This is the second of five blog posts on my favorite technologies.
Many years ago, I worked at a small consulting firm. The primary office printer happened to be located outside my office door. Every afternoon, around 4.45pm, I would hear the office manager standing at the printer, cursing under her breath. One day I asked her what all the commotion was about. She explained that each day, she has to mail anywhere from two to 10 packages, to clients or potential clients. Each package required a mailing label, and so she was at the printer trying to print these mailing labels on the Avery label sheets that contain 30 sheets per label. Being an industrious and parsimonious type, she was re-using the label sheets, since she didn’t print 30 labels every day. The result was that she often “misprinted labels” and/or the re-used label sheets got jammed in the printer. Thus all the cursing and frustration.
So I bought her a Dymo label printer. This is a “personal” label printer that allows you to print a single label (or several labels) using the included software. It makes printing one or a few labels incredibly easy.
About a week after she got the label printer, the owner of the company came into my office and asked me what I had done to make our office manager so happy. At first I didn’t understand, until the owner explained that the office manager was no longer cussing up a storm every afternoon! (The owner’s office was near the printer, too.)
Both Dymo and Sony (and possibly others) make these label printers. I’ve used the for over a decade now, and can’t imagine working without one.
Stay tuned for more of my favorite technologies, and feel free to add your own in the comments section.
Wes, I too am a fan of the Dymo label printer. And had a couple of quick thoughts.
1. How lovely of you to solve a simple problem with a simple solution – without requesting a purchase order, getting approval, and waiting 4 weeks til the company decides whether or not the office manager should be granted such a tool. Taking action is so powerful, isn’t it?
2. My favorite technology is more useful for “getting” to work rather than using at work – but it has been life changing. I work in the interior design world, and for years – at a very expensive price – there was a commercial spray product that could be used on draperies and upholstery to get out stubborn wrinkles. A handful of years ago, Downey came out with “wrinkle release” – a residential product for wrinkled clothing. You just lay your piece of clothing down – spray on the wrinkle release – run your hands over the item – and voila! No more wrinkles. An incredible product, and a must-have for work travel. And I am not exaggerating when I say it has been life changing. Try it. You’ll love it.
Thanks for the great tips!
-Mary Larsen
http://www.yourdesignbizblog.com