Category Archives: Office Management

Sep10

5 Ways to Show Your Computer Some Love

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5 Ways to Show Your Computer Some Love

Aside from the bed, in front of a computer is where we spend most of lives. Well, that’s very true today. CNN reports that the average American spends more than 10 hrs a day staring at a screen – with computer screens taking up an average of 7 hours of that time. That number is still growing.

While we have no control over the amount of time we spend in front of a work computer – we can mitigate the unhealthy effect by doing some stretches and getting some activity into our daily routine. I’ve written about light stretches here.

Now back to the computer screen. If you are a normal office worker, you spend a lot of time in front of this device and for most people, work done in front of a PC is their bread and butter. You would want to take very good care of it to keep it in tiptop shape for many years to come and to maximize this very important investment.

Most PC’s have an average lifespan of 5 years – longer if you take care of it well. Here’s how to keep your PC in tiptop shape and make it last longer.

1. Keep it clean!
Nothing shows wear and tear like having a dirty screen and keyboard. Dust, dirt, and grime can cause PCs to malfunction and keyboard keys to stick. Fans clogged with dirt can cause your machine to overheat. A dirty screen can and will affect the display So wipe down your machine, use a keyboard vacuum or canned air to remove dirt from your keyboard and PC fan. Those food crumbs aren’t helping either, so brush or vacuum them out. Clean your screen with a microfiber cloth and a screen cleaner (never use a glass or window cleaner – that can dull out your display). And please, for the love of god, never place an uncovered coffee mug near your keyboard or laptop.

2. Cooling effect.
When the room temperature is high, your PC or laptop fan works overtime to cool down the device. So, help it along by NOT placing the PC or laptop in a hot place and keep it out of the sun. The glare won’t help your eyes either. Keep the device well ventilated to ensure that the fan can dissipate the heat from your device properly.

3. Update.
Always update your OS – it keep things running smoothly. Don’t forget to update your antivirus as well. Doing that will not only save your device but save your sanity.

4. Get a surge protector.
An electrical surge can fry your hard drive. If you are in an area prone to storms or electrical surges due to fluctuating power supplies, get a surge protector. Invest in a good one, otherwise, you might find yourself buying another machine.

5. Be careful.
Treat your machine with care. Don’t try to move PCs around – pick a spot and hunker down. Moving it around might dislodge parts in the machine. Carry your laptop like a fragile vase. Sure, they’re built to be mobile but don’t be willy-nilly and go about holding it on one hand with coffee on the other (disastrous results, trust me). Buy a nice padded case for it.

Got any other tips for computer care? Share them with us! Stay humble, hustle hard!

 

Written by Jaie O. The Help

Aug27

PC clean up

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PC clean up

The average shelf life of a desktop PC is 5 years. After that, bugs and kinks start to show up, and they show up earlier if you’re a heavy (and quite careless) user. If you want your desktop or laptop to run smoothly and prolong its life, you should set time aside to do annual checks. After all, we do it for our cars, our teeth, our cholesterol – why not do an annual “health check’ for the thing where you spend most of your work and social media life?

Digital clutter tends to accumulate when unchecked and create all kinds of havoc on our electronic devices: smartphones, tablets, PCs, and laptops. First, they slow down your devices, and then they turn it into an expensive paperweight.

So what can a non-techie person do? Fear not, you don’t have to be a computer expert to be able to clean up your gadgets. Here are some easy ways to control digital clutter. Be sure to do these every few months to make sure your electronic devices run smoothly

The easiest place to begin is the system desktop. The desktop (of your PC or laptop) is not a repository for documents or screenshots or downloads that you have not yet organized into its own folder. You should not just save things there because they don’t have a home. Either delete them or find a home for them.

Speaking of deleting items from your system desktop…empty out your recycle bin or trash. These files still take up space on your device, so clear them out. It’s the easiest way to free up some space on your device.

Photos also take up so much space and create clutter. Seriously, we take so many photos of the same thing at different angles hoping to chance upon the perfect picture. It’s amazing how much thought we put into getting the perfect shot. You’re not really thinking about posting all 10 selfies so might as well remove all selfies that do not do you justice. Choose your favorite pose (1 max!…ok, 2 then) and delete the rest where you’re just posing differently in the same place, wearing the same outfit.

Take a page from the minimalist book and meticulously delete or remove any app on your device that is neither useful nor brings you joy… Remove that game you’ve already beaten, that editing software you never use, the fifth iteration of a task tracking app (you need just one anyway). If you haven’t used it in a 6-month time frame, chances are you’re never gonna use it.

If you’re noticing a slow down in your startup time or if your device is getting buggy or glitchy – it’s time to take it to the experts for a tune-up. Yes, a device tune-up is a real thing. Unless you’re extremely tech-savvy, leave it to the experts to clean up your devices. Otherwise, you might risk getting some or all of your files deleted.

Always make sure your antivirus is updated. Every click leaves a digital footprint and those footprints can be muddy or can track bugs and other undesirables into your device. So make sure you have an antivirus installed to help protect you from attacks and keep your system running at its optimum performance.

What is your digital device clean up rituals? Share them with us! Stay humble, hustle hard!

 

Written by Jaie O. The Help

Aug14

Stay Focused

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Stay Focused

Some employers have an open time policy. They set a window of log in hours, say from 7 am to 10 am and then it’s up to the employees to come as they please provided that they finish 8 working hours.

Having a flexible schedule is one benefit that most employees look for in a company. In fact, in order to attract top talent, schedule flexibility is one benefit that potential employees look for. A flexible schedule affords employees autonomy and ownership over their own time and schedule, offering the choice to avoid traffic and toxic commutes during peak hours. It also imparts a sense of trust and confidence from the employer to the employee that they value.

But having no defined work hours might prove to be more challenging than having a set work schedule for some. It forces daily adjustments. Sometimes, consistency is just what employees need in order to be more productive. Autonomy is a mixed blessing.

If you are struggling to stay focused on a flexible work schedule, here are a few tips to keep you productive and consistent at work.

Routine:
You may have a different start and stop time every day but keep your activities consistent. Start your day the same way no matter what time you start or come in for work. A good routine would be: some personal time as soon as you get up (meditating, reading, exercise, making and/or checking your to-do list etc.), shower and get dressed, breakfast, coffee, and then get to work. Having a routine makes sure you have enough time to get personal prep and essential work things done and be able to anticipate having to slot in unexpected or ad hoc errands and task into your day.

Hard stop:
Set a hard stop for yourself – a time when all things involving work must come to an end. Some people find this hard, especially those who take work home. They log out of their terminals from work but essentially continue on their laptops when they get home. If you do step one (have a routine and set a schedule), then you should be able to accomplish all the items on your task list by the end of the day. Unfinished tasks can wait till the next day. Freelancers and people who work from home should have an end-of-work-day routine. It is a signal that the workday is finished and personal time has begun. Office workers can just log off or clock out but at home, workers may miss this and continue working till the wee hours. So a good end-of-day routine is in order. Cleaning up your desk and powering down the PC is one way to signal the end of the workday.

Communication:
Keep your boss and co-workers updated. Starting work at different times for teams that are working on the same project could be hard to coordinate, so keep communication lines open. This would be helpful for answering team questions, showing results, emergency team meetings, etc. Also, let your teammates know when you’ll be going offline. You might have an important doctor’s appointment, bank errands, or somewhere you need to run off to. Let them know you’ll be out of office for a while and how long you’ll be gone so they know when they can expect an answer or a report from you. Keep your phone lines open while you’re out.

How do you stay focused on a flexible schedule? Let us know your tips in the comments. Stay humble and hustle hard.

 

Written by Jaie O. The Help

Jul23

Achieving Quietly

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Achieving Quietly

A famous and overused tip is to “follow your dreams” and a hundred other iterations of it. We’re all told to dream big and then do whatever it takes to achieve that goal. That tip is, more often than not, followed up by proclaiming your goal to the whole world. You know, to keep yourself accountable.

Don’t get me wrong. It is always a good idea to follow your dreams if only to see how far you can go and what you can endure. My beef is with telling anybody within earshot that you’re “gonna go get ‘em!” If that tip works for you, well and good. However, there are some science-backed reasons for trying to keep your goals on the down-low and not sharing them (just yet) to the whole wide world.

When we are inspired to achieve a goal, we get really excited about it and want to let other people know as soon as possible. The reasons for spilling the beans vary from: you want to be held accountable for reaching it to you want others to rally you on and share your enthusiasm.

Why announcements and pronouncements might be a bad idea:

Announcing a goal might garner you premature praises, thus making you less likely to follow through. Social media makes it easy (so very easy) nowadays to get validation. One click and you get instant recognition. One study concludes that a person might think that social recognition is enough reward and may result to that person feeling that they’ve already achieved their goal and reducing his/her efforts.

The kind of praise you receive also plays a big factor in whether you follow through with your goal. One study divides praise into 2 categories: person praise and process praise. The results concluded that it is absolutely better to give process praise – praise related to how you plan to achieve your goal (that’s a really good plan!), versus person praise – praise directed towards the individual (you are very talented!)

And then there’s the fact that, if you’re just starting out on this goal reaching endeavor, you might easily get demoralized by negative feedback. Say for example, your goal is to start a self-care website. So you decide to announce it in a small circle, starting with family and friends. But then, a close friend tells you “Don’t you at least have training in order to be credible?” That might be a big demoralizer for you – and might even be a reason for you to abandon your goals altogether.

Another variation of that is hearing about a lot of competition. If you’re a beginner, hearing about other people who have “been there, done that and will probably do a better job than you could ever do” could knock you off your stilts. Researchers explain this as kind of a win by not losing mentality. It is loss aversion – “When the perception of ability becomes a major concern, competition may motivate students to make a low effort – a strategy to win by not losing.”

Do you believe that plans should be kept under wraps or are you an advocate of friendly announcements? Let us know! Stay humble, hustle hard.

Jul16

Tired of Making Decisions?

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Tired of Making Decisions?

Ever wonder why you make bad food choices at the end of a tiresome day, why normally sound people snap at loved ones, or why it’s so hard to decide on where to have dinner with your group of friends?

Apparently, we have a finite store of mental energy for exerting self-control. People make bad food choices at the end of the day after trying to eat healthfully throughout breakfast and lunch. Parents snap at children after a long day of trying to get the household together. Office workers have a hard time deciding where to get dinner after long hours of making decisions at work. Willpower is a form of mental energy and it is not unlimited.

Decision fatigue is what happens when you’ve exhausted your mental energy on making decisions throughout the day. The more decisions you make, the easier it is to succumb to decision fatigue.

Yes, choosing a salad over a burger counts as a decision so does deciding what to wear in the morning, which shortcuts to take to avoid traffic, which room to hold a meeting in, and what kind of milk to get on your way home. The things you choose to ignore or pay attention to also count as decisions. Before the day ends, you have (on average) probably made about 35,000 decisions. So, how do you manage decision fatigue?

The easiest way is to establish routines.
Routines make our lives easier and help eliminate the need to make decisions. If you can do something automatically then that’s one less decision to make.

In the famous 2012 article in Vanity Fair, no less than US President Barack Obama has this to say: “You’ll see I wear only gray or blue suits, I’m trying to pare down decisions. I don’t want to make decisions about what I’m eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make.”

The iconic Steve Jobs has the same principle – famously clad in a black turtleneck, jeans, and sneakers. So does Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, whose closet is reportedly filled with grey shirts. Singer and rock n’ roll legend Henry Rollins also has no time for fussing over what to wear as he sports a black shirt, dark pants uniform. So, there is merit in streamlining your wardrobe or having a work “uniform”.

Work in batches.
Assign certain days of the week dedicated to processes. For example, all creative work to be done on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Administrative work and/or meetings can be done on Mondays and Fridays.

Eat something.
There is truth to that Snickers chocolate bar commercial. We are all b*tchy monsters when we’re hungry – no one is exempt! Hunger is scientifically linked to making impulsive decisions, however, don’t just scarf down anything you get your hands on. Try a healthy granola bar or a fruit. The glucose can help stabilize your blood sugar levels and mitigate mental fatigue.

How do you combat decision fatigue? Share your stories with us! Stay humble, hustle hard.

Written by Jaie O. The Help