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5 Ways of Improving Productivity in Your Home Office

It’s much easier to be lazy during work hours while you’re home, than surrounded by busy co workers, isn’t it? You’re in the comfort of your own home, you’re your own boss, there’s no one pushing you to meet your deadlines… If you really allow yourself this kind of freedom, your business, no matter what kind it is, will fail before you even started making some good money. In order to prevent all this, you should go through the next five tips, and do your best to apply them. So, check them out!

Do the Hardest Task First

You have probably heard about the “eating the frog” theory. If you do the most complicated tasks first, without delaying them, you’ll be able to arrange the rest of your working hours casually, and solve one problem set in front of you slowly, with no pressure whatsoever. It can be quite difficult to make yourself set your mind on those difficult tasks in front of you first thing in the morning, but with some determination, you’ll adopt that habit before you know it, and your productivity will increase significantly.

Trigger Productive Mode

This one is a bit tricky, because it’s completely individual. During your college years, you have probably discovered the conditions that help you learn better, so you should definitely apply them in order to increase productivity in your home office. However, if those conditions simply don’t work for you anymore, you should try out a couple of new things, so you can find the one that works best for you.

For example, if you’re competitive, you should try to trigger your productive mode by having an imaginary race with your deadlines, and always tend to beat your high scores. On the other hand, you may be in a rut because you fell into some kind of routine, which you can easily get out of by introducing your office space to a couple of small irrelevant changes. Some people can focus better and work harder when they are exposed to just the right amount of background distractions, so you should probably try this, as well.

There’s one common mistake a lot of people make, and they consider it to be a highly productive method – multitasking. It’s a scientific fact that you only do less by multitasking, so this is one habit you definitely need to get rid of.

Music Helps Brain Work

Whether you’re surrounded with your family in your home office or not, music can be quite helpful when it comes to improving productivity. An experiment showed that background music in major cords can help a lot when it comes to repetitive tasks, but also when you need to distract yourself from the noise around you, no matter if it’s in the actual office or the improvised one in your home.

Keep Sticky Notes Around

You never know when your inspiration may strike, so you should definitely lead some type of diary. If that’s too much for you, and if it’ll take too much of your time, having sticky notes around you will definitely do the trick, no matter if they are on your computer desktop or your actual desktop. Write down every idea that comes to your mind, even if you consider it sounds silly or dull, and elaborate its stages whenever you find enough time.

Keep Your Space Clean

Your working space needs to be absolutely clutter free, especially if all you need for you work is your computer. Clutter around you will slow you down, and make it difficult for you to increase your productivity, so everything you don’t use must go. You should replace those excess items with a desk lamp which will improve lighting in your room, and a plant or two, which will affect your mind positively and cause the feeling of calmness.

In the end, I’d like to add one more thing – pay attention to your nutrition, and tend to eat healthy, because one of the preconditions of improving productivity in general is having enough energy. I hope you’ll find my suggestion insightful, and if you do apply any of them, I’d really like you to let me know how it goes!

The Most Cost Effective Printing Devices in 2014

Printer, or a printing device, is a very potent and crucial tool for many existing professions nowadays. However, buying the most expensive printer is certainly a waste of money in many cases, especially if you do not intend to use all of its strengths. When choosing a printer, you are not obliged to buy a top quality item – buy the one which will suit your needs best. Here are a couple of cost effective printing devices that you should opt for, depending on your line of work.

Epson Expression Home XP-850 – for printing photos

When it comes to printers, common design dictates the use of two or four ink cartridges, however if your field of work involves photography and requires printing of photos, you should opt for a bit different solution. Epson Expression Home XP-850 has six ink cartridges of different colours (yellow, green, magenta, cyan, light cyan and light magenta). With such an arsenal of colours at its disposal, this printing device is perfect for printing high-quality photos in all their richness, since it also has a variable ink drop, for either sharper or smoother pictures. It has 4×6 inch photo tray capable of output snapshots in no more than ten seconds.

Epson Expression Home XP-850
Epson Expression Home XP-850

 

Epson WorkForce WF-3540 – solution for home use  

In addition to remarkable printing capabilities, Epson WorkForce WF-3540 has a bunch of other amazing features. Memory card, Wi-Fi, USB slots, duplex printing, 2.5 inch touch screen control panel, not to mention its outstanding speed. Furthermore, it is not limited to printing only, this cutting-edge piece of technology is a scanner at the same time, and its scanning qualities are just as good as its printing. Thanks to its Wi-Fi, it has no need to be plugged into your computer, and it has a user friendly interface, so there is nothing to worry about.

Epson WorkForce WF-3540
Epson WorkForce WF-3540

 

HP Officejet Pro 8610 Plus – a great business partner  

If you are running a small business, you should definitely go for HP Officejet Pro 8610 Plus. Primarily, you are probably going to need more than one printer, and this one has a reasonable price, and it will serve the needs of any common office worker. It can print up to 19 black and white, or 14 colour pages within the time frame of one minute. With usual demands, it can print out 30000 pages before its cartridges are depleted.

HP Officejet Pro 8610 Plus
HP Officejet Pro 8610 Plus

 

Canon Pixma MG3222 – a true budget friendly option

A great device for low amount of cash to say the least. It has a rather simple installation, Wi-Fi and ability to double print pages. However, bear in mind that lower price comes with a certain drawback, Canon Pixma MG3222 will last enough for one or two thousand pages, which truly pales in comparison with previously mentioned devices. Moreover, the price of cartridges for this printer is a bit higher than average, meaning that. in the long run, you might actually lose money. This is only a best option for you if you do not need a constant use of printer.

Canon Pixma MG3222
Canon Pixma MG3222

Amateur Photography – Learn the Basics and Become a Pro

The increase in popularity that photography has experienced in recent years is quite logical. Photography as a professional vocation offers a dynamic career with a lot of opportunities to travel and do creative work. Furthermore, the price range of professional and semi-professional DSLR has become far more affordable to the general public. This means that having a high-quality camera in your home is something most families can afford these days.

Camera

Still, having quality equipment doesn’t make you a professional photographer. This is why there is such a negative attitude towards this profession these days. There are a lot of people running around snapping their cameras away, producing mediocre work and referring to themselves as professional photographers. Don’t be one of those people. If you want to be considered a professional you need to put in the work.

  1. Know your device

This is the first thing you need to ensure if you want to progress and start building a reputation. You are not going to be considered a professional if you keep making pauses to find those cool options that you just discovered the other day. Your camera’s manual is your best friend and you should know it through and through. Know the features and capabilities of your device, and you are going to improve significantly.

  1. Devote your time to photography

You can’t just snap a couple of photos each day and consider your work for the day complete. You are going to make thousands of poor quality photos before you strike success. You also need time to find your style and focus. A photography career can take you in a lot of different directions. You need to devote time to finding out what works for you.

Bike

  1. Do your research and learn from others

A lot of “professional photographers” don’t even have a grasp of basic concepts of photography like composition and perspective. Although photography is considered an art form, there is still a science behind it, and you need to know the techniques that you can use to create better material. There are tons of books that deal with this subject and plenty of online courses that can help you out. Also, blogs of famous photographers are great places to pick up new tips and tricks.

  1. Digital photograph improvement

Not every photograph is going to be perfect and suitable for particular projects. They might need some fine tuning and modifications. You need to have a working knowledge of some photo editing software. This will take time but it is a necessity. You can find tutorials for most of the good software online.

Conclusion

It is important to put your career in perspective (pun intended) and make sure that you are on the right track. Don’t let the fact that you have made a few great shots go to your head. This can be the kiss of death for your progress. Photography requires constant and consistent work in order to get your skills to a professional level. Keep working and always strive for improvement, regardless of the praise you get and the success you achieve.

The Perks of Organizing an Annual Family Photo Session

We are all proud of our little, or sometimes quite big families and wish to capture everyone on film so we can look back at different periods in our lives and do some nostalgic reminiscing. It is good to have some family pictures to look at, but the mere act of taking them on a regular basis can have some great benefits that most people neglect. While taking selfies can be said to be a form of self-exploration, you’ll definitely appreciate good family photos and will gain much from the photo shoot experience if you get into the habit of taking them annually. Here are some of the perks that await those who take up this fun practice.

Pic 1

Keeping everyone up to speed with family news

The way the world is today and the way people interact with each other – hectic and rushed on a daily basis, living apart from the rest of the family and barely conversing outside of social media updates – your extended family won’t have a lot of chances to keep track of you are doing. With an annual family photo session you have a great opportunity to let your parents and various relatives see how your life is going and to keep your faces fresh in their memory.

It’s a great way to gauge the progress of your kids over the years

Kids grow up very quickly and they change a lot through the years, so it is easy to lose sight of a particular moment in their lives. Having a few high-quality pictures of you and your kids from every single year up until now is a great way to see just how much they have grown, the small changes in their appearance and character and to get an insight in just how fast life goes by, reminding you to cherish and love your family and not get lost in small insignificant details.

pic 2

Capturing fun memories that will last you a lifetime

There are surely hundreds of little wonderful moments that would be lost to the ravages of time if it were not for a picture to help you remember them. The things is, it’s all these small fun, funny and sweet moments that matter the most in terms of building strong interpersonal bonds and keeping you in a positive mental and emotional state. Whether goofy, interesting, confusing or romantic, these moments should be remembered and cherished.

You can look forward to providing future generations some insight into their heritage

It’s not something modern people think about that much, but new generations will come after us and newer still after them – making sure that they have a strong link to their heritage and know how their ancestors were, how they looked like and how they lived should be one of our priorities. A big photo album with several generations of the family really gives a person a sense of belonging and a respect for their culture.

pic 3

Family photos can be a visual time capsule reminding you of a different time

While the family aspect is very important, a picture will also reveal interesting tidbits on the fashion, tastes and way of living in a bygone era. If you’ve lived to see your adolescent son or daughter laugh out loud looking at the picture of you in your best 80-ies clothes, once cool hairstyle and some technology that seems ancient and alien to them, then you know what I am talking about.

Creative family photos can be great décor

We come to a more practical side of things now, and it’s the fact that having a number of great family photos taking from year to year will provide you with some really cool and inexpensive home décor. Frame 10-15 pictures from years past in the hallway, living room or the staircase wall, and you will definitely liven up your home and give guests something to talk to you about. They are wonderful ice breakers during family reunions or when that uncle or grandma you haven’t seen in a few years comes to visit.

Annual family photo sessions are in themselves a very fun and interesting experience – whether it’s just two people in loved, mom and dad with kids or a portrait of you and your extended family – but they will also help capture the evolution of your family for both you and newer generations in the future.

pic 4

Why should I recycle my empty ink cartridges?

If you have always been tossing your empty ink cartridges in the trash, you’re not alone. Some studies show that 60-80% of empty ink cartridges find their way to a landfill. It is definitely a disappointing fact considering how damaging these empty cartridges are for our environment.

ecycle empty ink cartridges

What you should understand is that inkjet cartridges are made using the plastic, which is a petroleum-based product. This plastic takes about 1,000 years to decompose, and if you throw them into the recycle bin, the chances are that they will end up in incinerators or landfills.

Here are some of the most important reasons why you should consider recycling your empty ink cartridges.

  • The biggest advantage of recycling is that it reduces water and air pollution associated with incineration, landfilling, or the manufacturing of new cartridges.
  • By choosing to recycle your empty ink cartridges, you will help conserve natural resources such as water, timber, minerals, oil, and more. It’s obvious that you don’t need to use these natural resources if you don’t have to produce new cartridges.
  • It will always leave a positive impact on the energy use – it saves more energy than you might think.
  • By recycling, you will play a part in keeping emissions of greenhouse gases to its minimum – this will also help resolve the issue of global climate change.
  • By recycling your empty ink cartridges, you will be playing a huge role in sustaining the environment for our future generations.

 

It is worth mentioning that contrary to popular belief, recycled or remanufactured cartridges are quite like the new ones.  It means you don’t have to sacrifice quality when you buy remanufactured cartridges; in fact, you will be saving money and doing your environment a huge favor because it takes more than three pounds of resources to make a brand new cartridge, and you will be saving it all by recycling your empty cartridges.

How to print from the internet

With all the navigating and exploring of the internet, you will soon come across a page that would like to keep in the old-fashioned way – in a paper format. That’s exactly when you will have to make use of your printer. It is easy to operate a printer while working on a document stored on your PC, but you may have to deal with certain issues when printing the web pages.

 

The interesting thing is that different browsers allow you to save an entire page or any part of it, including graphics, text, or links. Once you know what to do, it will become extremely simple to use your printer every time you find something worth printing. Here’s how you should proceed.

 

  • The first thing you should bear in mind is that most web pages are often bigger than an A4 page, which means it’s not easy to guess how many pages you will get of print. The best thing is to first use “Print Preview” option and then ‘Print’.
  • In any browser, you will find the “Print’ icon – it’s usually under ‘File’ tab on your browser. Once you click the Icon, you will also find a drop-down menu. Click Print Preview.
  • This will give you a preview of how much of a web page is going to be printed on one page. It is possible to see the number of pages the printer is going to print by checking page numbers at the bottom of your screen.
  • You may also click the Print button and check the dialogue box that lets you select the number of pages you want printed. You will also find some radio buttons that allow you to select the content that you want on the printout. Once you’re sure of everything, simply click ‘Print’ – that’s pretty much it!

How to Save money when printing

 

Considering the fact that printer ink runs you about £25 to £35 per minuscule cartridge, producing around 400 to 1000 printed pages, it makes sense to find a way to lower the cost of printing. Interestingly, there has been a 30% increase in ink prices since 2009, which means things are going to be even expensive in the future.

Here are a few paper-saving tips that will ultimately help you save more money.

  • Even if printing is a substantial business expense, you should learn to have more control over it. It is true that you cannot stop printing mailing labels, packing slips, legal paperwork, and much more, but you can definitely avoid printing maps, memos, baseball scores, and other “interesting articles” that should have not been printed, as they only fill up the recycling bins in your office.
  • You may consider using a duplexing printer that can use both sides of a page for printing. It allows you to cram more info onto each side of the page.
  • Using the option to shrink to fit on one page is a good paper-saving trick. By activating this option, you will be able to print more on fewer pages – the printer will not use a new page just to print a few lines.

It is also possible to save money by saving ink. Here’s what you need to do.

  • Check and change the font of your document. By using a small font that is readable and still keeps your letter to one page, you will be able to save a lot of ink and print more pages in the end.
  • It is possible to save ink and money by printing in lower quality draft mode – you may also want to print in ‘black and white’ to save ink.
  • Whether you’re using a laser printer or an Inkjet, you may save money by investing on cheap cartridges from third parties. It is easy to find non-OEM ink for a range of printer models – you can produce good quality prints with these cartridges and still save money that you would otherwise be spending on branded ink cartridges.

https://www.cartridgeink.co.uk/ink-cartridges/

The Future of 3D Priniting

3D Printing

It seems like ages when the first PC printers appeared in the market. At that time, users were extremely happy with how these printers performed – they were satisfied even with the ninepin print that wasn’t sharp at all. However, things have changed today and printers have evolved dramatically. With this evolution, people are no longer prepared to stay content with good quality prints – and that’s what inspired companies to come up with 3D printers, which promise to start an industrial revolution of customized and homemade products.

Most 3-dimensional printers operate by threading spools of plastic filament onto a highly heated nozzle that in return produces liquid plastic and throws it onto a surface, layer by layer – it keeps working this way until it forms an object. The thing is that this form of printing is not new and is actually inspired from additive manufacturing where you create an object using layers. Nevertheless, it has become increasingly popular in the recent years, which is mainly due to the availability of new techniques, materials, and consumer-friendly price points.

After this concept and technique becoming so popular, people are asking about its potential. The most passionate 3-dimensional printing evangelists have already created so much, but most of they only have dull-as-nails examples, such as dimmer switches, dishwasher knobs, replacement parts for laundry carts, and so on. Is that all you’re going to see in the near future?  Probably not.

It is true that right now 3D printing is more about the technology’s potential than anything else, but it definitely can become a lifestyle in future. No one would have imagined that modern manufacturing would not rely on a factory – that’s the wonders of 3D printing. Many hackerspaces now offer 3D printers for us, and it is also possible to find them in libraries around the country. With its easy availability and coaching help, more and more people are going to use 3D printers, which will help this technology being used in different ways.

The fact of the matter is that future holds a lot for 3D printing, and with every new printed object hitting the world, the chances are that there soon will be a time when you can “print out’ objects like clothing, furniture, human tissues, and huge buildings. After NASA investing in technology to print food, we must say the possibilities are staggering.

Article written by Steven Longsdale

Cartridge Ink

Fun Ideas For Printing

Even if you don’t have a 3D printer at hand, you can still use your regular printer for fun. While it is true that a 3D printer can really put your creative skills you use, there is a lot you can do with your regular home printer. In fact, if you haven’t been using this ‘unloved’ piece of tech for quite a while, you better rescue it from the dusty corner of your study because we have some inspirational ideas that will make using your printer a lot of fun.

 fun printing

  • Are you going to throw a party very soon? If that’s the case, you can use your printer to create poster-sized prints. You can even create large banners to decorate the party venue. For this, you will have to learn a thing or two about multi-page poster printing. It’s not that difficult. It requires you to divide a large picture in several smaller paper-sized parts and then print them one by one. Once you have all these small pieces with you, simply combine them to create a large banner. To make things easier, you can also use certain software and programs that help split an image into several smaller sheets

 

  • For all the younger folks trying to find an activity during the school holidays, it is a great idea to use your printer and develop some activities and games to keep your young angles from rioting around the house. If you have a wi-fi enabled printer, it will become even easier to access online services to print out charter masks, coloring-in pages, board games, and much more.

 

  • One of the most popular fun ways of using your printer is to create greetings cards. Now, you don’t have to go shopping for the most lovely greetings card for someone you love, like, or admire. With a printer at home, you no longer need to rely on overly sentimental and cheesy cards – you can simply use templates online and print those cards with ease. To make things even impressive, use a special greetings card paper that has matte finish on one side and gloss on the other.

 

So, don’t underestimate the powers of your printer. You just need to learn how to use it to understand how useful it is.

Article written by Steven Longsdale

Cartridge Ink

How Do I Use Cloud Printing?

5- How to use cloud printing

 

The expansion in the world of printers has really taken the world by storm. Today, it is not difficult to find a sophisticated printer to suit your specific printing needs. Gone are the days when you had to operate your printers manually to get printouts– today, you can handle things well without having to have any physical access to your printer. That’s what cloud printing is all about.

 

Considering the advantages of cloud printing, many companies have already switched to it. It is actually a technology that you can use to access printers over a network through cloud computing. There are two basic ways of using cloud printing. First of all, you can use consumer-based cloud printing where you will be using an application that connects you with any cloud-enabled home printers that different you own. In this way, you can rely on digital media, which serves as your primary communications tool – it also allows you to create a printout only when you need any content in a physical form.

 

You may also want to take advantage of professional cloud printing that enables companies, publishers, and content owners to produce several printouts of heir digital publications by using networks of production facilities by means of cloud computing technology. It is in fact the ‘ad-hoc’ transformation of digital content into physical forms, which could be 2-dimensional or even 3-dimensional.

 

There are several service providers available online that let you connect with cloud ready printers. By using their service, you don’t have to use any PC connections, print drivers, etc – they even allow you to print from your mobile devices. To enjoy this wireless printing, you need to setup that service on your particular model.

 

Once you have enabled the service, you can use cloud-printing technology in different ways. For starters, you can use it to print your documents from different online storage sites, such as Evernote and Dropbox – you can print your PDF files, JPG images, and Office documents. You can also use the service and technology to print photos from Twitter, Facebook, and other social networking sites, and you can do it while on the go. And of course, you can cloud print from different online photo albums on Flickr, Picasa, Photobucket, and other such sites.

 

Article Written By Steven Longsdale

Cartridge Ink