Melanie Pinola

When it's raining, snowing, or sweltering hot outside, I am grateful for my 30-second "commute." When I see photos of open offices with people trying to work side by side at long tables, I'm grateful for the solitude of my home office. When I hear that some people spend two hours each way jumping from bus to train to yet another train to get to work, I'm grateful for the time I save by not commuting, because that's more time with my family and more time for myself.
For many people, remote wor...

No soul-crushing commute. No managers or co-workers hanging over your shoulder. No one stealing your lunch from the office fridge. Remote work is wonderful. But it's not without its challenges.
Ask anyone who works remotely as a telecommuter or from home running their own business: It's not all rainbows and unicorns. A report from the United Nations International Labour Organization found that while employees are more productive when they work outside of the conventional office, they're also ...

"I believe that this is the age of the entrepreneur, and as job security has increasingly become a thing of the past, we have no choice but to become self-reliant. Small business is the foundation of growth in America, and it starts with one person, with one vision."- Gary Bredow, host and creator of the Start Up show
If you've ever dreamt of being your own boss, there's never been a better time than now to start. The internet connects us to billions of potential customers, partners, and empl...

"Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do."- Steve Jobs
There's a deep desire to own your own destiny—and starting your own business is one of the most obvious ways to do that. Your business can be anything, do anything, make and break its own rules. It's your chance to make your mark on the world.
Starting a business might seem intimidating, th...

I've always been envious of people with exceptional memories. You know, the kind of people who amass encyclopedic knowledge with seemingly little effort, while the rest of us struggle to remember the name of the person we were introduced to seconds ago.
There's hope for all of us, though. Just as we can strengthen any other muscle in our bodies, we can train our brains to remember more and learn anything faster. You don't need to be born with a photographic memory (and, in fact, with a few no...

Evernote is designed to stand in as your second brain--a place to stash all your notes, receipts, articles you want to read, and more so you can retrieve them at a second's notice. With tools like the Evernote Web Clipper and Evernote apps for every device, it's dead simple to quickly store just about anything in Evernote. That also points to one of the biggest challenges of using Evernote: It's all too easy for Evernote to become a dumping ground.
Maybe it's time to clean up Evernote or decl...

Melanie Pinola is a Wirecutter senior staff writer covering all things home office. She has contributed to print and online publications such as The New York Times, Lifehacker, and PCWorld, specializing in tech, productivity, and lifestyle/family topics. She’s thrilled when those topics intersect—and when she gets to write about them in her PJs.

May 15, 2011 ... The Poppy Cannon of our time, then, may be Melanie Pinola, a coder and freelance writer for About.com and Lifehacker, who describes herself ......

For the 2020 tax year, we recommend filing electronically and early with either IRS Free File by TurboTax, TurboTax Free Edition, or H&R Block Free Online, depending on your situation.
Doing your taxes might never be fun, but the right tool can turn the worst annual chore into a manageable—and dare we say, rewarding—afternoon. The best tax software makes sure you get all the credits and deductions you deserve without dragging you through forms hell. After testing six online tax apps updated f...

On March 7, 2019, Myrna M. DeLeon passed away, days before her 65th birthday. “Her death was completely unexpected,” said her daughter and my brother-in-law’s wife, Casey. In the emotional aftermath for the family, one thing made the grieving process less stressful: Myrna’s “in case of death” preparations. She had filed important documents in a safe and kept a categorized “little black book of information.”
“She was a nurse who was organized in the operating room, and she took that skillset o...

Many cheap office chairs make you feel like you’ve been crammed into a torturous economy seat on a cross-country flight, but quality office chairs upgrade you to first class—they’re designed to support your body comfortably for the long haul. We’ve researched dozens of office chairs, interviewed four ergonomics experts, and asked test panelists with a variety of body types to sit in deliberation for over 175 collective hours. And since 2015, we’ve found that the Steelcase Gesture is the best ...

There’s no conclusive evidence that ergonomic keyboards can prevent injury, and if you experience serious pain or have been diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome or any repetitive-stress injury (RSI), see your doctor before purchasing a new keyboard as a form of treatment. For everyone else, however, ergonomic keyboards can be more comfortable than traditional keyboards if you’re typing all day long.
The Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic Keyboard keeps your wrists and arms in a relaxed, neutral posi...

Office headsets meet a very specific need: You want to take or make calls from your computer, and you want to hear and be heard over the distracting noise that surrounds you (whether that noise comes from a busy office full of coworkers or a home office full of kids and pets). Wireless headsets can connect to your phone and allow you to talk even when you’re dozens of feet away from your desk. Less expensive wired headsets eliminate battery-life concerns and stress over potential Bluetooth is...

Does more bars really mean better mobile service? Are ones really gone forever once you empty the trash? PopMech tackles some of the most frustrating falsehoods of the digital age...