Alternatives to Traditional Offices

I awoke in the middle of the night last night with a thought- people’s workspaces are designed to keep them chained to their desk.  (work must be subconciously bugging my brain if I wake up with deep thoughts about being chained to a desk…)

Look at your desk.  You’ve got your computer monitor, keyboard, and mouse.  Then you’ve got your cell phone, within arms-length of the computer.  The trash can (and hopefully recycling bin) are also within reach.  If you’ve got a calendar on the wall, it’s probably just a couple inches away.  You almost never have to leave your desk during the day.  And in an environment like that, it’s easy to get lazy, physically AND mentally.  Creativity, innovation, and development can all slow down when there’s no need for you to turn more than a few inches in either direction for a full 8 hours every day.  And forget motivation.  Motivation is draining away.

Why not change the way we work by literally changing the way we work?  I thought I’d experiment with this. 

I put my trash and recycling bins directly behind me across the office.  Now I have to not only turn completely away from the computer to throw something out, I have to either throw it for real (which is just plain fun) or get up and bring it to the can.  Either way, I’m moving more than I was before.  AND I’m allowing myself to stop focusing on my computer for a few seconds, which almost always distracts me into doing something else.  And anything that gets a tech-obsessed person like myself away from the computer is a good thing.

I do resume reviews on top of my bookshelf.  No, I’m not perched up there, but I am standing completely and resting my arms on top of it.  It’s the perfect height to stand and correct resumes, again, getting me out of my chair and moving around.  And, again, it focuses my attention away from the computer and more towards my immediate environment.

I take a few minutes every day to sit in the chairs on the other side of my desk, where my students sit when they come in for advising.  I see how other people see my office.

I took down my lousy, uncreative bulletin board and created an inspiration board in it’s place.  This idea came straight from Daniel Pink’s book, A Whole New Mind.  I’ve already chronicled my love for the inspiration board here.

What ways can you see yourself reorganizing your workspace to change your behavior, your motivation, your creativity, and your development?

ps- here is a version of my dream office.  pps- it’s in my home.  Some day!

FedEx Offers FREE Resume Printing!! March 10th Only

FedEx Office (used to be FedEx Kinkos) will offer free printing for people’s resumes on Tuesday, March 1oth.  Free and timely?  Now that’s handi.  Here are the details:

“The company invites customers to take advantage of this one-day event by visiting any of its 1,600+ FedEx Office Print and Ship Centers in the United States during regular business hours.  This offer is good for 25 black-and-white resume copies per customer and is only valid for orders placed and picked up in-store.  The copies will be printed single-sided on resume-quality paper.”

While it’s only 25 copies, it’s still a very nice gesture on their part, considering that if all 11.6 million unemployed Americans (according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics) took advantage of their deal, that would amount to 275 million free copies!  Press Release here.

Handi website- TinyURL

Alright, as you might have been able to tell, handiwork has taken a backseat to some of my other projects at the moment. (http://job.ology.com  and http://thedizzles.wordpress.com) but I think I’m ready to jump back into it! (As I write this, I picture myself posting this with every good intention to post something again soon, only to return 30 days later…).

Anyway, I discovered something that is probably old news for other bloggers out there, but might come in handi for some of you. It’s called http://tinyurl.com. If you need a web address (url) shortened for any reason, this is the place to do it! It’s free and easy and useful, several things that make it handi in my book.

Why would you need to shorten a URL? Here are a few reasons to get you started:

If you’re on Twitter (like I am finally!! www.twitter.com/briewr) you have a very finite number of characters you can use to post a message. If you want to alert someone to a website, long URLs can waste your characters. TinyURL shortens any website into, quite literally, a tiny URL.

If you want to send an online article around to friends or coworkers, and you want to make sure that they are able to paste the whole, unbroken URL into their web browswer to read it, TinyURL helps you to create as short a URL as possible, making it less likely that your link won’t work.

If your business has a website that other people need to use often, but the URL is too long to remember, TinyURL can make it short and memorable for you. An example: The college where I work has a job search website for students/alums. The original web address is ridiculously long and difficult to remember. If I want students to remember the website off the top of their heads, I’ll create a TinyURL for them.

Music at Work Relaxes and Motivates

I was sitting at my desk today when my computer suddenly started playing music.  A little Simon and Garfunkel, then some classical, and a dash of Vince Guaraldi (of Charlie Brown fame).  Funny enough, it was just what I needed at the end of a long, fast paced week (the first week back to school since winter break). 

Of course, I had pressed a random succession of keys that had accidentally opened my music player, but it got me thinking- what effect does music have on people at work, and how can we harness its powers for good?  Here’s what the pros have to say(from Elizabeth Scott, MS, of About.com). 

Depending on the type of music you listen to, it can actually have a very positive mental AND physical effect on you:

• Brain Waves: Research has shown that music with a strong beat can stimulate brainwaves to resonate in sync with the beat, with faster beats bringing sharper concentration and more alert thinking, and a slower tempo promoting a calm, meditative state.
• Breathing and Heart Rate: With alterations in brainwaves comes changes in other bodily functions. Those governed by the autonomic nervous system, such as breathing and heart rate can also be altered by the changes music can bring. This can mean slower breathing, slower heart rate, and an activation of the relaxation response, among other things.
• State of Mind: Music can also be used to bring a more positive state of mind, helping to keep depression and anxiety at bay. This can help prevent the stress response from wreaking havoc on the body, and can help keep creativity and optimism levels higher, bringing many other benefits.

How you can use music to relax and de-stress:

• Music can promote relaxation of tense muscles, enabling you to easily release some of the tension you carry from a stressful day (or week).
• Music, especially upbeat tunes, can take your mind off what stresses you, and help you feel more optimistic and positive.

And some recommendations for relaxing music?  I think this is too hard a question to answer for the masses, but these are on my playlist anytime I need to mellow out at work.  I find the fewer lyrics, the better while I’m at work, so I get less distracted. 

• Simon & Garfunkel, 59th street bridge, or pretty much anything else they did
• Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Count Basie, or any other 1940’s era big band
• Vince Guaraldi, A Charlie Brown Christmas Album (yes, anytime of year)
• Miles Davis anything
• Fleet Foxes (newish accoustic/harmonic band from Seattle)
• Beach Boys, Pet Sounds album
• Debussey for Daydreamers (classical)
• Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds
• I Am Sam soundtrack
• Paul Simon, Graceland

Ciao, Handiwork is off to Italy!

handiwork will be offline until Monday, January 12th for a trip to Italy!! Have a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year, and stay tuned for posts in the New Year!