If you have been a regular follower of ShortCuts, then you are sure to love her new book Better by Mistake. If you are new to her writing style, here are some of her articles. Alina uses the same engaging tone for her well-researched insights into the benefits of mistakes.
Her columns have appeared biweekly in the New York Times business section since 2005. Using first-person experience and research, the articles offer helpful, yet also entertaining, perspectives on everyday problems and family life. Follow her on Twitter to keep updated on her newest pieces.
ShortCuts columns for The New York Times (2005 to present)
Alina’s favorite ShortCuts columns
- Dealing with a Client who Calls and Calls
- Unemployed and Older and Facing a Jobless Future
- How to Give Feedback, Both Positive and Negative
- Complaining is Hard to Avoid – and Should We?
- Redefining Success and Celebrating the Ordinary
- Etiquette Lessons for the Braggart
- Why Doing the Ethical Thing Isn’t Automatic
- Pursuing Self-Improvement at the Risk of Self-Acceptance
- The contradictory messages about aging
- Being defined by numbers
- Tiptoeing out of (and back in) your comfort zone
- The 3,000-mile oil change is pretty much history
- Is mandating volunteering a good idea?
- Use less soap in dishwasher and washing machine (my most popular column ever)
- Tough times in 2009
- Are we overselling the idea of loving your work?
- Sometimes quitting is the right thing to do
- Why the word “free” acts like a drug
- How we think about mistakes (this was the column that led to my book)
- Why do we all want to be so busy?
- The dangers of regifting
- Choosing guardians for our children – just in case
Worth Magazine columns
- The Guilty Age
- Beyond the Birds and the Bees
- The Holiday Spirit
- The Problem with Praise
- Life Coaches for Children?
- The Allowance Conundrum
Other selected works
- Terms of Enrichment
Avenue Magazine, December 2013 - In a North Face Jacket, a Reversible Appeal
The New York Times, November 16, 2013 - How to Cope with Chaos
The Atlantic/National Journal, December 3, 2012 - Learning to Trust People – Even When You Expect the Worst
O Magazine, December 2012 - Understanding the Universal
USC Donsife Magazine, November 9, 2012 - That Elusive Diploma
The Atlantic/National Journal, September 27, 2012 - Heed Me! Customer Service and Fighting Back
The Atlantic/National Journal, June 7, 2012 - Why Don’t Women Act More Like Men At Work?
The Atlantic/National Journal, March 15, 2012 - Has School Fundraising Gone Too Far?
Family Circle, March 2012 - Forget Networking. How To Be A Connector
Entrepreneur January 29, 2012 - Longevity: A Manual
The Atlantic/National Journal, December 15, 2011 - Marketing to Minorities
The Atlantic/National Journal, June 2, 2011 - Buy? Nah, Rent. Nah, Buy
The Atlantic/National Journal, March 16, 2011 - Hard World, Dream Jobs
The Atlantic/National Journal, December 9, 2010 - Ready to Move? Here’s What You Should Know
The Atlantic/National Journal, September 11, 2010 - Full-Nest Syndrome
The Atlantic/National Journal, May 8, 2010 - A Boy’s Dream as a Slugger Moves to Town
The New York Times, May 2, 2010 - Lives in the Balance: Profile of Kenneth Feinberg and the Sept. 11 Victim Compensation Fund
Government Executive, September 1, 2003 - Explaining the Rage
American Journalism Review, December 2001 - Reading Between the Lines: The Media Literacy Movement
American Journalism Review, March 2003 - The Rise and Fall of an Unlikely Drug-Smuggling Ring
The Los Angeles Times, October 19, 2001 - Iraq Conflict is His Canvas: Artist Steve Mumford
The Los Angeles Times, September 25, 2005
