Pictured: my docked laptop and telephone headset.First of all, I appreciate the irony of posting about productivity while I myself am being incredibly non-productive. I can't help it. I'm waiting for an important call and I don't want to get sidelined by another project. I mean, why else would I chose to blow up my Twitter and send an absurd amount of personal email in the middle of the afternoon? So, I've decided to channel that energy into magnanimity and share with you my three favorite office tools:
1. Docking Station: This gives you the best of having a laptop and a desktop. I ordered one for my office and one for my residence. I think they were $125/ea from Dell, and it has been money well spent. Now I have the mobility of the laptop for travel, remote work, etc., but the ability to quickly plug into/out of a system of peripherals. Being a large dude, I have large hands. Thus, I love being able to use a full size keyboard and mouse (wireless are best) when working at home or in the office. If you are a laptop user, I highly recommend getting a dockable laptop and a docking station if you don't have this capability already.
2. Wide Screen Monitor: Having easy access to wide screen monitors is a side benefit of using the docking station, but the large monitor has enough benefits to merit a separate mention. I have a 23" Samsung SyncMaster in my office, and some sort of 23" LG at home. The additional screen real estate is great for working with two application windows open to full size and placed side by side. Obviously, a dual monitor system would be preferable; however, a wide 23" and up can handle the job of two applications on screen with ease. E.g., comparing documents side by side is a breeze, as is cutting and pasting blocks of text as you assemble a new document from source documents. Also, it's a great size for using MS Outlook and working with large spreadsheet on Excel. Bottom line is: the $250 or so for the monitor is quite worthwhile.
3. Telephone Headset: These are not just for telemarketers. As a lawyer and as a business owner, I frequently have long phone conversations which involve some sort of computer use and/or note taking. The speaker on my Cisco IP phone is fine, but it is not very private on my end and people have trouble understanding me on the other end unless I am very loud. I don't always feel like broadcasting my conversations to the entire office, thus a headset seemed a better option. The Plantronics headset (pictured) above was about $80 at Office Depot. I bought it as a trial before splurging on a wireless Bluetooth system. The headset has been very useful, as I find that it has made collaboration while on the phone much, much easier. Now I just need a Bluetooth set up so I can pace around my office while talking to people.
