The Psychology of Saying “I’m Fine” (Nobody Is, Nobody Asks)
"I'm fine" is the most complex sentence in the language. A field guide to every version, from the casual fine to the fine that means leave…
MAKE THIS WORSE →THE MAGAZINE · ISSUE 44 · NOVEMBER 2026
THE MAGAZINE
Long-form disappointment about life, work, money, love and technology.
Things Nobody Tells You About Getting Older (Because They’re Busy Getting Older)
You'll make a noise standing up. Hangovers last until Thursday. You'll injure yourself sleeping. And it only goes one direction.
MAKE THIS WORSE →The Five Stages of Opening Your Bank App (Grief, but Monthly)
Avoidance. Bargaining. The Forensic Scroll. Outrage. Acceptance. The five stages of grief, repeated every payday until retirement, which won't happen.
MAKE THIS WORSE →Why Your To-Do List Has Become Your Enemy (And Will Outlive You)
Your to-do list was meant to help. Now it has 43 items, three from 2022, and it's quietly drafting your obituary in unticked boxes.
MAKE THIS WORSE →Why Every Meeting Needs Another Meeting (Until You Retire, Which You Won’t)
A one-hour meeting spawned three follow-ups, a pre-sync and a working group. Read the official minutes. This is how your one life gets spent.
MAKE THIS WORSE →The Five Love Languages, Revised for Couples Too Exhausted to Speak
Quality time is now two people on two phones, one sofa, no eye contact. The five love languages, updated for couples running on fumes.
MAKE THIS WORSE →Hello, My Name Is Zack, and I Go to Bed at 9:30 on Purpose. My Friends Stopped Asking.
Nobody makes me. I just go. A support group confession from someone who now calls 10pm a late night and hasn't been invited out since spring.
MAKE THIS WORSE →11 Brutally Honest Out-of-Office Messages for People Who Have Stopped Pretending
Ditch 'limited access to email'. 11 out-of-office replies that tell the truth: you'll check email by the pool, and nobody noticed you were gone.
MAKE THIS WORSE →The Double-Text: A Formal Risk Assessment of Your Remaining Dignity
One message. No reply. Thumb hovering. Before you double-text, complete this formal risk assessment. Spoiler: the hazard is you.
MAKE THIS WORSE →Now Hiring: One New Friend After 30. Must Be Free Thursdays. No Benefits.
Wanted: one friend. Must reply within a fortnight and cancel half our plans. The brutally honest job ad for making friends after 30.
MAKE THIS WORSE →The Hybrid Working Week: A Timetable of Commuting to Sit on Zoom
Hybrid working was meant to be the best of both worlds. Instead you commute 90 minutes to sit on Zoom beside someone also on Zoom. Weekly.
MAKE THIS WORSE →How to Start Exercising Without Actually Exercising (Your Knees Already Know)
Want the benefits of exercise without effort, sweat or movement? This programme delivers. The benefits, sadly, do not.
MAKE THIS WORSE →Newsletter / Issue No. 444
THE WEEKLY DISAPPOINTMENT
One email a week. Advice you didn't ask for, statistics about your decline, and observations that will quietly ruin your Sunday.
No spam. Just disappointment. Unsubscribe whenever you regain hope.