The Most Popular Articles and Essays of 2015
How-Tos and explanations may be our bread and butter at Lifehacker, but sometimes we just need to share a rant, personal story, or revelation. Here are our best articles and essays of 2015.
It’s too expensive to be poor
Some people think it’s easy to be poor. You don’t have enough money to buy a lot of things, so you have to buy fewer things. But actually it is not. When you’re broke, you can’t do all the little things that will improve your budget in the long run. In fact, it costs more to be poor.
Seven Things Your IT Department Wants You To Know About Help Desk
Working in the IT department is often thankless. You are like an invisible behind-the-scenes worker who is only noticed when something breaks, and then blamed for it. Here are seven misconceptions about tech support and IT that you should be aware of in order to work better with an IT Pro or Girlfriend.
Butter in coffee and other cons: stories from a fitness insider
Three years after we founded Fitocracy, we launched a new online coaching service to start making money. We needed a way to attract people, but no one looked interested.
How getting the Six Pack will change your life (and how it won’t)
Ahh, an elusive six-pack. For many, this is the holy grail of fitness. But does your life really change after you achieve it? Let’s take a look at how getting six packs is changing your life and when it’s really just gold for fools.
Working in retail has taught me everything I need to know about people.
People say that “everyone should work in retail or service at least once in their life.” I could not agree with this. Like many people, one of my first jobs was in retail services. One in a department store, another in a bookstore. I left a long time ago, but I learned a lot about the nature of humans and that this battle between selfishness and empathy is something we all struggle with every day.
Explaining each carrier’s confusing plans to buy a phone
The next time you buy a new cell phone, things will look different. The subsidized two-year contract is practically dead, and carriers have replaced it with a new pile of confusing options. Here’s what you need to know about buying a phone in 2015.
Let’s quit the introvert / extrovert bullshit
Over the past few years, we’ve heard a lot about the significant differences between introverts and extroverts. We all sighed together, reading the descriptions of the individuals and thinking, “It’s me!” But like many personality stereotypes, they are not very helpful in understanding ourselves.
No, I Can’t “Just Relax”: How I Learned to Manage My Anxiety Disorder
Last weekend, I went to Dragon Con , Atlanta’s biggest PC geek party, to have some fun with fellow nerds. On Saturday I took a break to freak out, question my worth as a person, and cry to the point of exhaustion. Then back to the party. This is what my life is like with anxiety disorder.
Brand loyalty for the suckers
Every year a new tech product is announced, the world is divided into two types of people: people who line up to buy New Shiny Thing, and people who rant about New Shiny Thing sucking. Both of these groups of people are morons. Brand loyalty – be it love or hate – is the poison that makes you stupid.
What I learned after moving three times and smashing everything I own
Most of us have too much junk. But after a couple of moves between states in the same number of years, I realized how important it is to own less.
Why “Eat Less, Move More” – Least Helpful Diet Advice
If you’re overweight, you’ve probably heard the adage “eat less, exercise more.” Unfortunately, this saying will not help you progress. That’s why.
How I Overcame Fear of Confrontation and Learned to Speak
Several years ago I took a new job and got a contract for a terrible project. There was no real job, so instead of technical writing – my real job – I wasted time making coffee for people and making copies. Instead of asking my boss about it, I kept it to myself. A few weeks later, she confronted me, puzzled, “Why didn’t you speak up?”
Don’t quit hateful social media. Bend them at will
We understand: nobody likes Facebook. Twitter is full of trolls. Social media can be frustrating, but it is also a great way to keep in touch with friends and connect with new people. However, every few weeks we hear from someone who just wants to “leave” Facebook. This is why this is a stupid idea and what you can do instead that will make you just as happy.
Google can’t name things
Google announced YouTube Red yesterday. Google, blissfully unaware of what’s going on in incognito mode, apparently thought it was a good name for the service. This isn’t the first time Google has made an outrageous choice in naming things.
Buying phones from operators sucks and we gotta stop
For years, the only decent way to buy a phone was from a carrier. Those days are over. Now, in many cases, it is just as easy and usually better to buy a phone right away and abandon contracts permanently.
Amazon banning Chromecast – incredibly stupid
Amazon will no longer sell Chromecast and Apple TV from the end of this month. And this is their right. But it’s also another in a long series of stupid, anti-consumer moves that have now gone from annoying to downright ridiculous.
“Spend less than you earn” – useless and useless financial advice
If you’ve ever read five words about personal finance, they were probably “Spend Less Than You Earn”. It is popular because it is simple. It’s actually too easy. This is the smallest piece of a large puzzle with many challenging pieces. It’s time to teach them.
My finances sucked until I got over my fear of being poor
When I was four, my mom opened a shoebox in our closet and pulled out something I had never seen before: a crisp pretty 100 dollar bill. Naturally, I shouted: “HUNDRED BUCKETS ?!” She immediately covered my mouth with her hand and whispered: “Do you want the whole world to hear? They can rob us, and we will have nothing left! “
Crapware is a terrible problem and it’s our fault
I love free apps. Who doesn’t love getting something for free? There is only one problem: on the other side of this download link, each developer must choose whether to charge money for their app or offer it for free and find another way to make money. And when we refuse to pay, we make that decision for them. We have created a demand for bundled malware.
I’m a life hacker and sometimes still sucks
I have to admit: I work for Lifehacker. I write about how to get things done faster, more efficiently, and cheaper. However, I still fail. I am distracted. I’m wasting my money. And I don’t follow every piece of advice I’ve written about. But it normal.