February 2006

The Furniture Collection at Office Depot features the best chairs on the market. Bold statement for a Saturday and a bit too subjective for February, but I have just enough coffee in me to pull it off.

These chairs are as special as they are sharp. Just look at the beauty at the front of the post. She’s a Cabot Leather Executive Chair and the color of this one happens to be a beautiful Light Saddle. (They come in the always hot color of black as well.) I had seen this chair while drooling over an Office Depot Furniture catalog. I had become fascinated (it often doesn’t take much) with the way the chairs in Christopher Lowell’s Collection are categorized. They’re broken down into three categories, basically dependent upon how many hours each day your gluteus maximus is in them. They’re designed with comfort in mind - from your neck to your legs, with the all-important back in between. For example, the chairs intended for those of us who are in them a great deal have very high backs with lots of support for the head and neck.

They’re categrorized thusly:

Casual - If you’re at your desk between 0 - 3 hours each day.

Moderate - If you’re there between 3 - 5 hours daily.

Intensive - If you’re there more than 5 hours each day.

The chair I want very much to adopt, the Cabot Leather Executive Chair falls under the Moderate category. Not all of my days fall under the same category, but I think she’d serve her purpose.

• Upholstered in Blackberry or Light Saddle top grain leather.
• Lumbar cushioning supports your back. Ergonomically contoured cushions provide comfort and support to your lumbar region to prevent pain that comes from long periods of sitting. Plus, the seat cushions slopes gently downward to promote circulation in the legs.
• Tilt controls for ideal positioning.
• One-touch seat height adjusts for perfect posture.
• Heavy-duty base resists scuffs. The sturdy base has scuff-resistant foot pads to help keep the chair looking snazzy for years to come…even after the teenagers!

Check out the other chairs in the collection. There are countless ones to choose from.

Joi

I just got this in an email from Careerbuilder and I thought I’d share it with you. I’m sure, since I’m linking to them and giving them full credit, they won’t mind me sharing this well thought-out info with you guys.

Your phone is ringing, your voice mail light is flashing and you’re ignoring your overcrowded e-mail inbox to work on the presentation you will be giving in 10 minutes. Feeling a little stressed? Here are some tips to help you control that swell of panic that seems to follow you around all day at work.

1. Stop and take a deep breath. When you’re stressed, you tend to take very shallow breaths. Taking slow, deep breaths through your nose not only forces you to calm down, but it also gives your body extra oxygen to maintain your focus and energy.

2. Take a quick break. Get up out of your chair and stretch, walk down a few flights of stairs or just meander out in the hallway. This will give you a much-needed emotional and physical break from a stressful situation.

3. Organize your workspace. Come in a few minutes early one day and clear the clutter off your desk and file the project folders appropriately so you won’t have to search through heaps of paper the next time you’re looking for a particular document. Nothing is more frustrating than knowing what you need is “right here somewhere,” but you just can’t find it.

4. Walk at lunch. Make a lunchtime jaunt a regular feature in your day. It will give you something to look forward to, especially on those days when you feel you could pull your hair out.

5. Learn to laugh more. Everyone needs a release. Will you stomp around the office and complain, or will you combat those stress hormones with a hearty release of endorphins through laughter? It’s your choice. Read the comics, or tell a joke.

6. Make your environment work-friendly. Do you have a glare on your computer screen? Is it too hot in your cube? Try to fix these external factors to make your work environment the most comfortable and conducive to productivity.

7. Exercise regularly. Besides your little walking breaks at work, be sure to schedule some exercise time at home and on the weekends. You don’t need to compete in “ironman” competitions to feel the positive effects of exercise. A simple walk or bike ride around your neighborhood works just as well.

8. Take up a hobby. Do you like to garden? Work jigsaw puzzles? Always wanted to learn to play an instrument? Do whatever it takes to give your mind a break and think of something other than work.

9. Read an escape novel. Get engrossed in a good book. Nothing transports you from the ugly grips of reality to a totally different place like reading.

10. Get plenty of rest. Even little things can easily get blown out of proportion if you’re tired and cranky. Coming to work well-rested may give you the gumption you need to stare stress in the face and keep yourself from boiling over.

As depressing as it might be, it’s just about that time again. No, Brewer fans, I don’t mean baseball season (though the countdown is underway in our house). It’s nearly as scary as the Brew Crew, though. Taxes! The time when people grab boxes of papers and head for the dining room tablemuttering beneath their breaths, as children and animals run in the other direction.

This is one of those duties that I’ve somehow avoided taking care of for……well, forever. Having a phobia of anything associated with numbers has an occasional perk, I guess. Er, I don’t mean I avoid paying taxes, I mean my husband does the grunt work. I avoid the nasty work, not the nasty taxes. Thought I should clear that up, I have enough trouble with speeding, I don’t need anything else on my resume.

Anyway, back to the husband. Since he started using software to do our taxes, the muttering beneath the breath has gone away. Software, such as the one pictured by TurboTax is up-to-date with the newest tax laws and affords you the fastest return possible (Use e-file and get your money as few as 10 days.). These software programs guide you step by step and take the edge off the headache that is tax season.

Discount Office Supplies has all the tax forms, office supplies and software you’ll need for tax season. They also offer free shipping on most orders over $50.00.

Dixcount Office Supplies.com would be a great place to check the next time you’re shopping for something office-related. They’ll save you money and that’s always a great thing.

Our good friend Martin, over at Home Office Voice was the host for the Carnival of Marketing this past week.

Drop by and read all the good material that he rounded up for you.

I’ll be the host of the Carnival in 2 weeks, over at Simplenomics.

Watch for a Bud Light ad during the Super Bowl. They’re going to do a commercial where someone hides bottles of Bud Light around the office to motivate the employees.

I’d be more inclined to get motivated if the hid sleeves of golf balls, but to each their own.

Also, Careerbuilder is bringing back their office chimps, so watch for that one, as well.

Via LifeHack, I just found a great read done by Linda Tischler for Fast Company.

If you live in an 8 X 9 world, you’ll get something you can use.

If you don’t, you’ll get something you can use.

Here’s a little snippet to entice you to click thru :

” Office-design companies are struggling to remedy the problem. Herman Miller is rethinking both the cubicle and the office landscape and plans to unveil new designs in the near future. Its engineers are experimenting with a signal light that could connect from your phone — or a Word document — to the name tag on your “workstation” (to Millerites, using the word “cubicle” is like cussing in church), glowing red if you don’t want to be interrupted. They’ve also developed a sound-muffling technology that allows workers who deal with confidential information to have voice privacy, although it creates too much of a din for widespread adoption. “

I hate wires. I really, really hate them. The most annoying wire is the one connected to my mouse. I’ve tried a few mice and found some I really liked but the damned cords drive me crazy. They catch on everything! So I decided to pick up a cordless mouse. I wasn’t sure about this because in the past cordless stuff was all IR, which sucks, or the batteries would die so quick it made them useless. I picked up two different cordless mice.

First up is the Kensington PilotMouse Wireless Laser Mouse which was on sale for $24.99, normally $51.99 (odd price). I got this one for work since it was cheap. The only thing I don’t like about it is that it takes batteries, however, they do last a while. The mouse also has some real heft to it, which I like. I’ve got big mits and I like for my mouse (and game controller or whatever else) to feal “real” in my hands. I hate how fake cheap things feel. This mouse doesn’t have a lot of features. It’s a laser mouse which means it’s very accurate and it has your standard 3 buttons (left, right, scroll) and I love it. It just works. It also has an on / off switch and smart power to help conserve batteries.

I got a little more serious for the home office. I picked up the Logitech MX1000 Laser Cordless Mouse which runs about $79.99 and has a few extra features. The big plus is this one has a recharge cradle and uses a lithium ion battery. Like the Kensignton, this one features an on / off switch as well as smart power usage but also has a 3 level battery indicator, which rocks. It’s also got some real heft to it and works like a dream. It has a forward / back button (I haven’t figured out how to use yet) and up / down / left / right scroll wheel, a “page up / page down” button by the wheel and on the left side (easy for thumbing) is a quick access button to Logitech’s task switcher. For those of you with Expose on the Mac, well, this isn’t anywhere near as good, but it’s a much better task switcher than the default. It doesn’t look as good, but it works and is pretty fast, which I like.

And to round out the productivity of having a cordless mouse I got me a jumbo sized mouse pad for both work and home. Aeryn already had one and I thought it was a pretty good idea. It takes up a lot of desk space but it’s well worth it. I couldn’t take another day of my mouse catching on the edge of the mouse pad. I’ve tried mouse bungies and other contraptions but nothing works as well as a cordless mouse + a jumbo mouse pad. I can’t find the link to it, but most office supply stores carry a jumbo or XL sized mouse pad, somewhere in the 17″ by 24″ range (or larger). It may seem big but once you try it you probably won’t go back. I know I won’t. I love it!