Thursday, June 2, 2011

Wednesday Work: 8 Ways to Take up Residence in the Office

Warning/Tip: This is a 3-page post (according to MS Word 2007). For the lazy, read only the text in bold and italics plus the one following the *. =P

I noticed a funny thing unfold in the course of my employment. I kept leaving more things in the office as I started growing more accustomed to my environment. I realized that this is my way of taking up residence in the office.

These are the 8 ways that maybe even you have done to lay claim on your space at work.

Bring a notebook to leave in the office.
The Notebook is essential for your survival with the high volume of demands from the boss.
This was the first item I brought to the office and decided to leave after only several days. In the office (and I think in most other offices too), it’s important to have a pen & notebook at hand when talking to the bosses. Asking repetitively for instructions gives the boss a bad impression of you. He’d much rather see your head glued to the paper (with the exception of occasional eye contact and several nods) while taking note of what he's telling you. It’s more effective than nodding your head and going off only to realize you forgot half of what he said.

*Pen & Paper will do if you don’t have a notebook at hand when the boss calls for an urgent meeting.

Keep meds in case of health concerns.
The Meds are important when your health puts your salary at the risk of deduction due to absence.
I got mine from an officemate whose sister works as a medical representative. That officemate gives us free samples meant for doctors, which the sister happened to have excess stocks of. I chose to leave these in the office because it was for menstrual pain. I thought it would be more beneficial to have it on hand when my officemates find need for it.

*Meds cover basically everything: headache, sore throat, fever or maybe even heartache.

Stock up on soap, toilet paper & other essentials. ;)
These Essentials come in handy when nature decides to surprise you in the middle of the day.
I used to hate using restrooms outside the house. It felt like such a hassle. When I learned that my body is unable to cooperate, I thought it best to buy a bottle of anti-bacterial soap, bring toilet paper and keep a supply of the other essential for those days. True enough, the day I bought all those stuff, nature came calling. Sometimes it’s not just because I feel the need to do this, but there are times when other forces come into play.

*Essentials come in handy on days when the biological system sends an alarm to all the networks.

Take a masking tape & use it on everything that you can possibly stick on the walls.
The Masking Tape is useful on papers that need attention and priority.
I experienced an influx of papers when the real work started. It just kept pouring in that it became quite difficult to track. The load kept getting heavier because I couldn’t identify which was urgent and which could wait. Apart from the post-it and the desktop’s sticky notes, the masking tape was very useful for me. I use it on almost all the papers that need to be in my line of sight 24/7.

*Expect a lot of paper to come in so use this sparingly.

Mark the territory by personalizing the space.
Territory is important for people to recognize and respect.
One of the simplest joys of being an employee is having a designated space. I found this a privilege, especially since it came with a fairly big flat screen, fast hardware and a wall to cover with whatnots. Over time, this space became more me. I made a mood board which greeted me every morning when I opened my desktop. Then my wall was eventually covered mostly with work-related paper but also with a few key pieces of me.

*Keep in mind that this is the corporate world, hence personalize but don’t over accessorize.

Store a blanket for the unpredictable temperature.
The Blanket keeps away even the coldest of storms.
It took a while for me to realize that I needed something to keep me warm. Even after the chills I got during my second and third interviews, it took several days before I figured I had to do something. I couldn’t bring a real blanket, of course. Not to say I didn’t consider it, because the chills were that bad! But it just didn’t feel right to bring a blanket to work. Instead, I brought my Mom’s shawl and left it on my chair. I’d change it every two weeks for hygienic purposes.

*This is really a converted shawl (to maintain professionalism) that is most useful when the office temperature checks in at 15 degrees.

Hoard a stash of junk in the desk drawer.
The Stash is valuable for days when the volume of work and the height of demand is at its peak and escape can only come in the form of a 5-minute break.
I notice that at precisely 3:00 in the afternoon, my stomach starts to churn and my mind stops working. It’s time for a break. The 15 minutes thereafter is necessary for me to use for rest so I can function properly again. During that time, I either buy something to eat or open my lunchbox and take out a snack. I think it’s actually more efficient to simply buy one time big time and take from that pile. That way I don’t have to stress about snack time in the morning, right before I leave the house.

*These bits are helpful when going down the building to buy something at the 7-Eleven across the street is too time consuming.

Extend occupancy to the pantry with a coffee mug.
The Mug is very helpful to keep the senses alive during critical times.
Today was the first time I used my coffee mug during my afternoon break. I felt like a real employee, sneaking a few minutes away from work with a few co-workers to relax the nerves. I’m not sure if it were effective, though. We spent those few minutes talking about, yes, work. Haha! That break we were entitled to wasn’t so much of a break, after all. It just made me feel grown up, I guess. Still, it’s fun actually being part of that scene which I used to just see on sitcoms.

*Be wary because the famed coffee break does not just energize the mind but also puts the heart in overdrive.

Taking up residence in the office is inevitable since most people spend more than half their waking hours there. I just found it funny to realize my transition from student to yuppie. This quirk of keeping some of my things at work is just one of the evidence of me growing into my career and moving on from my academic life.

I noticed that these things vary from person to person. The reasons for choosing which things to keep in the office also differ depending on the personality.

Disclaimer: This was not meant to be a guide. My humor still needs a little practice. Fine, lots I admit. I AM trying!

Monday Magic is one of seven special weekly stories I'll write about the different things that are meaningful to me.



Hanggang sa muli!

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