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This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. Here are three updates from past letter-writers. 1. How do I manage a “regular” job with a parallel career as a musician? I asked about career advice for musicians a long time ago, and I’ve waited a long time to have an update I felt like sending. Unfortunately, the last few years have just been really, really bad. Things started to go sideways not long after I wrote to you. The program I was in was a really bad fit for me, and I ended up dropping out long before the end of it. There were other bad things too – I won’t go into it all because it would be pretty identifiable. One major theme of the past year has been weird and stressful health problems. Your post on PMDD was very timely – it appeared right around the time I was realizing that my particular premenstrual hell was perhaps not, in fact, normal. I got medicated for that earlier this year, which helped a lot. I also discovered recently that I have CRAZY ADHD, WHO KNEW, and started taking meds for that too – and the difference is like night and day! I am having a lot of feelings about the whole situation. I am overjoyed to finally have something that works for my brain, but also incredibly sad and angry that it took so long to figure this out. So many people left very kind and helpful suggestions on the original post (thank you all so much!) and I went back to read the comments many times. A lot of people suggested some sort of corporate job, and that’s what I’ve ended up doing. After dropping out of school I took a break for a few weeks, then freelanced and job hunted, and back in March I fell into a temporary position in a corporate mailroom. I’ve been there for 8 months now, and so far so good I guess? It is a very boring, low stress job. I do a lot of data entry and scanning and sorting and making UPS labels and I listen to a lot of podcasts. My coworkers are all very kind, and my bosses seem to like me, and we take turns bringing in snacks every week, which has turned out to be more important than I thought it would be. I am very underpaid but asked for a raise a month back when my contract came up for renewal (thanks Alison for the wording suggestions!), and am being persistent in following up :) In the long term, I don’t know that this job or type of job will be the best fit – this is my first corporate job, and it turns out that I’m not so good at situations where I have to sit still for long periods of time (but at least I understand why!!!!). But for the moment, it’s ok. I’m treading water, trying to sock away some money, sorting out the medication situation and finding a new equilibrium, doing music things on the weekends, and generally setting myself up for my next move, whatever that is. Anyhow, if you have any musician friends, please check in on them and maybe give them a hug. The post-pandemic arts situation just really sucks – so many people I know (myself and my ex-partner included) are moving on to other things, because life is just too damn expensive now and we are all broke, exhausted, burnt out, and struggling with various illnesses. I’m feeling more positive about my personal life than I have in a long time (it’s amazing what some consistent income will do for you!) but I’ve never felt more discouraged about the future of the music industry (or, perhaps more accurately, the future of not-independently-wealthy musicians in the music industry…). The economic shifts of the last few years are rapidly choking off the last revenue streams available to the average musician, and it’s honestly really depressing. Thank you so much, Alison, for all the work you put into this site – it is such a great resource. And thanks to all the commenters – I love this warm, kind hearted, and supportive little pocket of the internet :) 2. My boss said it’s unprofessional not to start an email with a greeting (#2 at the link) After my boss emailed me about how I started that single email, I ensured all my emails had a “proper” greeting, even in longer email chains (there may have been a little malicious compliance involved). However, it was the beginning of the end. I started getting negative feedback from my boss on other minor things and then mixed messages, like “You’re asking too many questions; you should know your job by now” and then “I’m not sure why you don’t just ask me that question.” I could see the writing on the wall and started looking for another job. I was eventually put on a PIP, told to write the PIP and come up with goals for my success, which she then approved. (Is it just me, or was that really weird, too?) Despite succeeding in all my goals, I was fired without cause at the end of it, with a small severance. I don’t know why I even bothered. All of this happened within six months of an excellent performance review in which I was told I was meeting or exceeding expectations, accompanied by a decent raise. They advertised for my position at a lower salary and title, traveled to my city to hire someone, didn’t, and then transferred all my duties to others. I was lucky enough to find another job quickly, and while it has its own characters and challenges like every job, at least I haven’t been blindsided. It was truly a bizarre experience, and I still wonder what it is that I did to make her opinion of me change so quickly. 3. Coworker was a jerk after I gave her (solicited) feedback (#3 at the link) I decided in the end to suck it and see. (Note from Alison: this appears to be a Britishism.) I carefully shared my experience with my new work buddy (a much more experienced contractor) and she revealed she’d had the same meeting – and that the woman who’d been rude to me had also been equally rude to her. We discussed speaking to her manager, but the woman in question was about to host a team meeting that very day and we decided to see how that went first. Well, it was awkward as hell, basically. It turns out this woman is just outright obnoxious to everyone, about everything, and nobody says anything! So, being British, I went with the tried and trusted technique of aggressive politeness. Every time she was rude to me over the next few months, I responded with smiling, robust politeness in the face of her coldness and abruptness. Taking this approach with rude people tends to highlight the rudeness, making them feel awkward and inviting comparison from others. Over the six months or so that I was there, her peers must have spoken to her: she slowly became less rude. By the time I left she was extremely nice to me, and even fairly nice to others. View the full article

Is it still January? Barely, but yes. Is it still dry? Well, that all depends on how you look at it. Maybe you’re interested in incorporating a teensy bit of alcohol back into your life, or maybe you’ve never enjoyed an overly potent drink regardless of the month. I think the answer in both of these scenarios is the same: Switch to low ABV (alcohol by volume) cocktails. They’re light, easy-going, and there is a wide world of options to suit your preference. I've got three recommendations to get you started. What is a low ABV cocktail?First of all, let’s get our terminology straight. Again, ABV stands for alcohol by volume. This is usually understood as what percent of a drink is alcohol. Straight vodka can be 30% or 40% alcohol. So a vodka martini, after being stirred with ice and some added vermouth, might be 25%-35% alcohol. That is decidedly not low ABV. Wines can vary greatly but typically they’re around 13% to 18% ABV, and beers can range from 4% to 12%. While there is no precise ABV that defines a low ABV cocktail, I usually prefer them around 5% and below. It’s nothing that will make me feel wobbly, but enough to add a touch of spice to the occasion. If you’re at a bar or restaurant, they might have a different opinion of what fits into low ABV territory, so be sure to ask (or check the menu for the ABV) if you’re wondering. How to make a low ABV cocktail at homeAside from buying a mocktail cookbook and adding a splash of gin to any of those concoctions (which you can totally do—try The Mocktail Club, an excellent recipe book that I recently reviewed) you can pore over your home bar and do some light experimentation. Personally, I like to think of low ABV drinks as giving the “supporting characters” a bit of shine. It’s a chance to highlight aperitifs, vermouths, bitters, juices, shrubs, syrups, tonics, and sodas. That’s where many of the biggest, boldest flavors are anyway. If you’re starting from scratch, start simple and try some juicy spritzes. A loose ratio could be 1:3:3: one part "supporting character" alcohol, three parts juice, and three parts bubbly, non-alcoholic liquid. Choose an aperitif, liqueur, or cordial that you like, and add equal parts of a complementary juice and soda water. Serve in a glass with plenty of ice. If you’re starting from a classic cocktail recipe, try replacing the high-proof alcohol with a heavy pour of seltzer, or even a sparkling wine. The ABV for the latter would be higher than with using seltzer of course, but sometimes you just want to take it down a few notches. For example, prosecco’s 12% is much lower in alcohol content than gin’s 40%. In fact, that’s what the negroni sbagliato does—swaps the gin for prosecco. Both are delicious cocktails, but the classic negroni is about twice as alcoholic. Three of my go-to low ABV cocktailsI’ve always enjoyed the activity of sipping socially, but not the inevitable headache of stiff drinks. Here are three I lean on when I’m in the mood to take it easy. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel here, folks: Simple is often best. Low ABV bellinisBellinis are light, flirty sparkling cocktails that are classically made by mixing a bit of white peach purée with a lot of prosecco. To bring down the ABV, cut the prosecco in half and replace it with a bit of seltzer water. Alternatively, you can use fruit juice instead of seltzer for a bigger dose of fruit flavor. (By the way, you can use any fruit purée you like; it doesn’t have to be peach.) Negroni Sbagliato or AmericanoAs I noted above, the Sbagliato is a lower ABV version of the classic Negroni, and the Americano is the next step down. To make a Sbagliato, mix equal parts Campari, sweet vermouth, and prosecco (pour this last as a topper). Serve in a glass with plenty of ice. For an Americano, simply replace the prosecco with plenty of soda water. If I'm making it at home, I'll add a splash of simple syrup. Juicy Aperol SpritzThe classic Aperol Spritz uses three parts prosecco, two parts Aperol, and one part soda water. To make it less alcoholic, I knock out the prosecco and opt for a splash of juice. To make a Juicy Aperol Spritz, mix two parts Aperol, and one part orange juice in a glass half-filled with ice. Top it with three parts soda water. View the full article

The three stacks you need to consider. By Jody Padar Radical Pricing – By The Radical CPA Go PRO for members-only access to more Jody Padar. View the full article

The three stacks you need to consider. By Jody Padar Radical Pricing – By The Radical CPA Go PRO for members-only access to more Jody Padar. View the full article

Today's Bissett Bullet: “Become known for having an altruistic attitude.” By Martin Bissett See more Bissett Bullets here Go PRO for members-only access to more Martin Bissett. View the full article

Today's Bissett Bullet: “Become known for having an altruistic attitude.” By Martin Bissett See more Bissett Bullets here Go PRO for members-only access to more Martin Bissett. View the full article

Getting out of bed—switching from the coziness of sleep to the jarring reality of the day—can be a challenge for anyone. But, as the saying goes, there's an app for that. Or, in this case, several apps—ones that go above and beyond the default options in Android and iOS to make sure you wake up when you need to. From alarms that get you to complete a challenge—and fully regain consciousness—before they'll turn off, to alarms that are timed to fit in with your natural circadian rhythm, there's plenty of choice when it comes to getting some assistance in starting the day. Alarmy Alarmy gives you missions to complete to stop your alarm. Credit: Lifehacker Attention, heavy sleepers: Alarmy is on a mission to get you out of bed in the morning, and promises that it'll never fail to wake you up. The main way it does this is by getting you to complete a challenge—like a math, typing, or memory task—before it'll shut up, which means you really do have to force yourself to start thinking and get yourself out of bed. That's not all the app has to offer, either; you can pick from a variety of sounds to wake yourself up, set customized alarm screens that encourage you to face the day (think kittens and sunrises), and track your sleep overnight—just make sure your phone is near your pillow. When you wake, you can be greeted by a sleep analysis report. Features like an extra-loud setting for alarms and persistent time reminders while you're thinking about hitting snooze—or gentle volume increases, if you want to be kinder to yourself—put Alarmy a level above most other alarm clock apps out there. It uses a freemium model, with all of the various features available for $5 a month or $60 a year. Alarmy is available for Android and iOS. Sleep as Android Sleep as Android offers a host of options for waking up. Credit: Lifehacker There are a host of settings to explore when it comes to configuring alarms in Sleep as Android: You can have the app wake you up at a time you'll feel most refreshed, you can set up a captcha challenge to force you awake, and you can set a wake-up check that makes sure you've risen—and if you haven't, your alarm starts ringing again. There is also a range of different alarm sounds to pick from, as well as a gentle wake-up mode that gives you an easier segue out of slumber. Snoozing is still permitted, if you want to keep it as an option, but here too you can set limits if you think you'll rely on it too much. The app is difficult to beat in terms of how customizable the alarms are. However, alarms aren't even the primary focus of Sleep as Android: It's mainly designed to be a comprehensive sleep tracker, and it handles this just as well too (just leave your phone on your bed). You can use the app for free, but the full set of features will set you back $5 a month or $50 a year. As its name suggests, Sleep as Android is only available for Android. Loud Alarm Clock The alarms in Loud Alarm Clock can be extensively customized. Credit: Lifehacker Loud Alarm Clock brings with it several tricks to ensure you don't sleep in any longer than you should, including boosted audio that goes above and beyond whatever volume setting you've got on your iPhone to really make a racket. If standard alarms can't rouse you from a deep sleep, then Loud Alarm Clock is definitely worth trying instead. It's not just the volume boosting that helps here, because the app also offers some excruciating sounds as options for the alarm audio—think nails on a chalkboard and a car alarm, for example. If that's too grating, there are friendly voice options you can turn to instead as alarm sounds. Other features include the ability to limit snoozing time, so you don't go past a certain time, the option to randomize alarm sounds so you don't get used to them, and a choice of wallpaper backgrounds to help you get the day started. Loud Alarm Clock is free to try and use, but you can pay a one-off fee of $8 to remove the ads and get more sound options. The app is only available for iOS. Talking Alarm Clock Beyond Have your alarms speak to you with Talking Alarm Clock Beyond. Credit: Lifehacker Talking Alarm Clock Beyond eschews the traditional alarm clock sounds to give you a motivational talking-to when you wake up—the idea being that you're more inclined to get yourself up and out of bed if you're being told to seize the day, rather than having your sleep interrupted by a shrill beeping that your brain has come to recognize as annoying. You can customize the message you hear when the alarm goes off, and the app comes with challenges you can set yourself to do to make the talking stop: You can solve a math problem, for example, or complete a captcha, or walk a certain distance with your phone. By the time you've managed to dismiss the alarm, you should find yourself fully awake. There are plenty of nice extras included here as well, including the "mayday mode" that adds an extra level of volume to make sure you really do realize you have to get out of bed, as well as timer, world clock, and stopwatch features. You can use everything in Talking Alarm Clock Beyond, but there is a one-off fee of $3 if you'd like to get rid of the ads. You can find the app on Android. Sleep Cycle Sleep Cycle will wake you up at the right time for you. Credit: Lifehacker The clue is in the name: Sleep Cycle is focused on making sure you wake up at the right time, in harmony with your body's natural rhythms (within the constraints of work and other responsibilities, of course). As well as getting you up in the morning, there are also tools (like sounds and exercises) to get you to sleep more easily. During the night, Sleep Cycle can monitor your movement and any sounds you make to assess the quality and stages of your sleep, and it'll give you advice on improving your sleeping habits as well. In the morning, within a window you've previously set, it can wake you up gradually and smoothly in your lightest sleep phase, with your choice of audio. It's a full-on sleep helper and enhancer, complete with goal setting and tracking—and the alarm clock is a crucial part of it. Everything is wrapped up in a clean and intuitive interface that's easy to navigate. You can try Sleep Cycle for free for a week to see if it's helpful—after that, you need to pay $10 a month or $40 a year to keep using it. Download Sleep Cycle on Android or iOS. View the full article

Google Ads updates Performance Max with advanced controls, improved reporting, and smarter targeting to optimize campaign performance. The post Google Ads Introduces Advanced Targeting For Performance Max appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with: I. Coach Phil Jackson on compassion: “Compassion for all beings—not least of all oneself—is the key to breaking down barriers among people. Now, ‘compassion’ is a word not often bandied about in locker rooms. But I’ve found that a few kind, thoughtful words can have a strong transformative effect on relationships, even with the toughest men on the team.” (Blog Post) Source: Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success II. Coach Tony Dungy on putting people first: “Instead of asking, how can I lead my company, my team, or my family to a higher level of success? We should be asking ourselves, how do others around me flourish as a result of my leadership? Do they flourish at all? How does my leadership, my involvement in their lives—in whatever setting we’re in—have a positive and lasting influence and impact on them?” Source: The Mentor Leader: Secrets to Building People and Teams That Win Consistently * * * Look for these ideas every Thursday on the Leading Blog. Find more ideas on the LeadingThoughts index. * * * Follow us on Instagram and X for additional leadership and personal development ideas. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. If you’re considering a smartwatch with top-tier health tracking and rugged durability, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 (Bespoke Edition) is now $249.99 (down from $329.99), its lowest price yet, according to price trackers. SAMSUNG Galaxy Watch 7 Bespoke Edition $249.99 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $329.99 Save $80.00 Get Deal Get Deal $249.99 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $329.99 Save $80.00 Its 44mm aluminum body is lightweight but tough, with IP68 weather resistance, 5ATM waterproofing, and MIL-STD-810H certification. In simple terms, it can handle dust, shocks, extreme temperatures (-4°F to 122°F, according to the manufacturer), and submersion. Pair that with a 1.5-inch Super AMOLED display (480x480 resolution), and you’ve got a watch that’s both durable and great to look at—whether you’re swiping through notifications or checking your fitness stats, the screen reportedly impresses. When it comes to health tracking, the Galaxy Watch 7 offers sleep monitoring, measures body composition (like BMI and fat percentage), takes an ECG, and even features FDA-approved sleep apnea detection, notes this PCMag review. It then calculates an Energy Score—a Galaxy AI feature that combines fitness, sleep, and other health metrics into a single score (out of 100)—while offering personalized tips to improve your health. That said, some advanced features (like snoring detection) require a Samsung phone. For day-to-day use, the Galaxy Watch 7 is powered by Wear OS with Samsung’s One UI enhancements. You get Bluetooth, wifi, NFC for mobile payments, and dual-frequency GPS for precise location tracking. Plus, its 32GB of storage means you can load plenty of music or apps. But no product is perfect. Its 425mAh battery lasts 22-28 hours (depending on usage), which means you’ll need to charge it daily. For those who prioritize battery life, alternatives like the OnePlus Watch 2 might be worth exploring at a similar price point. View the full article

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. Little is more satisfying than seeing a jerk get a well-deserved comeuppance. For example, some satisfying stories shared here in the past: • • • “I worked with a horrid VP of Sales – arrogant, obnoxious, just a nightmare. We were in an internal meeting and he used the phrase ‘get in a circle jerk’ with them (and even used the hand motion). Then smirked at me, the only woman in the room and the youngest by far. I’d had enough so (fake) innocently asked, loudly, ‘What’s a circle jerk?’ He tried to move on but I asked again, ‘Sorry I don’t understand, what is a circle jerk – if I’m negotiating the contract I need to know the terms.’ Everyone froze. The CEO walked in and asked, ‘So where are we?’ I loudly said, ‘Well, we are waiting for ____ to explain what a circle jerk is as he’s really worried about it being part of the contract.’ It was absolute gold and a career highlight that sadly can’t go on a resume!” • • • “A colleague kept stealing my work – copy-pasting stuff from documents I’d written, and claiming PowerPoint decks as her own. So I embedded my name in everything I made – in the footer or the slide master, in a tiny white font. Then when she claimed the work was hers in a meeting I asked for the mouse to ‘point to something’ and ‘accidentally’ highlighted where it said ‘documents created by (my name) on date.’” • • • “Years ago I was working for a new group of attorneys – at the same time as my mom was undergoing chemo treatments. Suffice to say, I was super stressed all the time, which took its own toll on my immune system, so I ended up sick myself quite a bit. One of the attorneys actually suggested that I was sick ‘all the time’ because I was out ‘partying too much.’ None of the attorneys knew anything about my personal life, mostly because they never would ask, so he had no idea how insulting this was. Later that year I was fired. Two years ago I ran into the ‘you party too much’ attorney who was out at a bar with his wife. I had DREAMED of this day for years. I walked up to him and was SUPER nice initially, said it was nice to see him, etc, and then said since I didn’t get to say goodbye to him when I left the firm abruptly, I had to address something he had said to me. He meekly asked, ‘Hope nothing bad?’ I said he had suggested that I was sick a lot because I ‘partied too much.’ His wife is now VERY interested why her husband had been talking to me about partying, I’m sure. I explained that in fact, I wasn’t partying, I was dealing with a stressful job with a bunch of assholes while my mom was undergoing chemo treatments. His face went WHITE at this point as he stammered that he had no idea. ‘And that is exactly the point,’ I explained, ‘you don’t know what is going on in someone’s life. You’re an asshole.’ I have never felt so vindicated in my entire life as I did in that moment, and in front of his wife no less. It was entirely worth the wait.” • • • In the comment section, please share your stories of jerks getting their comeuppance! View the full article

“Your Money or Your Life” (YMYL) refers to topics that may affect users’ health, finances, safety, or well-being. View the full article

Home ownership is a key goal for many Americans despite the financial and environmental challenges posed in today's real estate market—and the transition from renting an apartment to owning a house is, in itself, a challenge in many ways. One of those challenges is adjusting your approach to furnishing and decorating your living spaces, especially if you’re going from a small rental to a large house. Decking out a house you own can be a different experience from making a rental into a comfortable space because the scale is different: Budgets have to be bigger because you’re usually filling more space, purchases tend to be more long-term because you’re not sweating the end of a lease, and suddenly, that couch you’ve been moving from place to place since college is no longer socially acceptable. Here’s how to approach decorating a house when you’ve only ever lived in an apartment. Pause and planStep one is to take a moment and slow down, resisting the urge to be “moved in” as quickly as possible. Moving into an apartment is often an exercise in making your existing furniture somehow work in the new space, which encourages a haphazard approach and a utilitarian feel. The key to decorating a house, though, is to embrace what’s known as “slow decorating”: Instead of just dragging all your existing furniture in and filling rooms with stuff, be thoughtful about what you plan to use the room for. Measure each space so you can pick and arrange your furniture thoughtfully. Choose furniture and accents that fit that plan. If an existing piece works in that plan, great! Otherwise, consider whether it fits elsewhere or if it needs to be replaced with something different. Think in terms of roomsMoving from a small rental to a sprawling house poses another psychological challenge: scale. Going from a modest and maybe even crowded place to a home with a lot more square footage can be overwhelming. Going from a small space you didn’t have a stake into a more permanent place that requires a lot more stuff can be overwhelming. Instead of trying to come up with a comprehensive plan (and budget) to furnish and decorate the entire new space, take it room by room: Start with the rooms you will use immediately and all the time: the primary bedroom, the kitchen, bathroom, and living room. Narrowing down your decisions to a specific room at a time will make the whole process more psychologically and financially manageable. You can create a sense of cohesion by using the same “pop” color in each space and repeating decorative elements like vases or other decorative objects. Wall art that’s part of a series, for example, can link rooms even if you’re approaching them individually. Once you have the main rooms set up, you can tackle the remaining rooms one at a time. Another reason this works is the fact that small apartments often require you to make rooms multi-functional, but houses often have dedicated spaces—dining rooms, offices, living rooms, etc. If you’re going from a space where one room was your office, living room, and exercise space, taking each room individually will help you envision what your ideal version of that space would be instead of what you can fit or what can easily be stashed out of sight. Embrace spaceIn smaller rental spaces, we often make decisions around furniture that solve apartment-related problems, like a lack of a guest bedroom (resulting in a heavy, bulky sleeper sofa) or a lack of useful storage (resulting in buying everything with extra storage space, like an Admiral bed). But a house may not present those same challenges, so it’s time to ask yourself if that sleeper sofa or other storage piece still makes sense. The size of the rooms also has to be taken into consideration. In an apartment, for example, cramming a couch and a coffee table into a room is all it takes to make a living room, but a larger room in a house might feel empty, requiring more thought about how you’re going to use the room. Will it mainly be a viewing experience, with lots of comfortable seating arranged in front of a screen? Or do you want to foster more of a conversation space, with seating facing each other? Or, if you have the space, will it be both? Finally, a house with more space can benefit from larger “statement”-type pieces of furniture—oversized furniture, or large artwork on the walls. Remind yourself that you can go big and go home in a house. View the full article

Outdated technology and "unlimited PTO" among key issues discussed. Accounting ARC With Liz Mason, Byron Patrick, and Donny Shimamoto. Center for Accounting Transformation Go PRO for members-only access to more Center for Accounting Transformation. View the full article

Outdated technology and "unlimited PTO" among key issues discussed. Accounting ARC With Liz Mason, Byron Patrick, and Donny Shimamoto. Center for Accounting Transformation Go PRO for members-only access to more Center for Accounting Transformation. View the full article

Push-ups are a classic exercise to build strength even when you don't have gym equipment available, but not everybody can bang out rep after rep—sometimes you have to work on other exercises to build the strength to start doing push-ups. This is what I'll guide you through today. And if you remember those knee pushups from gym class—well, those are okay, but they aren't your best option. To do knee push-ups, you place your knees on the ground (or on a cushion, if that's more comfortable) and otherwise do the standard push-up motion. Knee push-ups are better than nothing, but they have a few downsides compared to other types of push-ups. The main one is that they are a lot easier on your core muscles, so that while your arms and chest get a workout, your abs aren't getting the strength they'll need to stabilize your body in a full push-up. Knee push-ups also allow you to get lazy with your lower body positioning. In short, knee pushups ask less of your glutes and core, making them more of an upper-body than a full-body exercise. Here are some variations I like better. Option 1: full push-ups in very short setsIf you can do a few full push-ups with good form, you can build a workout from single-rep sets. Good form means that your body is tight like a plank, without your belly sagging or your hips pointing up as in downward dog. Your hands are approximately under your shoulders, and your elbows are tucked toward your body rather than flared out at 90 degrees. If you can do two or three, you're in good shape to build from that. Instead of sets of, say, 10—which you can't do yet—do a set of just one or two reps. Then rest (or do another exercise), and come back for another push-up or two. You may want to do more sets than if you were training push-ups with higher reps. Try 10 sets of one rep each, say, or five sets of two reps. Over time, you'll be able to add reps, and then you can reduce the number of sets, if you like. Working toward three sets of 10 is a good goal. Option 2: negative push-upsA “negative” push-up starts at the top, and slowly lowers down. But instead of then pushing yourself back up, you get on your hands and knees to reset to the top position again. Lower yourself down slowly each time, fully under control, as many times as you can. When you find yourself dropping down quickly, your set is over; take a break. Negatives use eccentric contractions, which build muscle at least as well as their concentric, or positive, counterparts. You can use the same strategy to work up to other challenging exercises, like pull-ups. Beware, however—negatives are notorious for making you sore the next day, so go easy on these your first time. Once your body is used to them, you'll be able to do them regularly. Option 3: staircase progressionIf those options are still too tough for you—or if you just want something more flexible—try a staircase progression. You can use an actual staircase, or pick surfaces at varying heights: a wall, a table, a chair, a stack of books. Start with your hands on a high surface. This might be the wall, with your feet a few steps back, or a high countertop. Engage all the muscles in your core and legs so your body is like a stiff plank, and keep the same good form as if you were doing a push-up from the floor. Do your set of push-ups this way. When the wall or countertop is too easy, drop your hands down to something lower, like a chair. (If you’re using an actual staircase, just start with your feet on the floor and your hands on a high step; move your hands to the lower steps over time.) Eventually you’ll be able to do full sets of push-ups from the floor. Then, reverse the progression: start putting your feet on higher and higher surfaces. Ultimate goal: handstand push-ups. Good luck and get moving! View the full article

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today...View the full article

Office management is about maximizing office efficiency and ensuring effective office work. It involves coordinating office activities and helping to maintain employee satisfaction. The keywords here are efficiency and effectiveness. When a business is managed correctly, there is control over office activities, a reduction of company costs, happy employees, and coordination of all enterprise activities. View the full article

If you tried to open ChatGPT this morning, only to find the service endlessly loading or erroring out, you're not alone: ChatGPT is up and down this morning, along with other OpenAI services. OpenAI's official status site shows some issues for services across OpenAI's portfolio, but ChatGPT is the most affected. As of this article, all other services are listed as "Operational," but not ChatGPT. The chatbot was previously listed as dealing with a "Partial Outage," but OpenAI has since relabeled it as a "Major Outage." The company has six updates listed on Jan. 23 under "Past Incidents:" The first was at 3:54 PST: "We are currently experiencing elevated error rates in the API. We are currently investigating." OpenAI identified the issue at 4:26 PST, then rolled out a fix at 4:30 PST. As of 4:43, the company said it resolved the elevated error rates on ChatGPT and the API, but more issues have appeared since. At 5:12 PST, OpenAI said they were experiencing elevated error rates for ChatGPT itself, and at 5:43 PST, the company claimed to have found the root cause, and were working on a fix. That fix was supposedly implemented at 7:09 PST, but two minutes later, the company added another update, stating, "We are continuing to monitor for any further issues." I've had mixed results with ChatGPT this morning, which tracks with the original "Partial Outage" label OpenAI has assigned the platform. The first time I heard about the outage, I tried to load ChatGPT, and after some time, received an error message. Later, though, ChatGPT refreshed, and I was able to interact with the chatbot. While writing this article, ChatGPT became unresponsive again. I was able to get it to load one more time, but the situation is definitely a bit volatile at the moment. View the full article

Google removes breadcrumbs from mobile search results, simplifying URLs to show only domains while keeping breadcrumbs on desktop. The post Google Drops Breadcrumbs From Mobile Search Results appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

Building a Spotify playlist isn't exactly difficult, but it can be tedious, especially if you want to assemble a mix with dozens or even hundreds of songs. Spotlistr is a free tool that can do the work for you—it can automatically turn any list of songs into a Spotify playlist, even if it's just in simple text format. You paste the text containing your list of songs, let the app run, check that the tool identified the right songs, and click a button. A playlist appears. Even better, Spotlistr can convert a playlist for pretty much any other music streaming service, including YouTube, Soundcloud, Reddit, and Last.fm. To get started, go to Spotlistr.com and sign in using your Spotify account. Next, pick the source for the playlist you want to create. I tend to use the Textbox option, which lets you paste in a simple list of songs. You'll want to get the formatting right: There should be one song per line. Credit: Justin Pot Click "Search" and the service will try to match each line to a specific song. Credit: Justin Pot You can scroll through the list and quickly confirm that the application found the songs you actually want. You'll see up to four options for each entry, allowing you to pick between them. When everything looks right, you can add the playlist to your Spotify account. Use Spotlistr to import playlists from another service (or even Reddit)Converting a list of songs into a playlist is just one function of Spotlistr. As noted, it can also import and convert playlists from other services. If there's a YouTube or Soundcloud playlist you want to move to Spotify, there are tools for that. There are also options for pulling in Last.fm top tracks from any user. A particularly cool use case: You can also pull in all songs from any Reddit conversation, subreddit, or collection of subreddits. For example: I was able to turn this list of 2024 song recommendations into this playlist featuring all of those songs with just a couple of clicks. It's a great way to sample a list of songs without having to manually search up each one, though note that the tool doesn't parse posts with multiple songs in the same line particularly well. You can also use the app to export any existing Spotify playlist to a CSV file. There's a "stats generator" that lets you crate a sort of "Spotify Wrapped" any time of the year. You can automatically remove duplicates from any playlist, or make playlist cover art. Basically, this site offers a bunch of tools that Spotify should already have, but doesn't. Bookmark it if you ever feel frustrated about the playlist making process. View the full article

Create, execute, and sustain effective SEO strategies with an SEO playbook. Align your initiatives with business goals and promote teamwork across different teams. The post Why Your SEO Playbooks Need To Collaborate With Sales And Brand Teams appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Doomsday prepping—making yourself and your home ready for some amorphous “stuff-hits-the-fan” event—has gone mainstream. About 20 million Americans are actively “prepping” for the apocalypse in some sense, which could come in many different forms. No matter how the world as we know it ends, the thinking goes, folks with enough food and water, gold (or crypto), and ammunition salted away will survive to help rebuild society. Or fight zombies. A lot of doomsday prepping is kind of silly, of course. You’re probably not going to be fighting those zombies (or hordes of Mad Max-style warriors), and having a thousand cans of beans probably isn’t going to be the difference between life and death. But preparing for extended emergencies isn’t a bad idea—you just have to do it in a practical, thoughtful manner. Here’s what you should consider if you want to feel at least slightly prepared for a SHTF event. Test stuffDoomsday prep is big business, and there are a lot of gadgets designed to help you survive the End Times in (relative) comfort and safety. Most are uber-practical and arguably necessary, like generators or a Lifestraw, but simply buying this stuff does not mean you’re actually prepared. If the first time you actually unpack and try to use it is the day the bombs drop or civilization collapses, you’re going to be under extreme stress while trying to parse an instruction manual—and you might discover that you bought a lemon in the first place. Buy whatever you think might be useful in an emergency, but as a best practice you should unbox it, set it up, and get it running at least once. This way you’re familiar with its operation and certain you have a working unit. It’s also a good idea to re-test everything once a year to refresh your memory and make sure nothing has degraded while in storage. Hard copy and manual toolsSometimes we forget how reliant we’ve become on having all the world’s information (and disinformation) in our pockets at all times. But in the event of doomsday you should probably assume both the internet and the electrical grid will be out of commission, which means it will be a huge mistake to rely on anything digital or powered. A few things to consider: Paper copies. You should have hard copy of any crucial information—instructions, directions, repair manuals, etc. Even if you have a plan for getting power during the apocalypse, relying on files stored on a hard drive is a bad idea. Manual tools. Power tools are one of the great blessings of civilization, but when civilization itself goes bye-bye you might not be able to operate them effectively. Manual, hand-powered tools and appliances (like a can opener!) will always be usable, so have at least a few basics on hand for when the power vanishes. Renewable everythingThe classic image of a prepper is someone with a stockpile of canned and dried food and a humming generator (zombie-blasting shotgun optional). That’s a fine plan for a short-term emergency like a natural disaster or extended blackout, but if you really want to be prepared for doomsday you need to think in more renewable terms. Canned food rusts and spoils, bottled water can go bad, and gasoline runs out (and also spoils), so having renewable sources of energy and food is key: Power. Solar or wind setups (ideally with a whole-house battery) will help stretch fuel supplies and can provide electricity long after all the power plants have exploded. Water. A crate of plastic water bottles will get you through a short-term emergency, but rebuilding civilization in the wake of Armageddon is thirsty work. Ideally, you want a continuous supply of filtered fresh water. If you have a well on your property, that’s ideal, but you can also have a rainwater collection and filtration system installed (rainwater has to be filtered pretty thoroughly to be safe to drink) that will guarantee a water supply unless the apocalypse is a very dry version. Food. You don’t want to be completely reliant on ultra-processed preserved food if you’re going into a long-haul survival period. Sure, those packs of instant Ramen might keep you alive, but ideally you should have a garden set up to feed you. A self-sustaining garden for one person can be set up in about 200 square feet, and if nothing else, will stretch your dry goods and canned food until the local groceries rebuild. MedicinesApocalyptic fantasies on television tend to focus on guns and video game-like action, and medical treatment usually involves a quick dash to an abandoned CVS and some instinctive knowledge of antiseptics and bandaging. In real life, you probably don’t need an entire crate of automatic weapons, but you will need some medical stuff. A few things to consider: First aid. Yes, you need a First Aid kit. But you also need to know how to use it, so learn first aid. Having a kit from Amazon won’t do you much good if you don’t have some basic training, including how to do stuff like applying tourniquets or setting broken bones. There are several excellent online first aid courses (Save a Life by NHCPS is free and accredited, and the American Red Cross offers online first aid classes as well as class-based courses). You might also consider taking a Wilderness First Aid Course (like this one), as they focus on first aid and emergency medical treatment when you’re far away from a hospital or an easy 911 call. And don’t forget what we just said about hard copies: Add some reference books to your survival library, like The Field Guide of Wilderness and Rescue Medicine from Wilderness Medical Associates, or The Survival Medicine Handbook: The Essential Guide for When Help is NOT on the Way by Joseph Alton, M.D. Medical supplies. First aid kits are intended for rapid response, short-term solutions. If you’re planning to spend decades without a modern hospital system, you’re going to need a lot more stuff, like antibiotics, more gauze and wound dressings than you think, and other basics. You should also stock up on necessary prescriptions, because that abandoned CVS may not be opening up again any time soon. Medicinal herbs. No matter how well-stocked your personal pharmacy and medical supply cabinet is, if it’s really the end of the world you’ll more than likely run out of stuff much faster than expected (apocalyptic scenarios tend to be filled with sharp edges, collapsing buildings, and those pesky, hungry zombies). If you’re setting up a garden to feed yourself, consider putting space aside for medicinal herbs. Plants have been used for centuries as pain relievers (turmeric), antibiotics (garlic), and as treatments for indigestion (ginger). Some caveats: Medicinal herbs are not “drop in” replacements for the drugs in your medicine cabinet, and you’ll need to know a lot about their preparation and dosage to safely use them. A book like the Peterson Field Guide To Medicinal Plants & Herbs Of Eastern & Central N. America by Steven Foster and James A. Duke can give a start. And not all herbs will grow in all climates, so some research into what you can and can’t grow will be necessary. Rotate stockSpeaking of dry goods and canned food—these are not “set it and forget it” items. You can’t dump 500 cans of Spam into your basement and assume you’ll be fine, because all that food, no matter how well-preserved or stored, will eventually spoil (or be eaten by organisms). The key to a solid apocalypse pantry is rotation—eat the stuff as part of your normal, everyday meals just before they hit their expiration date, then replace them with fresh versions. Similarly, consider the medical supplies and prescriptions you’ve stockpiled—these will also need to be checked for freshness and replaced on a regular basis. While some medicines and drugs don’t necessarily go “bad,” they do lose effectiveness over time. Consider a communityFinally, consider your community as a resource. Most apocalyptic fantasies imagine it’s you (and your family) against the world, but in real life, your friends and neighbors will probably be right there with you, which can mean shared resources and assistance. A practical approach to doomsday prepping won’t rely on this—just in case you are all on your own, or in case your neighbors turn out to be selfish jerks—but ignoring this potentially rich source of assistance and shared supplies entirely would be unfortunate. View the full article

Google looks to have expanded its enforcement of its site reputation abuse policy to European regions this week. Google began enforcement in the US back in May but Google seems to have issued a ton of these manual actions (manual penalties) to European based sites.View the full article

Yahoo seems to be testing AI Chat within its search results. The chat feature loads on the right side for your query. You click on it and it loads an AI chat bot. View the full article