Archive for December, 2014

The average American spends about 8.7 hours per day tending to work-related activities. Just what is going on in the office certainly varies, but some studies indicate that we actually spend a lot of time, well, wasting time. By all accounts, it adds up to almost 2 hours each day!

Here are tips to help increase your office productivity.

Learn to manage email.

Many people have email systems within their workplace to help increase communication. In reality, reading and responding to emails can be a real time zapper.  It takes valuable time to open them, read them, and then to decide on when and if you need to respond. The good news is that people do not always expect an immediate reply, and some are even willing to wait up to a week for you to get back to them. 

To save time, skim through emails right away in the morning, and respond immediately to the ones that take less than a minute. Next, you can file all the remaining emails in your inbox into categories such as “Respond Today,” “Needs More Info,” and the like. This can help you to move on with your day without ruminating on messages you still need to get back to. At the end of the day, set aside time to follow up on the remaining emails. This also works for phone messages.

Inspired by This

Does shopping over the winter holidays leave you feeling cold? Are you the type of person that would rather have your teeth pulled than stand in line at the mall for another present your child simply has to have? Do you wait until the last minute to shop every year, then wonder why all the good stuff is gone?

This holiday, maybe it’s time to think about 3D printing! You might be surprised at what other people can make with just a few clicks.

Satisfy the Fashionista

Maybe your partner prefers sensible gifts over knickknacks. Or perhaps others are asking for specific types of clothing. For your favorite fashion lover, designers are dreaming up hats, dresses and even bikinis to wear!

Pinterest

The world’s thinnest tablet might be taking many folks back to their childhood, though not necessarily in such a good way. Remember when you were a kid and you wanted something so badly you could almost taste it? Maybe you counted down the days to a holiday or your birthday, thinking the big day might never come? Grownups told you to stop asking, already, it’ll be here before you know it.

The new Dell Venue 8 7000 Series is having a similar effect. Introduced on September 9^th by none other than Michael Dell himself at IDF 2014, it seems it might never make it to anybody’s hot little hands. Originally set to ship in November, the month has come and gone and it seems this little tablet might also remain a mere wish through the rest of the winter holidays.

ChipChick

The countdown to our favorite December holidays is about to begin. Depending on your beliefs, there are many ways to celebrate the most festive time of the year. Instead of spending a lot on store-bought items, here are some DIY ways to mark the days until your special celebration begins.

The Festival of Lights

To count down this eight-day festival, you can use items you probably already have at home. This project calls for a yardstick, eight envelopes, and a little bit of imagination to create the numbers for the countdown. Using a variety of envelopes, including paper bags or coin pouches, adds to the appeal. Office clips or clothespins are used to affix the envelopes to the yardstick, and all that’s left to add are small gifts for the envelopes.

Martha Stewart