Being Geek Chic is a blog about one woman navigating the male-dominated industries of production and tech. It's written by Elizabeth Giorgi, Founder, CEO and Director of Mighteor - one of the world's first internet video production companies. Learn more about Mighteor here.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the fact that different rooms in my home essentially function as satellite offices. I like to write in the kitchen while dinner is cooking. I work through emails on the couch while the TV is blaring. I catch up on the news of the day with my iPad on the patio. In other words, my whole house is my office.
I know a lot of “experts” would probably say that this is an unhealthy habit, but when you’ve got a lot of love for your work, it’s kind of unavoidable.
Combine that with the fact that I love lists and you’ve got a blog post on my top 10 ultimate home office accessories:
1. Native Union Moshi Moshi Retro POP Handset
This thing is my crack. Plug it into your iPhone and talk, talk, talk. If you’ve ever tried to hold your iPhone between your ear and your shoulder - you know that it doesn’t work. This is your solution. Plus, friggin’ cute, right?
2. Universal Touch Screen Stylus Pen
Love your iPad, but hate typing with your finger on the glass? You need these. Plus, crazy cheap!
3. LEGO brick storage boxes
Never thought I needed storage for my paper clips. Boy, was I wrong on that one.
4. A good table lamp
Don’t strain your eyes, lovers. Get proper lighting. I like this industrial lamp from West Elm.
5. Bamboo Lap Desk
Don’t fry your ovaries. Or spermies! Plus, a lap desk makes it about 1,000 times easier to type, edit, whatever you need to do for a long period of time.
6. Something happy, happy
A motivational poster will perk up your mood and give you a boost when you’ve been slogging away for hours. I love this poster from Etsy seller Amanda Catherine Designs. It’s pretty, simple, honest. And a great reminder.
7. Sharpie pens
Freaking love these. So smooth! I am a firm believer in investing in good pens. I can vouch for these.
8. Moleskine Ruled Notebook
Creatives love to pull out their Moleskines. That’s because there is nothing more awesome to our silly brains than the combination of form and function. I definitely need mine around at all times.
9. Magic Mouse
Only one word: SMOOTH.
10. A patient boyfriend. This is my MOST IMPORTANT accessory for sure. Every night, TJ refills my water or reheats my coffee or mutes the TV or one of a million other things while I’m working. He’s the best. I couldn’t be the psychotically productive, overly ambitious person that I am with him.
Alright, so what did I miss? What is your MUST HAVE office accessory.
At my full time gig, I run into a lot of crazy stuff on our social media accounts. There’s the spammers, the disgruntled users, the small businesses looking to find customers and myriad other things. One of those most difficult issues we face though is how to handle negative comments.
In social spaces, good and bad discussions are visible to the world. It’s easy to accept and even celebrate the good comments. It’s hard to embrace the bad, but it’s critical that you do. A disgruntled customer can quickly create a digital mob scene on your wall, so here’s some guidelines that I use to handle it.
Listening is key. Just like in real life, when you are having an issue in a restaurant, store, at work, wherever, you don’t want your voice to go unheard. If I were to interrupt our users in real life, they’d probably want to slap me. You need to read these negative comments and absorb the information.
Once you’ve listened, communicate that you’ve read the comment and are working towards addressing the problem or finding a solution. You don’t enjoy the added value of body language and non-verbal communication online that you do in a real life conversation, so you need to be more deliberate in these forums.
Next, truly try to address the issue and if possible, take the conversation offline. A simple post saying, “could you please email Amy at [email protected] or call her at ###-###-#### to resolve your issue” when you have an answer. Other users see that you have resolved the issue, but it allows you to work out any minor details without cluttering your wall or Facebook feed. Plus, it’s very easy for a twitter conversation to feel impersonal, whereas a voice to voice conversation easily allows you to lower any tension.
Of course, the trolls will be trolls. It can be difficult to know how to deal with these characters, however, I would never ignore them. You may not address every single post, but check in occasionally with a “thank you for letting us know” kind of remark just to acknowledge the comments.
How do you deal with negative comments in social media?
Whether it’s a new website, a photography project or even homework - starting a new project can be difficult. Especially when motivation is low. As much as I love my job, I can get caught up in the stress of starting a project far more often than I get caught up in the stress of actually doing the project.
After doing some light reading, here’s some tips from the experts.
1. Give yourself a “bonus” as an incentive. Basically, make little markers in the project for when you complete certain tasks that allow you to reward yourself for progress. For example, I’ll tell myself that I can go get a biscotti from the coffee shop down the street when I finish editing 1 full minute of film. That usually takes me about an hour, but it’s always a great motivator to start. Especially when I’m hungry.
2. Bounce ideas off others. Too often, we isolate ourselves when we’re having a tough time at work. Sometimes, asking someone for their opinion on an approach or an idea is all you need to get the ball rolling and get excited to start.
3. Remember that it happens to everyone. No one is perfect and no one is raring and ready to start a project every day of their life. Sometimes cutting yourself a little slack is all you need to change your mood and get started.
Need inspiration for something? Send us your biggest inspiration pitfalls to [email protected] and we’ll try to help.
My cubicle is a pretty crazy place to work. I hate fluorescent lights, so I hung a chandelier above and put a big lamp on the desk. I need color around me to keep inspired, so I keep a wide range of notes, photos and printables around me at all times. The window is behind me, so I set an alarm on my calendar to turn around once an hour and soak in some Vitamin D.
This is the life of a cubicle worker.
If you’re starting your first job or working in an entry-level role, chances are you’re destined for a cube. Even if you will be working in cube city, don’t fret. Working in a cubicle can be social, fun and a challenge that inspires creative solutions.
1. Put happiness around you. A custom calendar with reminders about important places in my life and a birthday card from my brother are the first things I see everyday when I plop my purse down on my desk. It’s simple, but these things make me very happy again and again.
2. Get practical. A functional work space should have some key pieces around you that you need to reference again and again. I’ve got a pie chart of our office structure next to the phone, because the most common calls I get are for various types of data and content. I need to reference this stuff nearly every single day, so it would just irritate me to have to dig for that document.
3. Change it up every 90 days. I tend to go shopping for my wardrobe seasonally and try out new recipes every couple months. Those same instincts to change things up should apply to your work space. If you’re really into a certain quote right now, print it out and post it. When you’re sick of it, toss it. Change of space can change your mood, so don’t be afraid to switch up the look and feel of your desk.
