Archive for February, 2010
Optimize your Home Office to be a More Productive Home Based Business
Working in a home-based business takes dedication to its setup and maintenance, to run smoothly. Whether you work for a large company as a home agent or fully on your own, its important to train yourself to use time wisely and efficiently. Having worked independantly both for corporations and for myself, here are some tips I use to stay focused and organized, despite distractions.
First of all, create a comfortable Office for yourself. But not too comfortable, or you won’t want to work. For example, I bought a big, cushy massage recliner for my desk chair, to go with my big
mahogany desk. They both took up the whole room. Being the supervisor in sales for a large corporation from home, I close sales other salespeople can’t. But, during the period of time when the overly comfortable recliner was in my office (about a month), my sales plummeted. My best guess is that my motivation was lessened by the fact that the chair was too darned comfortable. That must be why there are so many office chairs that are not all that comfortable but are popular. So, I went and bought a normal executive chair which reclined somewhat, but wasn’t overly fancy. That did the trick. My sales went back up to par and stayed there. The recliner is now in the living room, where it belongs.
Make sure the room where your office is, is large enough. I moved my huge desk into another room to give more space, since the room it had been in was too small for it. Now, with room to move, space to work in and a chair that keeps me from getting too comfortable, I’m in business.
Another issue that can matter in the home office environment is knicknacks. Working in corporate headquarters previously, I saw cubicles decorated in every way. Each person has whatever works best for them. Some tape trolls to the top of their monitors, there should be a law against this, in my mind. One time I was working at someone’s desk who had far too many chotchkes and picture frames. Every time I turned around, something fell over. Thank goodness I was only there an hour, but it wasn’t the most productive hour, due to having to tiptoe around her stuff. But hey, whatever floats your boat for maximum work effectiveness, some don’t mind working this way. Find what works for you. I have a few things on my desk for motivational purposes, including my cat, who refuses to leave my desk alone. But, it’s not cluttered to the point that work suffers. It’s all about usability, is your desk arranged in an efficient way so you can get to supplies and papers quickly, if needed? Working on the phone and computer, this is important for me.
A contributing factor to working at home is family interference. If you have children, you know what I’m talking about. Teach everyone to leave you alone during work time, unless there is a true emergency to attend to. Hire a sitter, if need be. During work time, keep your office door closed. The idea is to focus, and it is easier to focus in peace, free from distractions. If your pets are distracting, they too must stay outside the room. My cat sleeps under my lamp, so I’m lucky. If he wakes up and begins stomping all over the computer keyboard, I put him out in the living room, and close my door. Loud pets can be disruptive, especially if you work on the phones like I do. It doesn’t hurt the loud pet to be out in the garage or another part of the house while you work. Or, feed the animal, then he’s too busy eating to be in your office making noise. Be creative in ways to find distractions for those who distract you, in advance of work time. So when you are working, you don’t need to stop and figure it out then.
Also, turn off cellphones, and tell friends not to call you during work time. Then, keep this boundary. If they call, tell them you’ll call back after work or on a break. It’s tempting to get sidetracked by others, but they interfere with making money by interrupting you during time you’ve allotted for business. This is hard, I know, but a necessary issue to keep you focused and serious about your work.
Take breaks, especially if you feel stressed. It’s a proven fact that working straight without breaks makes the quality of work go down. So, when you need a break, take one. Get up and do something relaxing. Or, if nothing else, go get some coffee. Then, your mindset will be more positive and refreshed when the break is over. Quality work is important, more than quanitity. I am a workaholic and work ten or more hours a day. So, I take a lot of short, 5-minute breaks for mental rejeuvenation(coffee helps me for a physical boost) to keep everything on track.
Dress for work in business casual attire, not in pajamas, when working from home. It keeps me in a more professional mindset and reminds me that I have real work to accomplish, not just some chore to get out of bed to do. Maybe later, when your business is fancier and you have more freetime, you can change your working ways, but in the building and maintenance of a small business, it pays to be more disciplined and businesslike.
By taking your work seriously, planning your office, time and tasks, working at home is a snap. It just takes a little re-training of values, and some patience but it becomes comfortable to have structure after awhile. Just make sure to stop to smell the coffee, here and there, to maintain your concentration and drive. Owning a business is all about drive, logic and persistence. Many successful entrepreneurs work most of the time and make good use of their limited time. People I know like this enjoy what they do, because they’ve figured out how to make it work for them. That is your job as an independant consultant. Figure out exactly what works mentally and physically for you, and you’re on your way to business success.
Carolyn McFann
http://www.articlesbase.com/entrepreneurship-articles/optimize-your-home-office-to-be-a-more-productive-home-based-business-126046.html
Tips for Moving Your Office
You may not have thought about how or why an office move differs from a residential move. While moving from your house or apartment to a different one is a sensitive process which requires professional care for the most satisfactory results, an Office move is, also. The difference is an office move generally has a few extra considerations. This does not mean the job is more difficult– it only means you need the experts to get it done the right way.
One factor is that an office move consists of much different items. Depending upon the type of company you work for, this can include anything from large Office Equipment to confidential documents to tiny Office Supplies. You want everything to get to where it is going– in perfect condition. This means confidential material not being tampered with, equipment not being damaged, and nothing getting lost. No matter how much time and patience you may have, packing and moving all of these items securely and safely is a job for the experts. Everything will be treated with the utmost of care, and will arrive at your new office location in perfect shape.
When you are moving your office, timing is everything. You do not want to lose any time from your business due to your office property not arriving on schedule. When you secure a moving service for this task, everything you need for your new office will be there when you expect delivery. All you will need to do is be ready to get back to work. Time is money.
Whether you are moving your own individual office, or the office space of your entire company, the key word is Efficiency. You will not find any other method of moving that is more efficient than a professional moving service. Not only does it keep in mind how essential it is for everything to be handled carefully and kept in top-notch condition before, during, and after the move; it also places the highest standard of priority on your time. It is by far the very best way to get the job done– exactly how and exactly when you need it.
Nate Luttinger
http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/tips-for-moving-your-office-687132.html
Document Archiving Systems Must Start With a Look at User Requirements
In the age of paper documents, archives typically meant physical repositories of historical documents. Documents that were no longer needed for current operations were transferred to a secure storage facility to which only a few people had access. Active documents were stored in filing cabinets in a room adjacent to the Office for easy access.
With the appearance of computer document storage, it’s doubtful whether archiving a document makes it a purely historical document. Computer media can store vast volumes of documents and make them extensively searchable. Historical documents can then be used for daily operations, such as when a marketing manager studies the lifecycle behavior of products.
Computer-based document archiving also opens up many possibilities that were simply unattainable in the paper based era. Document archiving systems now have to meet varied requirements, instead of just the company historian’s.
What Information Will Users Look for?
Historians might be interested in what happened on particular dates and during particular periods. A comparatively simple system of cataloging and indexing (which were highly labor-intensive and painstaking exercises in the paper era) to meet historical research requirements might have sufficed then.
Today’s decision-support information search requires far more elaborate indexing that can accommodate flexible search capabilities. Additionally, if the document archiving system can generate certain types of commonly requested reports (a comparatively simple task using today’s computer databases) the value added will be great. For example, a possible request might be for sales trends of different products, current and obsolete.
To meet such requirements, the IT person developing the document archiving system must interact with users of the system. Technical issues must support user requirements, instead of being the primary system driver. Different categories of users, and the typical requirements of each category, must be identified.
Who Will Access the Documents and What Security Procedures Must Be Built-in?
In these days of SCM (supply chain management) and CRM (customer relationship management), with systems of different organizations integrated to some extent, even external users might access a company’s documents. In such a context, it becomes extremely important to ensure that users are able to see only what they’re authorized to see. The system of permissions and passwords to access documents must be robust and tailored to the new environment.
Here again, the archiving-system designer has to interact with users and identify the specific requirements before starting the development exercise. Archiving systems become business applications instead of just archiving systems.
Looking at Technological Developments
Information technology is developing fast, and if the document archiving system designer can implement a system that consist of small modules, which can be modified easily, the life of the system can be extended significantly.
This should be the main technological focus of today’s application designers. Such an elaborately modular design can also make routine maintenance and troubleshooting more efficient and fruitful.
Today’s document archiving systems are thus applications, distinct from transaction-processing applications in that they’re designed for querying and analysis instead of processing transactions.
Manuel J. Montesino
http://www.articlesbase.com/software-articles/document-archiving-systems-must-start-with-a-look-at-user-requirements-672800.html
Mitchell and Webb’s Office Olympics – BBC Comedy Extra
More info:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/extra/
The Office Olympics features a wide variety of events for the able and not so able office worker. The pentathlon which includes speed data entry, coffee cup curling, target elastic band firing, con the boss, and paper basketball is a highlight. But for many the gold ribbon event remains the cross office sprint on Office chairs propelled only by Office Equipment. This animation was first heard as a sketch on the Radio 4 series “That Mitchell and Webb Sound”.
Duration : 0:4:12
Garden Mulcher shredder shows paper shredding and manure Red Roo
http://www.redroo.com.au Garden Mulcher shredder shows paper shredding and manure. We shred branches leaves and sticks. Outdoor garden waste recycling for landscaping.
Redroo has been been manufacturing chipper mulcher shredders since 1991. Woodchipping capacity is rated at 80mm 3inches Shredding capacity is 19mm 3/4inch
Mulch is ideal for moisture retention, weed suppression, and soil enrichment.
http://www.redroo.com.au
Duration : 0:4:12
Globodox-Document Management.avi
eDocument Management Solution is a Document Management Company providing services to SMME’s, Corporates & Government. Our services include : Scanning, Indexing, Storage (Offsite). Our Document Management Software products are by far the best in terms of affordability as well as technology.
Leading Document Management Solutions Provider in South Africa.
Contact : daya@electronicdocuman.com
www.electronicdocuman.com
Duration : 0:1:37
Is it better to lease or buy office equipment?
I have been put in charge of finding the most cost effective scanner or copier/scanner for the Office. Is it more cost effective to buy the scanner outright or lease one and pay a per copy fee?
It really depends on how long you are planning on keeping the equipment for, and the current cash flow situation of the company. If you are intending on keeping the equipment for say 24 months, and then getting new equipment, it might make sense to lease, and let the leasing company take the equipment back after the term of the lease. If it might be something to hold onto a bit longer, it probably ends up being something to purchase outright.
Also, another item to take into consideration is the current cash flow situation. If you cannot afford to put the amount of the purchase down right now, you have no choice but to lease. If you can afford it, it’s better to purchase it, unless you want a possible tax deduction on the interest.
Good luck!
Can cross cut paper shredders cut staples and credit cards?
It depends.
Some shredders are able to handle staples and credit cards and some can even handle paper clips. It mostly depends on how small the cut is. For high security shredding it is not possible to do metal or other things because the cut is so small. But for what is considered a level 3 ( the lowest cross cut security level-appropriate for most individuals and general small businesses) most of these machines can handle staples paper clips, credits cards and even CDs.
Here are a couple examples:
This one can cut all—
http://www.monomachines.com/Shredders/DestroyIt-2240-Strip-Cut-Shredder.htm
This one is more limited(only paper)—
http://www.monomachines.com/Shredders/DestroyIt-4005-Super-Micro-Cut-Shredder.htm
It is important to check with specifications of each shredder to make sure it is rated for the object you are planning to put in it before doing so because jams can get very messy. If in doubt I would error on the safe side and not put it in with staples or other metal.
What are the most important features we should be looking for in an engineering document management system?
I usually get $125.00 an hour to answer a question like this, but let me point you in the right direction.
Questions you need to ask?
What is the amount of documents stored on a daily / weekly basis?
Who is to have access to it?
Do clients and / or staff need access to it from remote locations?
Will multiple Offices need access, and if so, are they on the same network? Does it need to be accessible over the Internet?
Will the documents need to ever be faxed, and if so, should the system have fax capabilities?
Give me some additional information, maybe I can help you narrow this down a bit.
How can I get free office supplies?
We are looking for Office Supplies like paper, pens, tape folders etc. I have been online looking for free sites and found a few but was wondering if anyone knew of some others.
Thanks
you might check with freecycle.org