Your Home Office: Where Do You Get Work Done?

The technology that drives how we live and work today offers, among other things, mobility and flexibility. At Apartment Therapy Tech, writer Carolyn Purnell explores both with a look at where she and her boyfriend — both of whom work from home — are at their most productive during the work day. Carolyn and her laptop generally gravitate toward the couch, eschewing a conventional desk; her boyfriend maintains a traditional workspace setup. And while we recommend you always keep ergonomics in mind (something we specialize in), like Carolyn, we want to know: Do the devices you use to get work done encourage you to move around your workspace, away from a desk? Where are you most productive? Check out Carolyn’s post here, then tell us your thoughts in the comments section below. Read more

Olympics at the Office?

The arrival of the Olympics always creates a stir of excitement. But is it just us, or do these summer games in London seem to hold a special sort of spark? Maybe it’s a surge of American spirit — or perhaps it’s simply the access we now have to live streams of every Olympic event on NBC’s website starting early in the workday and on into the evening.

Either way, we’re feeling it. And apparently, so is the bandwidth of Internet connections at companies across the country. In fact, according to the Los Angeles Times, just a few days ago at L.A.’s City Hall, chief technology officer Randi Levin issued an email asking employees to stop watching the games, as its high-traffic demands were ultimately “impacting city operations.”

Network speeds, however, may not be the only thing affected. As reported by SmartMoney.com, the time spent viewing the events by workers (and not spent actually working) could create an estimated loss of $650 million for U.S. companies — a seemingly high price to pay for the chance to see if your favorite team can strike gold. Some inspiration could come from the downtime, though: South Florida’s Sun Sentinel lists a few lessons that employees could learn from watching world-class Olympians in action.

So what about you? Are you watching the Olympics at the office? How is it affecting your workload? And is it pre-approved by management, or is it in secret? (We won’t tell. Besides, we’ll probably be off watching today’s cycling events starting at 11am EST…)

Featured in photo: Setu Chair options

The 21 Hour Work Week

The New Economics Foundation – a “think-and-do tank that inspires and demonstrates real economic well being” just released a report on our work habits lamenting the 40 hour work week as not only antiquated but untenable and perhaps detrimental to a growing economy. A 21 hour work week is more to their liking. As we move forward into this next decade it’s interesting to revisit the work-week debate.

Michael Coren over at Fast Company makes the case for a 21 hour work week. I certainly work far more hours than my part-time job demands. But for me there’s a real blur between work – creating this blog – and writing or reading about things that interest me. And for many of us isn’t that the perfect job: one that mirrors your personal interests? When I’m reading Dezeen online or flicking through the pages of Wallpaper or Elle Decor or reading the newspaper in the morning over breakfast – I’m learning and absorbing and everything I’ve taken in feeds my work. If I included all those hours how long would my work week be? How many hours do you work each work?

How Tidy is Your Desk? Does it Matter?

The only thing lacking from Eric Karjaluoto‘s recent essay on the pros and cons of a clean desk were pictures. What did the creative director’s desk really look like? Was it as tidy as he suggested in his essay? The answers is a resounding yes (see below). In the piece Karjaluoto reacts to a colleague’s criticism of design firms that have “clean desk” policies. How tied are we to the myth of creatives being messy? Is it true that from the chaos genius is born? What do you think?

Above: Eric Karjaluoto‘s at his nearly empty desk.

Above and below: Ryan, one of the designers at SmashLab, has a bit more stuff on his desk but it’s still tidy.

Unplggd: Windows and Mac Apps That Really Will Help

Often times we find ourselves complacent with the Windows and Mac applications that we already own. However, once you check out these great apps you will be wondering why you haven’t heard about or used all of these before. From design to productivity, we have you covered in this weeks edition of Unplggd’s Weekly Download Recommendations.

IrfanView: Great for beginners and experienced users, IrfanView is a freeware graphic viewer that has many unique and interesting features. This application supports a plethora of file types including Adobe Photoshop filters. For the incredible price of free, it’s hard to find a better option for the last majority of your photo needs (pictured above).

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Sleep, It’s A Good Thing

Let’s talk for a minute about the “s” word – sleep? I remember a time when I’d just gotten back from a fabulous vacation with my husband.  We spent three glorious days in New York City.  It was some much needed time away from our kids.  We lived life to its fullest while on vacation.  And, unfortunately I didn’t come home feeling well rested at all.

The minute our plane landed I hit the ground running to prepare for a work interview, a new coaching group that I was starting up, editing my upcoming book, and organizing a birthday bash in my backyard for my daughters – complete with 85 guests, a jumpy house and Dorothy and Toto direct from Oz.

I was actually just as excited about all the things I had going on in my work life as I was about my New York trip, which was great.  The bad part was that I stayed up way too late night after night working when I could have been sleeping.

Here’s what I started to notice in my life and body after a few days of staying up way too late.  It got harder and harder to wake up in the morning.  The sound of the girls fighting over who got to sit on the tall stool sounded like nails on a chalk board.  I wanted to eat a chocolate brownie for breakfast (and lunch and dinner) for the sugar rush.  The world around me seemed foggy.  My body craved a nap from the moment I got up in the morning.

When I do get enough sleep I wake up excited for the day and feel really alive.  I am strong and clear headed.  I don’t crave sugar or junk food.  I am more focused when I work.  I smile and laugh a lot and I enjoy time with my kids and my husband.  I’m energetic and just more fun to around.

Needless to say, I let my sleep patterns get way out of hand.  I quickly realized I had to make some changes.  I didn’t want to keep living a half-awake life. I committed to some solid, sleep-care even with a to-do list a mile long.  And, you know what.  I actually got it all done, had more focus and enjoyed my life more.

So, join me, this month, in exploring how your sleep choices and habits affect your life.

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Unplggd: Macaree’s Bermuda Triangle of Productivity

Fuchsia Macaree’s Bermuda Triangle of Productivity is oh so true…painfully true. Order a poster version here so you remember to avoid the Triangle!

By Gregory Han.

[via SwissMiss]

Unplggd: How Do You Stay Productive?

“We know. It’s hard to feel like you’re being productive these days with all of communication venues and potentially distracting YouTube clip at the tip of your fingers. While there’s no argument that two screens help you feel like you’re getting more stuff done, one too many windows open will eventually cause a decrease in productivity. Here’s how to stay productive, even with all of that going on…

One of our favorite software tools to up our daily productivity is Dizzy, a small program that runs in the background and allows us to allocate shortcuts to resize windows on command. You know, so we can do side-by-side comparisons of products, blog quicker, etc.

If we recall, Windows 7 now has that as a built-in feature, so cheers to Microsoft for implementing it!

Lifehacker editor Adam Dachis recommends splitting up monitor screens physically in order to encourage true separation of play and work. So if you’re ever tempted to chat, but need an hour of super dedicated crunch time, you can simply drag the window over to the other monitor and finish up your work without blinking boxes begging for your attention.

Got a productivity tip when having a number of windows open? Share it in the comments!

By Anthony.”

Unplggd: Increase Your Productivity

“With work and home life continuing on a collision course, we’ll admit we’ve been having some trouble focusing on all of our blogging and freelance work all on the same computer. What does Flynn from Smart Passive Income suggest? Have two separate computers dividing work and play. According to Flynn: