mirror. From choosing clothes and accessories to perfecting our hair, we try to make ourselves attractive. Yet catching others' attention doesn't have to rely on preening and primping. There's some truth to the maxim of beauty in confidence—all you need to make yourself more attractive is spray on your favorite scent.
How To: Achieve Your Goals by Changing Your Password
Finding the motivation to make a change can be tricky. It's difficult to resist the urge to procrastinate, or even give up when goals seem distant and difficult. If you wish you could stick to your New Year's resolutions, or maybe even just commit to pursuing smaller goals, you might want to consider making a small change to start: just create a new password.
How To: Calm Your Fear of Public Speaking for Better Presentations
Sweaty palms, stuttered speech, and terror blackouts: if you're someone who absolutely despises speaking before audiences, you've probably experienced side effects like these. No matter how well prepared we are, or how familiar our audience is, giving a presentation can be an experience more terrifying than death, according to psychologists. Unfortunately, it's impossible to avoid public speeches, but you can make these events less frightening with a few simple hacks.
How To: Become a Better Worker by Taking More Breaks
I'll admit it: I've spent many eight-hour workdays stuck at my desk, staring at my computer as my breaks slip past unnoticed. I frequently tell myself I'll take one in a few more minutes—but somehow, the entire day will pass and I won't have taken a single break.
How To: Reading Fantasy Books Could Make You a Better Person
From parents and other family members to friends and peers, personalities are built by environment. Though people are important in the development of our own individual personality, there are other, different influences, including what you choose to read. The books you take the time to enjoy can make you nicer and more understanding, or leave you overall unchanged.
How To: Hone Your BS Detector
Can you tell when your friends are serving up a bunch of BS, or are you constantly oblivious, unsure if they're spinning a valid story? With so many ways to lie and fake information floating around, it can be impossible to tell what's the truth from what's complete BS. Here's how to sort through what you hear and find the real truth.
How To: Break Bad News More Comfortably
Being the bearer of bad news is unpleasant; there's nothing more uncomfortable than offering up a spoonful of negativity. Whether you're a supervisor who spends a lot of time interviewing and rejecting candidates, or simply someone who has to say "no" to a friend, it's never fun to break bad news. But sharing unpleasant words or feedback with another person can become less of a burden with a few simple steps.
How To: 5 Reasons You Should Stop Sleeping In
Are you someone who always struggles to wake up in the morning, no matter how much you've slept? For most, the thought of getting out of bed any earlier sounds horrific. Yet dragging yourself out of bed and towards the coffee maker a few hours earlier each day can have benefits you've never realized. Here are six reasons that make a compelling case for ending our bad habit of sleeping a little too long.
How To: Why You Learn More Watching Comedy Over Mainstream News
While CNN, FOX News, and MSNBC are valuable sources of information for what's going on in the world today, they may not be the best news stations to watch if you actually want to learn something. They, along with local news stations, are great at grabbing your attention, but if you truly want to learn something about recent events, you're tuning into the wrong channel.
How To: Avoid Injury While Exercising
When exercising at a high intensity, you know to expect some level of pain. That can make it difficult to identify when your body gives you a warning sign of injury. If you pay close attention, however, you can tell the good hurt from the bad. I talked to Dr. Brian Parr again, professor at the Dept. of Exercise and Sports Science at the University of South Carolina Aiken, who explained which symptoms of exercise are normal and which are bad:
How To: Why You Shouldn't Stretch to Warm Up for Exercise or Sports
If you're like most people, you've stretched before a workout or playing sports. Doing so should help you get your muscles ready to work. While stretching is good for your muscles, you're wasting your time if it's the first thing you do. I talked to Dr. Brian Parr, professor at the Dept. of Exercise and Sports Science at the University of South Carolina Aiken, who explained this misconception and what you can do about it: