The 20-20-20 Principle

Herman Miller is more than just a company that simply wants to make their products more comfortable. They have realized that if they can develop their products to a workers’ needs, then they will be an overall happier, and more productive employee.

The video we’re bringing you today is pretty cool. Not only does it explain how you should use your monitor’s placement, but it also introduces us to the 20-20-20 principle.

The 20-20-20 Principle is very simple: for every 20 minutes that you work, take 20 seconds to focus on an object that is 20 feet away. You will find your day to be much more productive. Check out the video below to find out some more tips on how to become a better, more comfortable employee.

When to Shut Down a Project

Let’s be honest with ourselves for a few minutes. Monday is probably the least fun day of the work week, and its definitely gotten this bad wrap because its at least partially true. With that said, today’s blog post focuses on another unpleasantry of office life: that awful point when it’s time to kill a project.

Not every single project is going to be successful, and sometimes that is a tough pill to swallow. However, the sooner you realize this, the sooner you’ll become even that much more of a productive employee.

Check out this video from Fast Company for some tips on how to spot unproductive projects:

HAPPY MONDAY!

5 Tips for Working Productively from Home

In today’s professional environment, many workers have the opportunity to work from home. While this does seem like a dream for many (and it actually can be a great idea for lot of people), it is also an exercise in professionalism. While working from home does offer many amenities that we often miss in the workplace, it also provides a unique set of challenges as well.

Here are 5 tips for working productively from home:

1. Set working hours. If you set working hours and commit yourself to them, you will get more done throughout these hours and it will aid in keeping yourself on task. Don’t forget that these hours don’t necessarily have to be 9am to 5pm either; if you’re a “night owl” it’s OK to work at night too.
2. Define, organize, and optimize your workspace. If you’re lucky enough to have a home office then you’ve pretty much got this one done already, but if you don’t don’t worry. Make your workspace comfortable, and treat it as you would at a regular office.
3. Make to-do lists. Don’t be afraid to make these lists daily. They will help you to stay on task and avoid procrastination.
4. Take a break. Don’t feel guilty if you need to step away from your work for a few minutes and relax. You’ve afforded yourself the opportunity of working from home, so don’t burn yourself out. It’s OK to tune our and relax for a few minutes.
5. Set boundaries with family and friends. Make it clear to family and friends that when you’re working you don’t want to be disturbed. Interruptions should only be for urgent matters.

Working from home can either be a blessing or a curse for you career, so you should take measures to make it work if you have such an opportunity. While these tips can certainly be helpful, don’t forget that there is no substitute for hard work!

Sit Better

We always want you to be comfortable, so today’s message is no different.

It’s simple, when you are comfortable you work better. For most of us, we are sitting while working and this is where our problems start. There’s nothing wrong with sitting back in your chair and using its full support. Moreover, you need to know what your chair is capable of so that you can utilize its full potential.

It is important to know that there are correct and incorrect ways to sit. Check out this video from Herman Miller about how to sit, and why it’s important.

After watching that video, are you fully satisfied with your work chair?

Less is More With Canvas Offices

Today’s workplace is less about physical presence, and more about technology, connection, and sustainability. To use a cliche phrase, less is actually more.

For example, at Workplace Resource we are proud to sell canvas office landscapes. Instead of being tethered to your desk like a traditional employee, canvas offices allow workers to harmoniously interact with their surroundings, which makes for an overall more enjoyable (and hopefully more productive and efficient) experience.

Check out the canvas office page here.

Don’t forget, less is more. Just like this blog post.

How to Make Working From Home More Productive

For many the thought of working from home is an absolute dream. Sitting in your favorite chair in your pajamas after your zer0-minute commute really doesn’t sound so bad. Working in an office is great, but seriously, wouldn’t it be cool to just work from home?

If you answered “yes” to that question, then you should be conscious of some pitfalls that arise through working from home, especially if you have a family. Here are six tips on how to achieve a healthy work-life balance when working from home:

1. Maintain regular office hours – This is extremely important when striving for a healthy balance between your work and personal lives. Establish hours when you will work and stick to them. It’s easy to log onto your work computer after dinner for a few minutes (and get roped in for hours), but if it’s past your work hours, don’t do it.
2. Establish a privacy system – This hint is important for those with families. Establish a “do not disturb” system, like a closed door or a door knob sign, so your family knows that you’re busy. Also, it could be helpful to have your family write questions that they have throughout the day on paper and hand them to you, which can be less disruptive than oral inquiries.
3. Lay some ground rules – Again, this is important for those with families as well. Make a list of activities that aren’t allowed during work hours, like your child’s clarinet practice, or your partner’s vacuuming. Conversely, make another list of activities that disallowed during family hours. For example, checking your work email, or answering your work phone.
4. Get an early start – Sure, it sounds great to wake up at 10 am and have a leisurely breakfast before reading the newspaper. However, you should avoid doing so. Wake up as you normally would and be most productive in the morning. At that point, you will have a lightened work load in the afternoon and you can slow down then.
5. Stay on task – For some, working from home is an exercise in staying on task. When you’re at home it’s easy to get distracted, so focus on two or three core tasks, as opposed to more numerous, smaller tasks, which will keep your productivity high throughout the day. Avoid becoming sidetracked and spending hours on Youtube or Wikipedia (the “random article” button has a mysterious, anti-productivity allure about it).
6. Protect your work with passwords – Another tip for those with families; keep your work password protected, especially if you’re doing work on a shared computer. The last thing you want is your children rearranging your spreadsheets after they have mistaken it for their homework.

Working from home can be a great experience, especially when you enjoy the company of your family. However, guidelines can aid in making your experience both a healthy and productive one, which will allow you to grow personally and professionally.

Work-Life Support Provides Organization-Wide Benefits

It is quite the understatement to say that we live in a world brimming with technology. Technological advances have provided us with rewarding healthcare, business, and social applications, but they have also come at a high price. It is almost impossible to not be connected these days, and that is exceedingly true for business professionals. Today, it’s very easy for the lines between your personal and professional life to become blurred.

The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index collects data on emotional and physical health, productivity, healthy behavior, and the overall work environment, and has been doing so since 2008. The index data for 2011 indicate that worker’s attitudes toward the work environment are unfortunately at an all time low.

These low results have prompted key organizational decision-makers to implement changes; an emphasis on the importance of environmental flexibility, flex time, and group health initiatives are now being emphasizes like never before. Overall, senior mangers and executives want their employees to feel that their employer cares about them. Organizations are finding out that by providing work-life support they are positively influencing their company’s growth, profitability, brand, and level of employee engagement. Truly a “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” scenario.

Overall, the message is that if you provide your employees with beneficial, healthy initiatives they will in turn work harder, and better for you as an employer.

Four Tips to Make Your Home Office More Productive

Working from home isn’t for everyone. From a productivity standpoint, it can either be your best friend or your worst nightmare. Working at home requires personal discipline and a strict schedule to keep yourself on task. While working from home may not be for everyone, here are four tips to help you be more productive when working from home:

1. Have a network based printer/scanner/copier/fax machine – These four-in-one devices are great for those who are working from home. Not only do these devices use less physical space, but they allow users print and copy documents, and digitize items for electronic records. For the rare cases when you might actually need a fax machine, you’re in luck too.
2. Invest in an active offsite PC backup tool – A product like Carbonite is great because it automatically backs up your computer, so you don’t have to worry about doing so. Many of such products are cloud-based, meaning you are able to access your files when you are away from your home computer. These programs can even be a lifesaver in the rare event that you actually forget a file while traveling; you can still access it.
3. High speed internet connectivity – This tip is simple: the less time you waste waiting for files to load, the more time you can devote to your work.
4. Make your workspace comfortable – When you feel better, you work better. We cannot emphasize the importance of a well-designed workspace enough; don’t be afraid to design your workspace to your specifications. After all, you are indeed in your home.

Hopefully these tips are useful, and if you can think of some yourself don’t be afraid to pass them along. If they are good enough we will showcase them on our blog as well!

Herman Miller and HP Talk Ergonomics

When you are at your workstation and you begin to feel uncomfortable with your posture, what is your reaction? Do you simply ignore it and keep working? Do you adjust your position to one that is more comfortable, and then realize you can’t reach your computer? Do you wait until your neighbor goes to the water cooler and steal their chair? (That is a horrible idea.)  Herman Miller and HP are working together to solve this ever-present workplace problem.

It is important to move around throughout the day and Herman Miller and HP have teamed up to create products that are conducive to our necessary, daily movements. These products were designed with comfort in mind, and go along with the old adage, ” When you feel good, you work good.”

Check out Herman Miller’s Thrive Portfolio of ergonomics to learn more.