Setting Up Your Home Office

We may earn a commission from links on this page. A lot of the productivity techniques and organizational hacks out there claim to make work easier and more efficient, and they really can—though you have to find just the right one for you. A few methods that originated in Japan have proven especially popular—consider the Toyota-approved Kanban scheduling method—including one of my favorites: kaizen. The man who took the philosophy mainstream, Masaaki Imai, died two years ago, but left behind a legacy of productivity and efficiency we can all learn from, because this technique not only helps you get more done, but helps you do everything better. What is kaizen?In Japanes…

TikTok's algorithm is infamously addicting. The app picks up on your interests quickly, and before you know it, you're falling down an hours-deep rabbit hole every time you launch it. But the algorithm doesn't always get it right: Sometimes, you end up seeing too much of one type of content, no matter how many times you hit "Not Interested." With the rise of AI-generated content, this problem only gets more frustrating. AI video generators like Sora are empowering people to produce more hyperrealistic AI slop than ever, which means you've likely encountered it on your feeds—whether you know it or not. I've certainly laughed at some AI clips here and there, but for the m…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Adjustable dumbbells are incredible space-savers compared to full dumbbell sets, but still, they're heavy and awkward to reposition. And look, I get it—the point of weights is to lift them, right? When testing and reviewing dumbbells like the Nüobells or REP Quickdraws, I quickly discovered that the genius of adjustable dumbbells is exactly what makes them so hard to lug around: In order to adjust from 5 to 80 pounds, they end up weighing, you know, at least 80 pounds. And not every dumbbell user has built up to that strength yet. You can buy a specialized dumbbells storage cart, but that'll run you anywhere from $112 to …

By default, Google Photos now uses Gemini AI to search through your photo library. This is thanks to a new feature called Ask Photos that rolled out late last year. While this feature is great for locating specific photos, it's not as fast as the older search option, so it's not ideal for every search, especially more general ones. If you're tired of using Gemini's slower search in Google Photos for Android, there's a shortcut that helps you return to the classic search functionality. As spotted by 9to5Google, you can long-press the search button (which is labelled Ask and is located in the bottom-right corner) to use the classic, faster and AI-free search method instead.…

There are myriad ways to prioritize your to-do list, but even if you find one that works for you, you might find they can be a little weedy and overcomplicated. That means when it comes to tasks that don't quite require that level of involvement, your productivity method can actually manage to stress you out. If you're tired of your to-do list feeling like such a heavy lift, you can make simplifying things, well, simpler by prioritizing your tasks with the "must, should, want" technique. What is the “must, should, want” technique This technique was developed by Jay Shirley about a decade ago. The blogger set out to enhance not only people’s productivity, but their dail…

YouTube Music is a decent Spotify alternative, especially if you're already paying for YouTube Premium to remove the ads. There's a big downside, though: Google doesn't offer a desktop app for YouTube Music, meaning you have to run the application in a browser. It also means you can't really customize YouTube Music the way you can with Spotify. That's why YouTube Music Desktop App—a free application not made by Google, to be clear—exists. The app, compatible with Windows, macOS, and Linux puts YouTube Music in its own window, outside of your browser, while also adding extensions for things like downloading songs, skipping the non-music parts of videos, and blocking ads. …

Creating and sticking to a cleaning schedule is difficult, but only because life is difficult. Finding time to clean can feel impossible sometimes, especially when you've had a stressful day at work, with your family, or just in general. But what if you could harness that negative energy and turn it into cleaning power? That's the idea behind TikTok's "angry cleaning" trend—also known as "rage cleaning"—and if you're as grumpy as I am, you mind find it helps you get your home a lot cleaner. What is TikTok's rage cleaning trend about?I see the terms "angry cleaning" and "rage cleaning" all over TikTok, but quickly realized they describe something I already do: When I'm an…

There are many ways to set a schedule, from using a pen and paper planner to getting out some dry erase markers and scribbling on your clock. They range from tedious to totally archaic, but there's a technique for everyone. One method I have come to enjoy aims to work by giving you more insight into how you spend your time—and helping you manage your day down to the minute. It’s called time blocking. What is time blocking?Time blocking is the act of arranging your schedule so every activity you need to do in a day is accounted for visually. Ideally, you’ll do this using a digital calendar tool like Google Calendar or iCal, but it's possible with a planner and some highlig…

Though it started life on computers and mobile, YouTube is also among the most-used apps on TVs and gaming consoles. People use the service to watch gaming livestreams, video walkthroughs, and even YouTube Shorts on their much bigger screens—and the experience is about to get better. As part of its Q2 2025 update, Google has added a bunch of new features to YouTube for TVs, which should appear once you update the app. New features in YouTube's app for smart TVsIn keeping with its push for more YouTube Shorts everywhere, Google is now making short-form videos more prominent on TVs as well. The company has added a new row for Shorts in your "Watch Next" feed, and on the "Sh…

There are a lot of gaming handhelds to choose from right now, but the Steam Deck is undoubtedly a fan-favorite. Just as the Nintendo Switch introduced the world to console gaming on the go, the Steam Deck was the pioneer in bringing PC gaming to a handheld form factor—even if it pushes the definition of "handheld." Part of the initial appeal of the Steam Deck is its price: While you could choose a souped-up model with an OLED display and expanded internal storage, you could also pick up an LCD model with a 256GB SSD at a reasonable $399. For less than the price of a Switch 2, you could have something that plays the entire Steam library, with its huge variation in games. I…

Today, short-form videos dominate our free time (and our working time, at that)—but this wasn't always the case. Before the likes of TikTok and Instagram Reels, online video content was more long-form than not. It might have felt short by the standards of cable TV, but many of the videos on platforms like YouTube were regularly anywhere from two to 10 minutes, if not longer. The first platform to really popularize short-form content as we think of it now was Vine. These videos were short—a maximum of six seconds at a time, which should have spelled the platform's doom. Who would want to watch these tiny videos back to back for hours at a time? A lot of us, apparently. V…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. After Verizon's unexpected nationwide outage Wednesday, the carrier came out yesterday to try to save face, saying it was offering a $20 credit to all accounts in the myVerizon app. Now, its low-cost offshoot carrier, Visible, is also trying to make its own amends. As spotted by 9to5Google, Visible is texting its customers with the following message, promising a $5 credit on their next bill as an apology for the outage: Yesterday we let you down and for that we are sorry. We are giving you a $5 credit towards your next month of service that can be redeemed after Jan 16 when paying with a credit card online. This credit isn…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. If you’ve been blending all your adult life in a subpar appliance, I’ve got great news for you. Vitamix is having a pretty massive Mother’s Day sale right now, and—bombshell here—you don’t technically have to be a mother to get one. (Dog mom, cat god-uncle, mother of none, it’s all good.) The Vitamix sale is happening right now and runs through May 17th, and it’s across retailers too. Vitamix E310 Explorian Blender, Professional-Grade, 48 oz. Container, Slate …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Did you know you can customize Google to filter out garbage? Take these steps for better search results, including adding my work at Lifehacker as a preferred source. Walmart has jumped on the October Prime Day bandwagon in an attempt to sway you away from the biggest online sale of the fall. The main event is Amazon's two-day Prime Big Deal Days promotion, aka October Prime Day. This week, Walmart officially announced its own "Prime Day"-esque promotion, and there's some good news for those of you who balk at the idea of paying for a membership to …

I love movies and TV shows of all kinds, but I have to admit I have a soft spot for HBO. The channel is responsible for some of my favorite TV experiences of all time: Game of Thrones, Barry, Silicon Valley, and now The Last of Us all come to mind. I'll watch anything on any platform that looks intriguing enough, but when HBO is attached, I'm even more likely to watch. That's why it made absolutely no sense at all for Warner Bros. Discovery to remove the name of one of the most respected brands in show business, truncating HBO Max to just Max. HBO hasn't gone away: The channel is still a massive part of the streaming service, offering its past catalogue as well as produc…

You can watch just about everything on YouTube, but if you want to watch a full-length Hollywood movie, you're either going to have to sit through a lot of ad breaks or pay a digital rental fee. But not all movies on YouTube are restricted like this. Sometimes you'll come across feature films that you can watch in their entirety, without any limitations or roadblocks to hamper your viewing experience. While not all of them are, um, supposed to be available on YouTube, allow me to point you to an interesting playlist of movies uploaded by none other than Warner Bros. Discovery itself, via Warner Bros. Entertainment. As noted by Gizmodo, this playlist of 31 films is 100% l…

Did you know you can customize Google to filter out garbage? Take these steps for better search results, including adding my work at Lifehacker as a preferred source. There's much to say about Sora, which is essentially OpenAI's TikTok for AI slop. But putting my concerns aside for what appears to be a glorified deepfake machine, it's evident the app is popular. OpenAI says Sora hit one million downloads in under five days, likely fueled by interest from users seeing hyper-realistic videos going viral on social media. But with big hype, comes big risk for fraud. While OpenAI made Sora free to download, the app started out invite-only, which only built anticipation for us…

Converting a .pdf to a .docx and back again may seem like a quick and easy thing you can do online for free—but that doesn't mean it's safe. A new notice from the FBI Denver Field Office warns that some online document converters are also loading malware onto unsuspecting users' computers, giving bad actors access to your device and your data. The tools may also scrape files submitted for conversion for sensitive information, such as Social Security numbers, birthdates, email addresses, passwords or tokens to bypass multi-factor authentication, banking information, and cryptocurrency seed phrases and wallet addresses. How to spot malicious file convertersThis scheme may…

If you get an email from PayPal, proceed with caution: Scammers are using a legitimate PayPal address to send fraudulent purchase notifications to users in an attempt to gain remote access to your computer by convincing you to download malware. The phishing emails are being sent from service@paypal.com, which makes them seem real—but as Bleeping Computer reports, scammers have managed to exploit PayPal settings in order to trick recipients. How to spot the PayPal scamUsers targeted for this scam are receiving emails from PayPal notifying them that they've added a new mailing address to their account. According to Bleeping Computer, users who received this message did no…

Scammers are targeting travelers planning their vacations in a new campaign that spoofs popular online travel agency (OTA) Booking.com. The scheme, identified by Malwarebytes Labs, uses malicious CAPTCHA forms to gain remote access to victims' devices, allowing threat actors to harvest personal and financial information. How the Booking.com scam worksThe campaign begins with links posted on social media and gaming sites, including sponsored ads, that redirect to websites posing as Booking.com—an OTA through which users can search and book flights, hotels, rental cars, and other travel experiences. When users click the link, they'll see a fake CAPTCHA pop-up with a check…

Many Americans are in the middle of making hard decisions about their health insurance, in part because open enrollment, the period in which consumers can change their plan, is happening now. That means scammers are also busy contacting people, impersonating insurance providers in an effort to collect personal, financial, and medical information. Common health insurance scamsFraudsters especially love to impersonate representatives from Medicare, targeting older adults and others who qualify for the federal program with unexpected calls. As the Federal Trade Commission warns, scammers may have some of your personal information already and will ask you to confirm your Medi…

Scammers love to impersonate government and law enforcement officials, from the FBI to the U.S. Marshals Service to Medicare and other health insurance programs. There's a good reason for this: Most Americans use government services at some point, and many may be apt to trust, or at least engage with, someone claiming to be from a well-known agency. Plus, the threat of losing benefits or being targeted by legal action is especially compelling when it comes from a government representative, and victims may be more likely to comply with scammers' demands. It's no surprise, then, that schemes currently making the rounds involve Social Security and Veterans Affairs benefits,…

Contactless payment, also known as tap-to-pay, has become a fast, easy, and relatively common way to complete a transaction using your smartphone or credit card. It relies on Near Field Communication (NFC) to transmit data between your device and a payment terminal when the two are in close proximity, up to an inch or two away. While NFC technology does provide some additional security—transmitting a virtual account number instead of your actual card details, for example—scammers have found a way to capitalize on tap-to-pay to steal money from unsuspecting targets. These "ghost tapping" schemes may exploit both cards and mobile wallets. How tap-to-pay scams workAccording…

Software updates are important and inevitable. To expand features and patch existing security issues, you need to update your apps and machines. If you avoid updating, you might find certain programs, functions, or even websites stop working as they should. However, if you visit a website, and you see a prompt to update Chrome in order to proceed, run away. In all likelihood, you just encountered a scam. Don't fall for it. WordPress sites are getting hackedThe scam in question is targeting WordPress websites—10,000 of them, in fact. That's according to c/side, a web security company, whose research uncovered the current attacks. Here's what's going on: Hackers are hijack…

If you're a gamer, beware a new malware that's pretending to be an ASUS utility. CoffeeLoader impersonates Armoury Crate, which manages ASUS and ROG software and peripherals, and infects your Windows machine with an infostealer that's nearly impossible to detect. How CoffeeLoader malware works According to an analysis by ZScaler, once on your system, the CoffeeLoader malware delivers the Rhadamanthys infostealer, which can extract credentials from applications like web browsers, email clients, crypto wallets, and even the password manager KeePass. CoffeeLoader then manages to evade most security tools on your device, including antivirus software and malware detectors, ma…