Epsom Projector Beams Hologram at Office Supplies Fair

More news from the International Stationery and Office Products Fair in Tokyo. This time it’s a holographic display being shown by Epson, and it could revolutionize the way we handle communications, computing and more. From the Dvice article:

Presented by Epson, the rear projector beams a video presentation onto a 0.3 millimeter thin slab of glass cut into the shape of a person. The result is an effect that almost matches the virtual reality of holographic displays, missing only the three-dimensional aspect.

You can check out video of the amazing display in action here.

Cool Office Supplies: Samurai USB Flash Memory Card

At the Saudi Gazette of all places, there is a small article about the ongoing ISOT Office Products Trade Show in Tokyo. Highlighted here are USB Flash Memory cards shaped like Samurai Warriors.

With a lot of video games, movies, and television in Japan focusing more on the Edo period (1603 to 1868 AD), Samurai culture is once again on the rise in Japan.

Of course, when you’re making a samurai-themed USB device, and you’re in Japan, of course it’s going to end up being cute. Call me a sucker for these kind of novelties, but I’d take a teeny cartoon samurai USB stick over a plain ol’ black one any day. Of course, I’m sure the prices are outrageous. For most consumers, the regular kind will probably do just fine.

Design: The Vanishing Standing Desk

Lifehacker shares a really cool find from their photo pool: a standing desk that vanishes behind the closing doors of an armoire.

I’ve never personally been all that enamored with the idea of a standing-only desk, as most of my work sees me sitting at least a portion of the time. I much prefer something like this pneumatic desk that’s like a crazy office transformer, turning from sitting to standing with the touch of a button.

Still, if standing desks are your thing, this is definitely a classy solution. Some glass bricks space out the shelves to make sure it holds all of the computer components properly, and the addition of some IKEA cabinet lighting means there’s plenty of light to see what you’re doing. And when you’re done, it buttons up to look like any other piece of furniture.

Again, I’ve never been concerned with people seeing my messy desk (sign of creative mind, or so I tell myself), but if you’re one of those people who hate clutter, this is definitely an elegant solution.

Article: 9 Ways to Geek Your Office

Just found this over at eWeek.com – it’s a slideshow of some pretty impressive office gear. While it’s a little more unique than the stuff we sell, things like this still hold a special place in my heart as a gadget lover. I think the perfect office is one that blends over-the-top tech like this with a full pantry of the basics; pens, paper, toner, that kind of thing. And while the best bet for, say, picking a reliable office chair is to find something comfortable and affordable, I’ll always drool over some of this stuff, like this Motoart B-52 Ejection Chair. Check out the E-Week article for more geeky pipe dreams.

How-To: Choose the perfect battery

how-to-choose-the-perfect-battery

For your high-output devices, there’s a chance that your regular bargain-bin batteries aren’t cutting it any more. I know I’ve bought AA batteries from the dollar store thinking I’m getting a great deal, only to have them not even be recognized by my digital camera. A lot of cheap-o batteries don’t even have enough juice in them straight out of the box to power a lot of today’s high-end electronics, but luckily there are plenty of affordable alternatives. Continue reading

Office Furniture Retailer Introduces Discount HON Furniture Collections

OnTimeSupplies.com has teamed with HON Furniture Company to Offer Discount Office Furniture Suites.

OnTimeSupplies.com announced the release of their new line of discount HON furniture collections featuring flexible desk configurations, conference room suites, and many other workspace solutions to meet the needs of any office.

“We are very pleased to expand our relationship with HON, which is recognized as a global leader in high-quality office furniture,” said Andre Scott, co-founder of the Atlanta-based office furniture website.  “Our new office collections allow customers to quickly and easily select furniture configurations that would otherwise involve custom configuration. This new offering allows us to offer clients significant time and cost savings.”

Some of the most popular HON office furniture collections include the HON L-Shaped Corner Office Desk Suite (the HON 94000 series), as well as the HON 10600 L-Shaped Desk series, and many others.

For more information on the new discount furniture program, visit http://www.ontimesupplies.com/office_furniture.html

OnTimeSupplies.com sells office furniture, office supplies, school supplies, toner, file cabinets and everything else needed for the office. On Time Supplies ships same day via UPS and orders reach most customers within 1-2 business days. One of the fastest growing office furniture and office supplies dealers in the country, On Time Supplies provides a 100% satisfaction guarantee on every order.

Contact us at http://www.OnTimeSupplies.com or call us at 1-866-501-6055.

The Label Maker: An Essential Time Saver

The label maker has been around for a long time, but its use in an office environment is as important today as it ever has been. While label makers do not always make for the most attractive labels, they are efficient and they get the job done. Today’s label makers offer a wide variety of options beyond the ones of yesterday, as well. There are label makers you can purchase to change the fonts, change the colors, and type on like a keyboard, making them even more convenient and helpful. Casio and Brother are just two of the great manufacturers making quality electronic label makers for the home and office.

An office can descend into disarray rather quickly. Files and folders may be neat, but without a practical labeling system, this may not matter. Sure, you could go around and write on all of them with a magic marker, but that’s messy and it leads to an even less professional presentation than using a label maker. With a good labeling system, every place has a name, and everything can be put in its proper place. There are so many ways you can use a label maker, you’ll wonder how you ever got along without one.

 

Label Folders

All of your computer folders have a nicely labeled name, so shouldn’t your physical folders have the same? You can use a label maker to give each of your filing folders the correct name. Folders are an excellent way to keep your important documents separate and filed in an easy to access way. If you are in the medical or dental profession, you can use these folders to separate patient information. If not, you can do the same for each individual client on your company. You can also create folders for your billing and receiving information, as well as your training materials. This latter idea is an especially good one, as new employees will have a resource they can use when trying to get into the swing of the job.

 

Label Filing Cabinets

A filing cabinet is a wonderful way to store your papers and keep everything organized. If you have a large Metal File Cabinetoffice, however, there may be multiple filing cabinets, with little to tell the uninitiated viewer what the contents hold. This is where your label maker can come into play. Simply make a discrete label for each cabinet, or perhaps a label for each drawer, best describing the contents within. If there is no ready name for what the cabinet or drawer holds, two options present themselves. One, you may need to rethink your filing system. A filing system should be just that: a system. There should be no cabinets or drawers filled with junk that fits no particular system or scheme. However, it’s your cabinet. If you have no particular name for what a drawer holds, simply label it “MISC”, and move along.

 

Label CDs

CD ROMs have become part of the office environment in a big way, but without the proper labeling system, they can become lost or misplaced. No one wants to go through a stack of unlabeled CDs to determine which one contains what information. The worst part is that these CDs might have started off with some sort of writing on them, that has since been faded to time. This is where a good label maker comes in. No, not the same kind you used on the file cabinet. They have special CD label makers you can purchase that will do the job.

 

Create New Storage Solutions

Of course, with your new label maker, the sky is the limit as far as how you choose to store your documents and papers. This can also be transplanted to your home office, should you need to take some of your files and documents home with you, or if you just need a new filing system there as well. Plastic boxes are cheap and can make a great way to store those documents that won’t be used for some time. Folders, files, binders, and even crates can make a great storage solution as long as there is a filing system in place. With a label maker, this won’t be a problem.

Appointment Juggling: Planners & Calendars are Critical

Appointment Juggling: Planners & Calendars are Critical

It’s Tuesday night. The clock says it’s four-thirty, but it feels as though it has been saying that for the last half hour. You were supposed to be finishing up some payroll busywork, but have instead found yourself fiddling with the contrast on your monitor. Perhaps making it brighter would make it more pleasant to look at. Darker? Mainly, you’re just trying to kill the last half hour before its time to go home. True, you could just leave now and no one would think the worse of you, but you like to set a good example for your employees. Besides, you like to leave your early escapes for Friday.

Then the phone rings. It’s your boss, and he wants to know why you aren’t at the meeting downtown! Oh no! You completely forgot about it. You scramble to make up an excuse, but he doesn’t sound happy. He advises you to meet him first thing in the morning so he can catch you up on what you missed. You hang up and lose interest in the contrast of your monitor and decide you have to do something about your appointments. But what is the answer? Is there one, or are you simply doomed to a poor memory and an inability to juggle time?

The Planning Calendar

There is an answer, and it is found in the planning calendar. At-a-Glance is but one company that makes a fine planning calendar. These calendars make it easy for you to keep track of all of your appointments, meetings, and special events that you have a tendency to forget. And you’re not alone. If everyone could simply remember everywhere they were supposed to be, planning calendars wouldn’t be one of the biggest selling office supply items on the market. You just need to take the time to get one, and get organized.

Of course, having a planning calendar will not do you much good if you do not use it the right way. You have to make sure you right everything in that calendar, no matter how small and insignificant. You then need to make it a point to look at the calendar every morning and plan your day accordingly. Take the time to thumb through the next few days as well, just to make sure there isn’t something on the horizon you need to be planning for today.

Overall Time Management

While a planning calendar is important, it’s not the only aspect of your overall strategy. You can do many other things to help you start controlling your time, rather than have it be the other way around. One of these ways is to start each day by creating a to do list. Granted, this isn’t a revolutionary idea, but are you doing it? Or do you easily get sidetracked even when you know there are things to get done. Having a to do list, and writing it up in the order in which the tasks need to be completed is an excellent way to start managing your time better. Encourage your employees to do the same. Just the act of creating the list can make you feel better and more in control.

Get Help with Time

Don’t hesitate to bring others in to your time management strategies. This particularly includes your employees. Make sure you use these people in such a way that they can contribute to getting tasks done and appointments kept. After all, that’s part of why you’re paying them. If need be, incorporate your family into the mix as well. If you have important tasks that can be delegated to anyone else, make sure you do so if you won’t have time to manage the project by yourself. Of course, when it comes to friends and family, this only works if you’re willing to do the same for them should the opportunity come up.

Time management doesn’t have to be the bane of your existence. If you take some simple steps to get it under control, you’ll find that you had much more time in your day than you originally thought, and you won’t feel that constant weight of stress crushing down on you throughout your days. Isn’t that reason enough to get things in hand?

Choosing the Right Ergonomic Chair

Sitting in an office all day and working at your desk can simultaneously be a tedious and rewarding expenditure of the daylight hours. Rewarding because of your position in the company and your desire to do a good day’s work for your employer, but tedious because your job may be the kind that demands the same duties of you day in and day out.

You may not realize, however, that this tedium is far from the worst part of your day. The worst part may be a factor you haven’t even realized, or may have noticed, but not ascribed the proper importance.

It is the effect all day sitting has on your spinal column, joints, and other parts of your body. More than simply filling you with discomfort by the end of the day, this constant sitting can produce real, long term problems most might not associate with a sedentary lifestyle. Some of this can be offset with exercise, but some of it cannot. Your best bet is to go with an ergonomic chair.

What Is An Ergonomic Chair?

Ergonomics is used to describe the way in which our posture is affected by the furniture and appliances we use. You’ll see the word written about keyboards, mouse pad designs, power tools, and especially, the point in case before us, office chairs.

Ergonomics simply mean that the piece of equipment is designed in such a way that it does not fight our natural body posture. Rather than causing us to slouch, sit too straight, or hold our wrists in an unnatural position, the ergonomically designed appliance, chair, or other office supply works with our bodies so that we can be comfortable and avoid long term injury.

Bad ergonomics, found in the vast majority of cheap office chairs on the market, can not only lead to feeling discomfort at the end of a long day, but can actually produce results in the long run that would best be described as undesirable. This could range from advanced back problems, chronic neck pain, and even headaches.

How Does One Benefit from Ergonomic Chairs?

Beyond the obvious elimination of these undue chronic problems, studies have shown that office workers using ergonomic chairs increase their productivity by up to fifteen percent. This is quite a large jump in productivity just by switching office chairs!

The increase in productivity results from reducing the need to stand up and take extended stretching breaks when using a poorly constructed chair. In addition, employees can concentrate more on their work, instead of “why does my neck hurt constantly?”

The simplest benefit of ergonomic chairs is being able to get up after a long day in the office and feel as though you don’t need to take a salt bath just to relax. The chair has allowed you to relax and, simultaneously, achieve your greatest concentration throughout the entire day.

What Separates One Ergonomic Chair From Another?

Good question! There is no shortage of chairs out there calling themselves “ergonomic,” but do they all really fit the bill?

There is no industry standard that dictates how you can label a chair ergonomic, and thus, you can expect chairs that claim to be ergonomic when in fact they are not. And this is exactly what you find. Though they have the temerity to charge much more, many of these so-called ergonomic chairs are no different from the chair you have now. Make sure you go with a brand you can trust, such as HON Chair, when searching for an authentic, real ergonomic chair.

Making The Choice

Once you’ve decided which trusted brand is right for you, it’s a matter of finding your price point and then deciding which features you’d like. You’ll find chairs that have various levels of swivel and height, different fabrics, reclining features, armrests, and much more. You only need to determine which features you need , and then pick a chair based on a combination of which one provides the most desirable features for the right price.