Whistle Ink ‘Office Supplies’ Blog

The latest Badenoch & Clark Employment Study has today revealed a growing stress problem in the UK workplace. A worryingly high number of employees (91%) are stressed at work, with around seven in ten (71%) workers unable to raise their concerns with management.

With the economy still suffering from the global financial crisis, employees’ stress levels are being affected predominately by increased workloads, credit crunch worries and reduced headcount in their company.

Some stark differences between how men and women are reacting to the situation were also revealed. Just under a third of men (31%) are worried that they will lose their job, compared to around one quarter of women (26%). Men are also more stressed about the general economic outlook – 36% compared with 28%

Of those professionals that brought stress levels up with their managers, 7% said they were ignored and only 6% said it led to concrete measures being taken to help them mange the situation.

Neil Wilson, managing director of Badenoch & Clark, comments: “Stress currently costs British business billions of pounds a year. While some stress is a normal part of work, excessive stress reduces productivity and general wellbeing. Most employers would agree that it makes business sense to avoid excessive stress levels building up in the workplace.

“Our Employment Study shows very clearly too few organisations are attacking stress effectively. Many employees are shouldering the stress emanating from a number of sources without the help of their managers. Interestingly, men are feeling the strain more than women as they worry about their jobs and career prospects.

“By refusing to deal with such a crucial employee engagement issue, businesses are risking not only the health of their workers, but the quality of the work they deliver and the overall morale of their organisation. Businesses need to address the problem and provide a platform to discuss these issues openly.

“Being on the look out for signs of stress amongst staff is a good starting point. It’s then important to take time to talk to staff on a one to one basis and identify the main sources of stress. Helping your staff create a balanced schedule by breaking large projects into small steps can be another way of making work more manageable.“

Source:onrec.com

I will have graduated with a PHD in bus catching in that case because I’m so good at it.

The BBC have reported that participants in Bury Council’s BRAG get the “using public transport” award as part of a programme to encourage self-reliance.

A father is shocked although I think the students will have considered it a doss course and be relatively happy from the time out!

The scheme is good and many of the kids have enjoyed themselves but this certificate is ridiculous - it seems to have been done so targets can be met

But believe it or not there is more to catching a bus according to the council:

It’s not just about sitting on a bus, it’s about reading timetables properly and planning the best route, which is behind the whole idea of encouraging self-reliance.

I can actually see the value of a course like this buy you shouldn’t have to make it into a certificate, surely it’s a basic skill that you should have? I like the idea of school pupils being taught how to live properly and be taught the skills necessary to survive and excel in their environment and life – but a certificate is too far.

One module relevant to buses should be behaviour!

What do you think?

Read the rest of the article here:

This has to be one of the crazier stories I have come across where after seeing post it notes displayed on windows of a company, a company on the opposite side were inspired into getting into contact with them with post it notes.

So they raided their stationery cupboard and responded with ‘hello’
Just to be able to write that backwards is a skill but in post-it notes? That’s just pure genius (and a sign the boss is away!)

Anyway in the end they managed to arrange a drink down the local!

You can read the full story here

Or so Stefan Aschan writes in his blog titled ’5 Excercises you can do anywhere’. Just make sure you have raided your office supplies cupboard before hand for rubber bands.

Stefan writes

Rubber bands are light to carry, provide you with different resistances and are cheap to buy. You can workout at the beach, by the pool or at your home. It really is the on-the-go workout gym.

Right…..

As I do Bicep Curls in a proper gym I was interested in his first tip.

Biceps curls: Stand on the rubber band with your right foot. Take both ends and pull your hands to the shoulder and release slowly.

There are five tips in total and I’m not too sure too sure I have any rubber bands that would stretch that much. I may even injure myself as they snap easily.

To read the rest of the workout click here

If you want to try these exercise out using rubber bands please write in and tell us how you get on or maybe even send a picture!

If you are looking to stock up on rubberbands we have a budget stretching (get it?) range of rubber bands so check out our site.

HHmmm strange one this

The first sentence in the article in the Times reads ‘A group of office staff have discovered they work better together when they are NAKED.’

I can see how this might be true after all if you were naked at work you wouldn’t want to get up out your chair so work would get done.

A psychologist was brought in to boost team spirit at ‘onebestway’ and suggested going naked.

Personally I would have suggested a booze fuelled weekend on the company credit card after which colleagues would either love or hate each other. If they hate each other, then another booze up would be needed. : P

The front of house manager says:

It was brilliant. Now that we’ve seen each other naked, there are no barriers.

One comment writes ‘If you have to strip off to talk to each other “much more honestly” than you’ve got real problems to boot (and not just communication ones)’

Which is spot on really.

Would you get your kit off to better connect to your colleagues or would you not be able to talk to them at all after?

Heres the rest of the article and some pictures.

I’ve been looking around the Internet for ideas on how you can use office supplies to make craft projects and to my great delight I found quite a few actual crafts made entirely from office supplies.

One of the best samples of novel office supplies art I’ve seen is post-it art which you can see here

Artists around the world have created enormous art pieces using different coloured post-it notes, mosaic style to create dynamic original art.

Some have gone so far as to cover their cars in these brightly coloured post it notes. I doubt these would fair well in the rain!

Meanwhile there are many great crafts that children can make using inexpensive office supplies, i.e.:

Paper-clip jewelry.
Paper clips come in various shapes, sizes and colours and link easily together to make necklaces or bracelets.

Post-it beads
Using post-its again, cut the coloured post-its into thin strips.
Roll the strips around a pencil or knitting needle and glue the free ends to the paper below. When you roll the paper off the pencil you should have what looks like a bead. If you make lots of beads you can make more great jewelry.

You can experiment with different widths of paper for different effects

Scrap-booking with office supplies
Meanwhile office supplies can be used to make any craft and here one woman demonstrates how useful office supplies can be for scrap booking enthusiasts.

Office supplies can be used for card making.

Guillotines are great as many now come with a range of cutting edges.
You can create fancy edges to cards or to card toppers as well as being able to trim your pieces to size for a nice smooth professional looking edge.

Other great card making office supplies include small desk tidies and storage boxes for all those small fiddly bits you don’t want to lose.

Meanwhile printers and printer ink are always necessary for printing off papers and patterns from craft projects you found on the web.

Why don’t you see what great craft project you can make using office supplies.

I was looking for Man in the Mirror by Michael Jackson and was diverted for a minute by a video on You Tubes homepage.

The title was: How to Hack the Staples EASY button!

It’s a fantastically hilarious clip about Staples EASY button.

Do you have a Staples EASY button? Let us know what you thinkof the clip!

Everyone has either pulled an office prank or been the victim of one at some point in their office based career, here is one of the most elaborate office pranks ever as seen on youtube.

This office prank video has been named the best ever office prank, see if you agree.

The pranksters build a wall at the start of a corridor confusing office workers who cant quite fathom whats happening. Initially they think theyve taken a wrong turn. The hidden camera shows them scratching their heads in confusion as they return to the spot.

My office pranks were never so elaborate but Ive pulled a few in my time.

One of my best was learning how to do the trick whereby you look like youre levitating. This is great for showing your staff or colleagues who has the power.

You can learn how to levitate yourself here

http://www.howtodotricks.com/balducci-levitation-blaine-levitation.html

Meanwhile here are some office pranks you can pull on co-workers using office stationary. You are responsible for the consequences!

Paperclip trick
Link your colleagues paper clips together and then put them back in the box. This will drive them mad trying to unravel them all.

Sticky tape trick
Tape the wheels of your colleagues chair so that they cant roll. This will drive them potty.

Post- it note trick
Put your litter - bin on your desk and label it with a post-it note with the word “IN”.

Pen trick
Stick the lids on some cheap pens using glue then swap with your colleagues pens. Imagine their frustration as they try to wrench the lids off without success.

If you can think of more great office pranks using office stationery let us know.

I have this label printer the Dymo Labelwriter 400 and its pretty impressive.

Do you know when sometimes you have printed off a good few sheets of labels in the laser printer for a big mail job and then go and mess up a label for whatever reason? What a hassle.

Or when you realise you need to print one again or missed some out?

What a load of effort that involves, that you almost give up and walk out!

When it comes to the time you need to print just one or a couple of labels off the fly, simply select the address in Microsoft Word for example and with just one click your label is printed and ready.

There is no need to refill the ink either because it’s thermal printing. All the Dymo Labelwriter range is thermal printing so no expensive ink or toner cartridges needed. The only supplies you need are labels.

The little Dymo Labelwriter must be very slow if its very small?

Nope. It takes just 1 to 1.5 seconds and it doesnt make a heavy noise either. By teh time you have printed it and walk over to where you keep it - it’s ready to peel and stick.

Features & Benefits

• Eliminates the hassle of printing labels with a standard office printer.

• Direct thermal printing means you never change a ribbon, toner or ink cartridges. The only supplies you ever need are the labels.

• Fast print speed. Just 1-1/2 seconds per label. Very quiet.

• High resolution printing means crisp text, graphics, photos and barcodes.

• Includes easy to use DYMO Label Software that makes it simple to design labels and manage address books.

• Includes add-ins for instant printing from Microsoft Word, Outlook, QuickBooks, ACT!, Goldmine, Palm Desktop version 4 or later, WordPerfect® and more. LabelWriter also prints from other programs through standard print drivers.

• Easy to share over your Windows or Apple Macintosh network.

• Includes the free DYMO Software Developers Kit (SDK). The SDK lets you develop support for the LabelWriter into your custom application in minutes. Includes tools for all major development languages.

• Note: The LabelWriter 400 is NOT compatible with DYMO Stamps software.

Instructables shows you how to build the Starship Enterprise out of office supplies. You’ll need 3 medium bull dog clips, 1 large bull dog clip, pens, 3 CDs, glue, tape and a marker.

Build the Starship Enterprise

Show someone you love them (in a non-sexual harassment way) by making them an origami flower out of post it notes

Origami Post It

Impress your colleagues, though not necessarily your boss, by doing magic with paperclips

Magic with Paperclips

Re-enact your favourite medieval battle scenes and invade a nearby desk using your very own office stationery trebuchet (i.e. catapult type thingy)

Office Supply Trebuchet

Pop some bubble wrap. And if you haven’t got any try the virtual alternative.

Virtual bubble wrap