Tag Archives: Office Misadventures

Mark Your Calendar: 2014 To Be the Best Year Yet

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If not for the angry growls coming from my stomach, I wouldn’t have noticed it was already lunchtime. I decide to peel myself away from my desk and grab my turkey avocado sandwich from the fridge in the shared kitchen. On the way back to my office, I bump into Marsha all bundled up in her winter coat and scarf. “A few of us are heading to the café across the street for lunch,” she says. “Care to join?”

I wish. The truth is, I have way too much to do to even consider a lunch beyond the confines of my desk. In fact, I don’t think I have had a lunch over the last two months that didn’t come with a side order of email checking, number crunching or presentation building. “Ah, can’t today. Thanks though – maybe next time.”

It’s just that time of year. On top of my daily workload, I’ve been scrambling to get budgets in and finalize employee bonuses. Not to mention, I’ve had to confirm last minute seasonal planning – including the end of year staff party and selecting this year’s holiday card to send out to clients. ‘Tis the season.

I spend the next hour working away, forgetting about my half eaten sandwich sitting on a plate beside my keyboard. Suddenly, a light tapping on the door interrupts me. “Come in.”

Marsha peeks around the corner. “I won’t bug you for long,” she says nervously. “We were just chatting over lunch about plans for next year…”

Her voice trails off. Or maybe I zone out, I’m not sure. Next year feels so far away – there’s still so much to be done this year.

“We were hoping to meet with you to discuss some new strategies for success in 2014.”

2014 Goal Setting

“Yes, yes, of course. That sounds great.” I say, without moving my eyes away from the computer screen.

I know we need to be planning for the New Year before it actually arrives, I’m just so consumed with the final quarter of 2013 I haven’t had the chance to think about it.

“We know your time is already spread thin with finalizing the last quarter,” she says, as if she’s reading my mind. “So we thought we’d take the lead on this one. We spent our lunch hour assessing our progress this year and have come up with some objectives for 2014.”

Oh Marsha, always taking the initiative. I turn my full attention to her now.

“I was thinking we could set up a meeting to review the opportunities we’ve highlighted, but in the meantime I’ve mapped out some of our major deadlines using the At-A-Glance Monthly Calendar from this month’s Office Plus flyer.”

She holds out the flyer and points to the calendar section.

“I thought it might be helpful if we ordered some more calendars for the whole team so everyone has the same visibility. I don’t know about you, but it always helps for me to see these things in hardcopy, hanging on my wall, rather than hidden away in a digital calendar. Did you know explicitly writing down your goal makes you 10 times likelier to achieve it?”

It makes sense. Maybe mapping out our plans and seeing them in print will help keep us on track so I don’t have to scramble so much at the end of the year.

“Marsha, once again, well done. This all sounds excellent. Let’s go ahead with the order and set up a meeting for early next week.”

“Perfect!” She says, beaming with excitement. She leaves my office in a hurry, clearly afraid of disrupting me for any longer than need be.

I make a note on the ‘employee bonuses’ chart under Marsha’s name. She has most definitely earned it.

How Your Posture Affects Work Performance and Well-Being

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“Rona, how can you work like that?” Marsha asks, peering into my office.

“What do you mean?” I just tidied my office last week so it can’t be the usual clutter she is referring to.

“Sitting at the edge of your chair like that, all hunched over to read the screen.”

I sit back and straighten up. She’s right. The neck cramps were just starting to kick in. “Ah, bad habit,” I reply.

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She smiles at me sympathetically. “May I come in?”

“Sure, of course.” I wave her in. It’s not like I was having a productive morning anyway.

“I’ve been doing some research on office ergonomics,” Marsha begins. “I learned body posture has a significant impact on quality of work.”

Makes sense. I nod, encouraging her to continue. Marsha always comes up with these great ideas for improving our workplace. I wonder what she has up her sleeve this time.

“The most important solution is to take short breaks every 30 minutes,” she continues.

“Did Andy put you up to this?” I joke. It sounds like a classic Andy move – finding any excuse to get out of a full day of work.

“I know it sounds a bit crazy, but getting away from your desk periodically can actually improve productivity,” Marsha explains. “And that’s not all. There are also a number of products that are designed to improve your health when sitting at a desk all day.”

She sets this month’s Office Plus flyer on my desk and turns to page 2.
“See these Footrests?” She asks. “There’s also the Fellowes Mesh Backrest and Adjustable Keyboard Tray,” she says, pointing to each product.

I nod, feeling the pressure in my back begin to subside just thinking about it.

“This is what you need,” Marsha says, pointing to the Corner Monitor Riser. “It elevates your monitor to eye level. So no more hunching.”

“Marsha, this is fantastic. Let’s make an order and get all employees on the same page here.”

A wide grin spreads across Marsha’s cheeks. “I’m on it!” She says, hurrying out the door in excitement.

I look back at my computer screen, adjusting my chair to the proper height and pulling my shoulders back in efforts to fix my posture. It’s hard to do without the proper furniture and supplies.

Alright, 30 minutes until my next break, I smile to myself. Better make them productive.

You Can Never Have Too Many Pens

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I’m sitting in the boardroom at our monthly staff meeting, listening to Aditi go over our reports, when my pen suddenly runs dry.

I search frantically through my purse for a backup, trying to memorize the numbers Aditi rhymes off so I can be sure to jot them down for review.

Brigid, who is sitting in the chair across from me, slides a pen across the boardroom table and smiles warmly. I mouth the words “thank you,” and start scribbling away to catch up.

But I can’t help becoming distracted by the pen’s smooth, soft grip and archival quality. It glides across my notepad, leaving a smudge-free line of black ink behind.

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Aditi’s voice trails off and everyone starts to gather up their things and head for the door. I follow closely behind Brigid, handing her pen back to her.

“Keep it,” Brigid says. “I just got a pack of 12 from the Office Plus e-flyer.”

“Thanks!” I respond. “I’m going to have to get some for myself.”

“It’s the Jimnie Gel Rollerball Pen,” Brigid tells me, pulling the flyer up on her tablet as we walk back to our offices. “You save when you buy a pack of 12.”

I glance over her shoulder as she flips through the pages, stopping her as she scrolls past images of notepads. “I’m running low on these too,” I tell her.

“I like the Recycled Perforated Pads myself,” Brigid says. “High quality legal rule on one side and blank on the other – and made with 100% recycled paper.”

“Sounds perfect!”

“I’ll email you the flyer,” she says over her shoulder as we reach my office door and she continues down the hallway.

I sit down at my desk and carefully place Brigid’s pen in my penholder. Minutes later, I hear the familiar ding coming from my laptop and Brigid’s name pops up in my inbox.

I waste no time finding the pens and pads and sending in my order. Who knew you could get so excited about note taking? I decide to purchase two boxes of 12 – just in case someone asks to “borrow” a pen at the next board meeting. It doesn’t hurt to have a backup. Plus, you can never have too many pens.