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Updated: Feb 15, 2022 46 Comments · by

Coffee Break: Shiatsu Back and Neck Massager

Coffee Break

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I was interested to see last month's most-bought roundup, because this $64 massager was in the group, I think based on a commenting thread from readers on a Weekend Open Thread where someone asked for “the best back and neck massager.” This $64 one was mentioned, as well as the Naipo Massager (down to $29 at Walmart?!).

I'm always on the hunt for a home massage — I have one like this, as well as one like the Naipo shoulder massager — personally I tend to prefer the shoulder massager, but then that's where alllll my tension lives also. (Be warned, the shoulder massager is REALLY loud — it's impossible to read or watch TV while using it.)

(In terms of other massage products, I've also tried a TENS unit, which I couldn't quite figure out, a weird hook-like thing (Thera Cane Massager) I also haven't figured out, a scalp massager, a foot massager like this, and even little vibrating massagers to attach to your YogaToes, which I only remember from looking through my Amazon orders. What can I say… hope springs eternal. I haven't tried a Theragun, but Elizabeth recommended this mini massage gun back in December.)

Readers, what have you tried by the way of home massage products? What are your favorites, what were duds? (Does anyone have a full massage chair at home?)

The pictured back massager is $64 at Amazon.

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Sales of note for 9.10.24

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Comments

  1. Anon

    Let’s say you are given an opportunity to lead a brand new big project. You want to establish that you have conditions in place for success, and steer clear of a situation of something being dumped on you for worker bee reasons (as we’ve discussed). What do you need to know? how would you name the conditions for success?

    • big new project

      Handy timing, I’m actually in a similar situation! Following for more advice and sharing some things I’ve laid out:

      I told my manager that we’d need to adjust my current goals to make space for these new goals. The new project is quite different, so the same metrics, deadlines, etc. that currently apply won’t work. And if I’m going to divide my time, then Old Goals need to be adjusted or re-assigned to make room for New Goals.

      I need a proper internal announcement and formal authority. Sometimes we do these things under the radar and then the announcement comes after it’s already successful. This new project won’t work unless I have buy-in from stakeholders and ongoing partnerships with their teams. It can’t fly under the radar, my boss and boss’s boss and their peers need to be on board with my recommendations.

      I’m putting in place incremental milestones and go/no-go decisions based on the milestones. Again, sometimes big projects languish on or keep returning to the scoping step, so I’m creating very explicit milestones for each element. I already had one step get stuck because people are busy. I escalated and let them know that we couldn’t wait on A because of Reasons and Impact. They got un-stuck and we’re back on track. But this is going to be an ongoing issue to get attention, feedback, etc., so the small and frequent milestones are key.

    • anon

      OP of this morning’s worker bee thread. What I needed to know are the motivations of my manager. If the motivation is substantive, then the conditions for success are already in place. If the motivation is political, without fail, I am being set up as a stooge / it will fail / etc. Essentially, when I ask myself questions like the one you posed, it all loops back to: do I trust my manager?

      • Anon

        Yes, part of it is knowing and trusting your manager. I used to work two levels down from a very senior exec who had a “tell” as in poker – it was the phrase “quite simply” and what followed was never quite simple. “If you could just quite simply…” would be followed by a vague outline of a project that would take months, if not years, to complete. And his expectations were always wildly unrealistic about when he’d see the results. Naturally, it was in addition to your already more than full time job. You had to push back when he tried that, but it was also not optimal for your career to do so. He held grudges and thought people were whiny and lazy.

        Just typing “quite simply” gives me some version of PTSD.

        • Anonymous

          Some people really do have tells don’t they? I could always tell I was walking into a dumpster fire when my former boss used to say the person handling it before me was “just phoning it in.” 9/10 times it was someone who had tried really hard but couldn’t achieve the unachievable . The other big one was “let’s not get wrapped around the axle.” That was his way of saying I’m asking you to do something very hard but I’m going to pretend it’s really simple or give you no time to get it done, and any time you point out details that need to be dealt with to fix X or the reality on why X needs more time or resources, I’ll just keep saying let’s not get wrapped around the axle. Seriously the worst manager I ever had. Anytime I see him recommending “leadership” advice on LinkedIn, it just makes me want to barf.

    • anon

      Without knowing the industry, discuss with those who assigned you the project what you are expected to do as the leader and what you are responsible for. This is the difference between, I want *you* to do x, y and z and I want you to make sure x, y and z are done and delegate accordingly. Work bees often assume that it is more of the former (e.g., it’s my task, I need to do it) rather than hearing, ok, I need to make sure that someone does this. Also, know what your resources are. If you don’t know your team well, make sure to talk with whoever is giving you the project or whoever has managed a similar project about the expected work flow and blocking and tackling.

    • Anon

      Management support, especially if you will need additional staff for the project. If they’re asking you to just squeeze this in in addition to your / your staff’s existing full time projects, I’d be wary. Also when they say you can “borrow” another person’s staff member part time, because this will never be their priority OR the other manager will decide they’re co-leading the project if they’re being asked to lend staff.

    • Serafina

      To give some very tactical suggestions:
      1/ Do you have the resources you need to succeed. This includes your own focus and time (as others have mentioned – are you able to drop other things to focus on this or are you trying to take it on in addition). Will you need time or help from other people (e.g. analytics, engineering, whatever is relevant to your project – do you have staffing). Do you have any budget that you need.
      2/ What are the constraints and stakeholders involved. E.g. in my field they might be legal risks, PR risks, etc. Who are the stakeholders that matter and what is the likely opposition – e.g. other teams who don’t like whatever you are trying to do
      3/ Management support. What’s needed here depends on (1) and (2) above – if there are going to be a lot of constraints and stakeholders, you will need the right level of management support to push against those.

  2. Sunshine

    Dear Coworker, Please do not invite me to the MLM party you’re hosting next week. We have never been to each other’s hosues and this is not a good reason to start. Plus, as you know, I work at home full time now and only wear leggings, so I probably don’t need to buy MLM clothing. Love, Sunshine

    • Anon 2.0

      Oh hun, don’t you want to be a #bossbabe. Kick that corporate gig goodbye! Don’t you want to join the cult, ahem, I mean business? You will be a girl boss babe business owner! Ladies, don’t miss this opportunity to work at home so you can care for your husband and be home to cater to his needs!

      • Anon

        I can’t stop laughing . . . and rolling my eyes. This description completely reminds me of a former coworker.

  3. Anon

    Speaking of leggings and athletic attire, I have a small bonus (no comma in the amount). I’d like to get a cute outfit for the hopeful restart of my 3.0 tennis career (no doping! maybe beer after!). What do you all like for a treat that actually performs well — Lilly Pulitzer very cute tennis outfits, Athleta, Tory Sport? I like skorts and hate any sort of undershort that rolls up or rides up or otherwise is weird. I’m also a sucker for something just great-looking (so if it won’t behave for actual tennis, it could become an “I’m going on a cute walk” outfit, another habit I aim to improve on as winter nears its end).

    Also, randomly, does anyone have the Lilly Corso golf pants? Can you really wear them “anywhere”? Maybe in 2022 you can? I need some comfy pants that could go in to work and maybe these are it?

      • Anon

        3.0 tennis is pretty beginner and leagues are not competitive but geared to a friendly adult leisure player. Vs the Olympics drama.

        • Anon

          I was kidding but thanks. My sister plays adult club tennis and is in the best shape of her life so go OP!

    • bbb

      In my experience, tennis gear runs really small. I am a small in real life clothes but always a medium and sometimes a large in tennis clothes. I bought a medium Tory Sport dress and wish I had bought a large. I just exchanged a cute Venus Williams outfit for a large too, but I haven’t gotten that yet.

    • kitten

      I like Lululemon and Year of Ours for workout clothes/atheleisure. I don’t wear skirts but Lulu has some cute ones.

    • Ribena

      I really like the Power Dress from Sweaty Betty and wish I had somewhere to wear it

  4. Anon

    Ladies,

    I am taking the bar next Tuesday. It’s my second bar (but I need it for my job). My first bar was nearly six years ago. I’ve been studying but memorizing is HARD!

    Please send me words of encouragement and motivation, because I’m just BLERGH right now. HALP.

    Thank you.

    • Anonymous

      You are in the home stretch! You CAN DO IT!
      *waves pompoms*
      *forms short, blunt, human pyramid*

    • Anon

      You’ll be fine. I studied full time for about 2.5 months for my first bar and I walked out feeling very confident I had passed unless I made some horrible accidental mistake like misaligning the bubbles on the multiple choice portion. My second bar was six years later also and I studied while working full time which is NO JOKE. I felt so unprepared going into the test and walked out almost certain I had failed. There were whole essays where I felt like I had nothing to say. I even went to my employer and arranged to have time off for my second attempt. And then I passed. You will too.

    • Anonymous

      Just remember it’s a minimum competency exam. You don’t have to ace it, you just have to pass.

    • Vicky Austin

      Every time I’m inclined to just get a test or studying or w/e over with, I think of that moment in Legally Blonde when Elle is taking the LSAT and she looks up for a minute, kind of out of juice and struggling, and you can see her frown a little bit, and then she gets back to work and the next scene is her opening the results with her sorority sisters. That celebration is coming! Hang in there! You got this!

      • Brunette Elle Woods

        Legally Blonde is great inspiration! Watch it after studying and the night before the exam. Good luck!!!

  5. anon

    During the week before my period, I am so, so tired. Like I could fall asleep at my desk right now without any trouble at all. Any thoughts on getting through these stretches? I have been trying to go to bed earlier, but it hasn’t been enough to make much difference. I exercise regularly but find it very hard to stay motivated and keep doing the thing when I’m this zapped.

    • Anon

      I’m the same way. No advice other than a sun lamp and a bit of extra caffeine/sugar.

    • Anon

      There’s a book “Period Repair Manual” that has tips for different issues. It might be worth checking out for this (I don’t remember if it specifically discusses fatigue; I was more focused on cramps and mood swings, and the tips for those issues did help me).

    • anne-on

      I find it easiest if I switch things up and go easier on myself that week – my body is telling me it needs rest, I’m not going to punish it with a HIT workout just for the sake of proving something (to who?!?). I’ll switch my workouts to a morning walk if I can, or an afternoon (~3ish) walk to get some sun/air (which also wakes me up) and then yoga/pilates to address the inevitable cramps/soreness. I also try to take a fish oil pill, b12 supplements and eat extra protein. I’m not sure of your age but it finally dawned on me that at 40, yea, this is probably perimenopause and I’m giving myself more grace about dealing with these changes and doing what my body needs vs. just ‘pushing through’.

      • anon

        OP here. Ugh, yes, I’m 41 and have realized that I need to slow down a bit instead of powering through when I feel bad. Even my doctor said so, haha.

        • Anonymous

          Yes. Powering through never made me feel better or gave me energy; it just depleted me. LISTEN TO YOUR BODY. And your doctor.

    • Anonymous

      My doctor just put me back on BC pills to allegedly help with this and other PMS symptoms that have gotten so much worse as I have aged. I get so tired the week before that I had to schedule work around it. I’m on Day 7 – so I can’t tell if they are helping or not.

      • Bonnie Kate

        In a few months I would love to know if this works for you. I have a copper iud I like very much but I’ve seriously contemplated asking for birth control pills to smooth out the monthly hormonal phases that have gotten worse the last few years as I move into mid-thirties.

    • Anon

      Same. Is the fatigue bad enough that you’d be willing to go on birth control? You’d need to take it continuously (aka no break/placebo week), but it’s worked for me.

  6. Curious

    I recommended this and continue to believe it is amazing!!!! Fun to see it as a pick :)

  7. Anonymous

    I need help with what is the right approach to child care for two kids. I’m in biglaw with erratic schedule and husband is in banking with similarly erratic schedule. We have a preschooler in school 8-3 (school is walking distance from our apartment, so I do drop off) and then a babysitter picks him up and handles the rest of the day / bedtime if we aren’t home in time. She’s not a professional nanny and has expressed discomfort with an infant but she is great with my son and he loves her / she has endless energy so tires him out in the 3-4 hours post-school running around etc.

    I am struggling with what to do for child care when baby #2 arrives. So far options I’ve come up with are (i) put baby into daycare near school (on waiting list and expect to get in) and then find a new post-school babysitter to watch both kids assuming lower energy since babysitter would have to deal with infant naps, etc. instead of chasing preschooler at a park, (ii) get a full time nanny for infant who then also does pick up of son but same energy problem post-school, (iii) get nanny for infant and leave son’s routine unchanged which doesn’t disrupt son’s routine but seems like unnecessary cost?

    We do not have family nearby and with Covid don’t have a lot of alternative / back-up sitters. I feel like I’m overthinking this.

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