Those good people of office supplies at Euro Office have offered the readers of the PRSD at 15 per cent discount on their Greener Products range, plus some tips on keeping your home office child friendly, both of which are too good to shake a sharpened pencil at.
Make Your Office Child Friendly
If you have a home office, you’ll know that it is an area for quiet, focused work time. An organised space where you keep precious equipment like laptops, computers, expensive office supplies and important documents. You’ll also know that it’s not a place for kids. Well, that is until they creep in there, that is. You could padlock the doors. Or, you could child-proof your office room. Here are our Top Five Tips for making your office child-friendly.
1. Electrical equipment
You could be in the middle of an important download, or three quarters of the way through a presentation, when your little darling pulls the plug on all of your hard efforts in a split second. It goes without saying that you should cover electrical outlets and tape printer cords to the floor. Failing that, it inserts into all outlets or cunningly cover them with large pieces of furniture.
2. Parental Controls
One of the most obvious solutions to avoid kiddies trawling unsuitable internet sites is placing a Parental Control on your computer. But, while this is effective for sites that you don’t want them to see, it doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t delete all of the copy in your word documents or practice their maths homework in your business Excel sheets. To keep children from accessing your work or files, simply be sure to lock your computer or, if you’re going to be away for a while, set it to hibernate mode.
3. Unplug
Going one step further, you can always unplug your electrical equipment. With computers, or any such equipment – such a your mouse, keyboard, webcam etc. – it’s worth seeing if you can invest in wireless options, as cables will always be a temptation. It goes without saying that important files, photos, reports, documents and worksheets on your computer or laptop should all be backed up to safe guard your work. just in case.
4. Keep out of reach
There will always be things that kids can negotiate. Locks, safety measures – you name it, they’ve already manipulated it. So, with hazardous things, such as glue and letter openers – or even important envelopes, files and invoices – it’s worth keeping them out of reach. This doesn’t mean padlocking them and keeping them in the darkest depths of your office. Simply popping them on a high shelf and keeping them clear from view should do the trick.
5. Create an area
The likely reason for kids’ interference in your office is largely due to boredom. So, to counteract this, it’s always worth creating a separate area for them to play in to keep their minds occupied. For example, propping a few toys in a corner or your office to create their own play space in your work space should divert and focus their attentions to that one area. Or, why not go one further and join in on their game? By setting up a toy work area (such as a child’s desk with stationery and paper) next to your desk, they’ll think they’re helping you work and (hopefully) be a little less inquisitive as to what fits into plug sockets!
• 15% discount on Greener Products for PRSD readers!
Pop along to the Greener Products site for your 15 per cent discount in office supplies – offer ends Tuesday, December 10, 2009
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