Home Office | Productivity501

5 Questions To Help Organize Your Desk

2010 by Mark Shead 14 Comments

Look at your desk right now. Is it messy? If so, don't feel too bad. It isn't uncommon. This post is a series of questions to ask about the stuff that is currently on your desk. Asking these questions will help you find the cause of a messy desk and give you some ideas for stopping the disorganization at its root. This is vastly more beneficial than simply taking the time to clean your desk right now, because if you don't change your process and organization, you'll be back in the same position in a week or so. 1. Do you have reading materials on your desk? One common source of desktop disorganization is reading materials. Magazines, newspapers, etc. that come to you that you feel … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Organize Tagged With: clean desk, desk, home office, messy desk, Organize, workspace

Cordless Phone at Odds with Skype

2008 by Mark Shead 2 Comments

Skype usually works great for making phone calls, but when I moved my office a few weeks ago people stopped being able to hear me. I finally traced the problem to my cordless phone that was now sitting near my wireless access point. I moved it 3 feet away and Skype call quality returned to normal. So if you are having trouble with Skype on a wireless network look for sources of interference. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Asides Tagged With: home office, phone, skype

20 Tips to Save Money on a Home Office

2008 by Mark Shead 14 Comments

1. Go cheap on your desk. When it comes down to it a desk is simply a work surface. If you are on a budget, concentrate on getting something stable as a desk and put the savings to work elsewhere. A used door can make a great work surface once you remove the door handle. Place it on some sawhorses and you have an easily adjustable solid surface. Place it on two file cabinets and you now have desk drawers. This type of desk is what Amazon uses for all their employees. They attach 4x4s to a desk and it is ready to go. In the early days Jeff Bezos made the desks him self--now a carpenter makes them. When it comes down to it, as long as your desk is solid it probably won't make a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Organize Tagged With: home office