Category: Office Life
11 Gadgets You Should Have on Your Office Wishlist
Sometimes I get a case of the “gimmes.” I have a whole bunch of wish lists on Amazon.com for various different aspects of life: home, work, for the kid, Kitchen à la Alton Brown, and yes, I even have one called “for when I’m rich.” This is a list ofRead More
The Pursuit For Perfection
I spent quite a bit of time during my vacation watching the Olympics…I really got behind my home team doing so well across the board. (Yes, I’m Canadian.) All of the athletes really pulled together and put forth a herculean effort to make the most of their experience. This justRead More
Bureaucratic Bellwethers & Barometers
Most of us would agree that our jobs are made less pleasant by all sorts of things we can’t control, from the fluorescent lights and gray cubicle felt to the cranky copier and the underpowered microwave. There are human problems, including bullies, liars, and people who watch soap operas on tinyRead More
Cut the Corporate Speak
Do your eyes glaze over with the vacant stare of a dairy cow when reading most company websites, brochures, case studies, and white papers? Once I interviewed with a company whose tag line was Trust. Value. Integrity. It took me forever to figure out what their business was. After scouringRead More
Meetings 101: Always Bring Something to the Table
During family dinners in my household, we’d all bring an item from the kitchen to the table. None was exempt from this ritual. No matter who cooked dinner that night, everyone ended up contributing to the meal because of what they brought to the table. What they brought was incidental–theRead More
Declutter Your Desk with a General Reference Filing System
First, a confession. I don’t do what I’m about to recommend, at least not anymore. My current job involves zero paperwork, but in my previous, paper-based job, I was able to manage a mountain of paperwork while maintaining a pristinely clean desk. If you’re willing to put in a fewRead More
Work Unplugged: Going Off The Grid
“Inaction speaks louder than words.” – Mike Vardy I’ve always wanted to quote myself. Call it self-adulation or self-indulgence if you will, but there’s a truth behind it: not making progress on something often can’t be saved by reasoning or excuses. You need to see things through to the end.Read More
The 4 Top Concerns of An Older Worker
For any of you who have gotten a little long-in-the-tooth, you probably have some of the same concerns as I have. You may have friends or co-workers who have been let go under, let’s call them, sketchy circumstances. The party line was that there was a layoff or a re-organization,Read More