Category Archives: Trends

Whiteboard vs Glassboard – Which is Right for You?

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So you want to update your workspace, or you’re looking to add some collaboration tools to your office.  A board for writing down ideas or to-do lists is just what you need! With many choices now available for dry-erase boards, it can be hard to determine which one is right for you.  Here, we’ve broken down the differences in all the options available and describe the pros and cons of each to help you narrow down the best option for you. 

Whiteboards

First we start with the more traditional, Whiteboards.  You may be surprised to learn that not every whiteboard is made equal.  Here you have 3 different material options:

  1. Porcelain – these durable boards have a smooth porcelain surface and steel-backing to make the board magnetic. The porcelain is non-porous, which prevents ink from penetrating the surface and permanently staining. Porcelain boards are heavier than the other options, which will require a sturdy place to mount the board and multiple people to help with the installation.
  2. Painted Steel – these are your classic-style whiteboards and most commonly found.  Made with a steel-backing, then coated with a white base colour and clear coating which gives the board its dry-erase ability.  These boards do not last as long as porcelain, but with consistent cleaning the life of the surface can be extended.
  3. Melamine – these are the most cost effective whiteboards and ideal for personal or occasional use.  Melamine boards are not magnetic and the surface coating is not as durable as the other whiteboard options. 

Glassboards

Glassboards tend to be more expensive than whiteboards but glassboards are generally longer lasting, more durable and have a premium look within an office environment.

Made with tempered glass, these boards are extremely durable and will not scratch or dent.  The smooth glass surface will not leave stains or ghosted writing behind.

Although they are the more expensive option, their longevity and high quality make them a good investment.

Board Comparison Chart

Source:  https://www.quartet.com/quartet-blog/buyers-guide/the-difference-between-whiteboard-surface-types/

How to Handle Stress – Some tips to help bring the balance back!

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We all lead busy lives so it is important that we take responsibility for our health and learn how to cope with stress when it hits. There are four pillars of health – mental, physical, financial and career – that each person needs to keep in balance. It will make a large impact on a person if two of the four pillars are in negative territory which results in a drop of productivity.

The first step in keeping balance is to build resilience by exercising, eating properly, and spending time in nature. If you are able to build resilience, you will have more psychological wellness and if you are hit by stress, you won’t be impacted as hard. Another thing you can do is check out your company’s employee assistance program to get a rating for your health. The program helps to find the aspects of a person’s life that are causing stress. Once the cause is determined, the company’s employee assistance program can provide you with the help you need, such as a councilor or financial planner.

Businessman Dealing With Stress

Three steps to reduce day-to-day stress:

1. Learn tactics to reduce stress

If you find that you are stressed because of a large list of tasks you have to complete or by a large project, try breaking them into smaller chunks and tackle each task one at a time. Typically when a person is able to check off finished work at a relatively fast rate, they start to feel more productive and less stressed.

2. Deal immediately with a tough task

It’s best to tackle a tough task as soon as possible, as we tend to let our heads get the best of us. Instead of waiting until the end of the day to deal with your “to-do” project, deal with it as early as you can. By dealing with tasks right away, we save ourselves a day of stress and worrying.

3. Know when to ask for help

Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you’re feeling stressed and aren’t sure what to do. There will always be someone willing to help.

Seven steps to building resilience

1. Exercise

Exercise is always important, especially when stressed. It helps to clear your mind and get rid of stress by allowing you to calm your breathing. Exercises such as yoga and streching helpsthe body and mind relax.

Try starting off with going for a half-hour walk every day. If you feel stressed during work, take some time out of your lunch break to take a walk. If you’re able to, try to arrange walking meetings or have a friendly office competition by having all colleagues wear pedometers and see who can take the most steps in a week.

2. Eat right

Make sure you’re eating the proper amount of food and nutrients your body needs. You don’t want to be under eating or overeating as that can make an impact on stress and lead to other problems.

3. Get enough sleep

Everything is harder when we are running on little sleep, so it is important to get quality sleep every night.

4. Spend time with friends and family

Take the time to spend time with friends as family as they can help take your mind off of the every day routine and make you feel better overall.

5. Spend time in nature

Spending time in nature allows us to refocus, relax, and get away from technology and other collaborative means of staying “connected” to everything.

6. Focus on spirituality

Whether through organized religion, star-gazing, meditating or simply time spent contemplating life, give yourself a chance to stop and think about topics beyond the daily routine.

7. Be involved with your community

Helping others helps us feel better about ourselves.

How to Write a Daily “Done” List

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With our busy lives being ruled by never-ending to-do lists, it’s hard to feel a sense of satisfaction when completing one task so that another can take its place. This is where a “done” list (from this article) containing everything you have completed comes into action. “Writing down what you get done focuses you on accomplishments and progress. You use your history to bring you forward,”.  By writing a “done” list, we get a sense of accomplishment which leads to motivation. Studies have shown that making headway on meaningful work brightens a person’s inner work life and boosts long-term progress.

The greatest thing about a done list is that it can capture much more of your daily activities than any to-do list can. All of the meeting progress, phone calls and emails that lead to decisions or prompt immediate action can be added to your done list. It’s perfect for those days when you’re running around all day, talking to people, making calls, responding to e-mails and filling out paperwork, and you get home and you’re completely exhausted and you say to yourself, ‘What … did I actually get done today?’.

A done list can be completed individually or in teams and tasks can be marked one-by-one or all at once. However, the most important part of the done list is the reflection. By keeping just a running list, you don’t get a higher-level understanding of what you have accomplished.

Business Man With Checkboxes

Here is what you should think about during you reflection:

1. What did I get done today?

This can include not only large tasks but all of the small ones as well.

2. What did I make progress on today?

Even on the most frustrating days, there is always something that has been made progress on.

3. What stood out today and how did it make me feel?

Our emotions get left out of discussions on productivity, so we want to add them to the reflection as we can start to see trends in what actions link to certain emotions.

4. What did I do today that I especially want to remember tomorrow?

This is great for achieving goals and making progress.

5. How can I turn negatives into progress tomorrow?

We all encounter setbacks and errors, so it is important for us to learn from these and look at them as experience rather than negativity.

6. What good have I done today?

This question should brush away negative feelings and leave you feeling positive about what you have accomplished.