The "Adulting" Handbook

As businesses have begun to cautiously open their doors to consumers, gyms are still in precarious position. COVID-19 is spread through respiratory droplets, and even the fanciest gyms are a fluid-fest of germs. I'm not saying it's a more dangerous…

I wake up long before dawn to run on the New Orleans river levee. Generally, there are few other people around. It’s just me and the men who work on the docks, a few fishermen, and the occasional hoverboarding bro falling in the batteur because he’s…

Doctors and scientists are only beginning to unravel the long-term health effects of the novel coronavirus. Although people who recover without requiring ventilators or intensive care probably won’t have lasting side effects, those who do may end up…

Migraines aren’t your average headache. They’re throbbing, relentless beasts that make people nauseous and sensitive to light and sound for days. And meds don’t work for everyone who experience chronic migraines. But researchers have found new…

A lot of us are feeling like crap right now. On the one hand, it’s no wonder, what with the global crisis and all. On the other hand, depression can feel like an emotional quarantine and it’s easy to start wondering whether the bad feelings are here…

Working out is my primary coping mechanism, so not going to the gym feels like a really big deal to me in these uncertain times. I long for the harsh clang of weights against squat racks and the subtle nods of the other regulars. While it feels like…

This article was originally published by The Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization covering the U.S. criminal justice system. Sign up for their newsletter, or follow The Marshall Project on Facebook or Twitter. Last month, María Felícitas…

I am, generally, a pretty contented single person. My last long term relationship ended almost three years ago and since then I have had a delightful array of casual encounters, romantic friendships, and a few inevitable bad romances. Although time…

In the wake of COVID-19 social distancing and stay-at-home orders, young couples may find themselves spending more time with each other than ever before. As a developmental psychologist who conducts research on adolescent and young adult…

I expected that the stay-at-home order here in California — which permits people to leave their residences for only essential activities, like food shopping, until further notice — would inevitably affect my relationship with my live-in partner. But…

This virus sucks. New Orleans is currently half panicking about our eight presumed cases of COVID-19, and public everything has been canceled for the foreseeable future. The situation’s even more dire in more densely populated cities. The…

Last night, Netflix dropped the reunion episode of Love Is Blind, its viral hit reality show where couples lookin’ for love and commitment get engaged sight-unseen and then try to sustain their connection IRL for a month culminating in a shotgun…

Think about how hard you work for your money. Now think about how easily some of that goes down the drain each month. It might be hard to visualize just how much money we waste because we don’t know what our bank accounts would actually look like…

I am not a millionaire. I probably never will be one. I also fundamentally disagree with wealth-hoarding. But on most nights, you can catch me watching semi-informative YouTube videos by 29-year-old millionaire Graham Stephan talking about his real…

Breakups are the worst. As if the emotional turmoil isn’t bad enough, there’s the logistical headache of figuring out how to handle the money part of the breakup. Six years into my last relationship, my live-in boyfriend at the time had quit his job…

My anxiety has never been higher than when I started out as a freelancer four years ago. Panic washed over me as I sent clients “just following up” emails about past-due payments and did mental gymnastics devising ways to minimize my already meager…

The gig economy is poppin’. There are close to 57 million freelancers working in the US, and research suggests that number is expected to rise by 14% by 2027. There’s a lot of moaning and groaning about the instability of the hustle economy, but the…

When I go to sleep at night, I don’t dwell on that awkward comment I made in a meeting, or whether I’m doing enough to minimize my carbon footprint. My brand of worrying involves all-consuming thoughts of whether I’m making enough money on each of…