Reinventing the Word Processor
As a writer, I spend a lot of time using a word processor, specifically Microsoft Word. For the most part, word processing software hasn’t changed much since the early days of Windows. In some...
Tagged: office life
Going Back to Work
I’m going back to work after a couple of months of unemployment, and while I’m still looking forward to the weekend, it’s good to feel productive again. It’s going to be an interesting experience,...
There Will Be Bureaucracy
To those who decry government inefficiency, I’ll see your DMV and raise you a cable guy. Or a tech support voicemail system. Or how about a stack of TPS reports with outdated cover sheets?...
Analog Thinking in a Digital Age
I noticed it first in an office setting: people who insist in emailing files even when there’s a networked drive available. It’s a much better use of time and brainpower to leave the file...
Playing Office
Are you working. Or are you playing office? There are an awful lot of office workers out there who “play office”, like a little kid imitating her parents. This is a subtle and pernicious...
Death and Faxes
Fax machines are a fascinating anachronism. A modem fax machine is just a low-quality scanner and a dial-up modem. So why do faxes persist, when modems have gone the way of the dodo? Not...
Hidden Sights in an Office Park
The other day I took a walk. After a tough morning, I needed to get out of the office. I grabbed an apple and started walking around the little office park where my building...
Improv at the Workplace
In improvisational comedy (“improv”), the cardinal rule is “yes and“. Each comedian on stage builds on the previous performer’s idea. Using this method, you can take any simple situation and turn it in to...
Workplace Adventures: Mistakes and TPS Reports
There’s a telling scene in the movie Office Space, where the boss chews Peter Gibbons out for not put the proper coversheet on his TPS report. A moment later, a second boss comes along...
5 Things Nobody Cares About
When it comes to marketing, sales and advertising, there is but one cardinal rule: nobody cares about you. It’s harsh, but it’s true. And yet, so many people forget it. If you’re working somewhere...
