A must-have...

I would like to highlight one my biggest trade secrets of a succesful work day...today I will not advise anyone on organization, stretching, soft skills, or any of the typical things you expect...my secret is (drum roll please) a space heater!

 I work in an office located in an office building with central heating and cooling. No matter how hard the building management tries, they unfortunately cannot regulate the temperature to my personal preference. In fact, I work in an office that consists of 95% women and we've noticed that we are almost always cold.   We all layer, which helps, but even with the layers I am always just a little uncomfortably cold. I noticed that whenever I feel a little colder than I want to be, like a toothache, it makes me less productive. I tend to get up more to walk around the office, I tend to take lunch earlier, I make excuses to "heat up".

One of my colleagues let me borrow her space heater and it was "love at first heat"! I have the thing blaring under my desk, creating a cocoon of warmth in my office. It's wonderful! I come in the morning, turn it on, and cuddle into my workspace. Although it sounds like now all I need is a blanket and to fall into a blissful sleep, I actually begin to concentrate on my work.  Not only do I have better concentration but my saleswoman kicks in in full throttle, I am friendly to my coworkers, I don't complain, I want to stay in my office. It's really a great tool and my advice of the day.

I found this really great article for businesses and the connection of temparature to workplace productivity. Check it out:

http://www.fastcompany.com/3001316/want-more-productive-workers-adjust-your-thermostat

Side note:



Granted there are women that do not fall into this category, but most of my friends and colleagues will agree that we like the thermostat higher than our significant others. My husband and I have an evening tradition, everyday I wrap three blankets around me on the couch while he sits watching TV comfortably in a T-shirt.  We have had many silent battles over the thermostat at home...while he's upstairs I would sneak to the living room to turn it up, and while I slept he would turn it down. My husband is practical by nature and always remembers to turn off the thermostat when we're not at home. I am realistic by nature and know that when we come home it will be FREEZING, so I naturally "forget" to take that step when leaving the house. I know its not frugal and I know that saving money is important, but I would rather skip going out to dinner than coming home from my cozy car to enter a refrigerator.