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Make your office more productive, less frustrating
By Seth Porges |
May 17, 2009, Sunday
|
Online Edition
Online Edition
WHILE we often spend a lot of time and effort outfitting our homes and cars with great new gadgets, the office tends to be neglected. Most people simply take what their managers and IT departments give them. It's a shame, too, considering how much time most people spend behind their desks.
Stocking your office or cubicle with the right tools can go a long way toward making your work life more comfortable, more productive and less frustrating.
I've found four of my favorite devices that any workplace can benefit from.
Cooler desk
When you're at home, you're in charge of the thermostat, making it easy to stave off sweats and shivers. But step into an office and you're putting your climate-related comfort in somebody else's hands.
The Herman Miller C2 (US$280) is a desktop heater, cooler and air filter, aptly able to raise the temperature by about 30 degrees or lower it by seven. And it does so from any electrical outlet without any emissions.
Since it only affects the area directly in front of it, it is far more energy efficient than a whole-room heater or cooler.
In practice, it works very well, takes up little desk space and looks slick enough to keep from being an eyesore (it resembles an oversized salt shaker).
It becomes an indispensable part of my desktop set-up (I work best in cold environments). One downside: it's a bit noisy, particularly when the power is cranked to the max.
Invisible cubicle wall
When you're in a cubicle or open-air office, everything you say can be overheard. While this may not be a problem for casual phone calls it can make it difficult to have private conversations.
The Babble Sound Management System (US$695) from Herman Miller's Sonare unit acts like an invisible office wall, giving you privacy for phone calls, even in open offices.
The Babble, a box smaller than an average desk phone, hooks into your telephone and grabs random snippets of your conversation. While you talk, it plays these fragments out through a built-in speaker in such a way that, to the people around you, your conversation is incomprehensible through the din.
The effect is akin to a single voice being drowned out by a cocktail party. Though it's likely to annoy your co-workers if used too frequently, it's surprisingly non-distracting for its user or the person on the other end of the phone.
Paper shredder that never jams
Fellowes' Intellishred PS-79Ci paper shredder (US$200) purports to never jam, ever. According to the manufacturer, the shredder features a built-in sensor that causes it to stop when overwhelmed, allowing you to easily remove the unshredded paper without facing a jam.
If the paper is fed at an odd angle (a common cause of jams), the shredder just powers through it, choosing to chop instead of stop. While the blanket "never jam" claim is a bit difficult to test fully, it held up through all the abuse I could give it, which included reams of paper, credit cards and CDs.
Add screen space
The first time you use a multiple monitor set-up can be a revelation. When you are no longer faced with the task of shuffling windows around on limited screen space, productivity rises and frustration falls.
But adding to your virtual desktop can mean giving up a lot of space on your physical desk.Samsung Electronics 2263DX Dual Display Monitor (US$500) strikes a middle ground - it augments the main 22-inch (56-centimeter) display with a secondary 7-inch screen.
Because the smaller screen attaches to the main monitor, snapping into place on the top or side, it allows you to add screen space without taking up desk space.
While the 7-inch screen isn't big enough for serious work (and may be disappointing to anybody who's already hooked on a several-screen set-up), it's an ideal place to stash instant messages, e-mails, or Photoshop palettes.
Stocking your office or cubicle with the right tools can go a long way toward making your work life more comfortable, more productive and less frustrating.
I've found four of my favorite devices that any workplace can benefit from.
Cooler desk
When you're at home, you're in charge of the thermostat, making it easy to stave off sweats and shivers. But step into an office and you're putting your climate-related comfort in somebody else's hands.
The Herman Miller C2 (US$280) is a desktop heater, cooler and air filter, aptly able to raise the temperature by about 30 degrees or lower it by seven. And it does so from any electrical outlet without any emissions.
Since it only affects the area directly in front of it, it is far more energy efficient than a whole-room heater or cooler.
In practice, it works very well, takes up little desk space and looks slick enough to keep from being an eyesore (it resembles an oversized salt shaker).
It becomes an indispensable part of my desktop set-up (I work best in cold environments). One downside: it's a bit noisy, particularly when the power is cranked to the max.
Invisible cubicle wall
When you're in a cubicle or open-air office, everything you say can be overheard. While this may not be a problem for casual phone calls it can make it difficult to have private conversations.
The Babble Sound Management System (US$695) from Herman Miller's Sonare unit acts like an invisible office wall, giving you privacy for phone calls, even in open offices.
The Babble, a box smaller than an average desk phone, hooks into your telephone and grabs random snippets of your conversation. While you talk, it plays these fragments out through a built-in speaker in such a way that, to the people around you, your conversation is incomprehensible through the din.
The effect is akin to a single voice being drowned out by a cocktail party. Though it's likely to annoy your co-workers if used too frequently, it's surprisingly non-distracting for its user or the person on the other end of the phone.
Paper shredder that never jams
Fellowes' Intellishred PS-79Ci paper shredder (US$200) purports to never jam, ever. According to the manufacturer, the shredder features a built-in sensor that causes it to stop when overwhelmed, allowing you to easily remove the unshredded paper without facing a jam.
If the paper is fed at an odd angle (a common cause of jams), the shredder just powers through it, choosing to chop instead of stop. While the blanket "never jam" claim is a bit difficult to test fully, it held up through all the abuse I could give it, which included reams of paper, credit cards and CDs.
Add screen space
The first time you use a multiple monitor set-up can be a revelation. When you are no longer faced with the task of shuffling windows around on limited screen space, productivity rises and frustration falls.
But adding to your virtual desktop can mean giving up a lot of space on your physical desk.Samsung Electronics 2263DX Dual Display Monitor (US$500) strikes a middle ground - it augments the main 22-inch (56-centimeter) display with a secondary 7-inch screen.
Because the smaller screen attaches to the main monitor, snapping into place on the top or side, it allows you to add screen space without taking up desk space.
While the 7-inch screen isn't big enough for serious work (and may be disappointing to anybody who's already hooked on a several-screen set-up), it's an ideal place to stash instant messages, e-mails, or Photoshop palettes.
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