Thursday, April 22, 2010

Personal Wellness on Earth Day: Headsets, Standing & Tungling

Odds and ends to contemplate for your own wellness on Earth Day.

Headsets & earpieces: I recently coached a lawyer client a tiny bit around headsets and earpieces. Her back problem isn't helped by holding a telephone to her ear with her hand or shoulder for long periods of time. Her consideration for her colleagues on either side of her office keeps her from using the speakerphone, even with the door closed.

Many people dislike looking as if they are taking an order at a drive-through. Others dislike wireless earpieces in public because all of a sudden the man next to you is either talking to himself, to you or is on his phone. It's annoying.

I use a headset I bought at RadioShack for about $30. It plugs easily into my land line handset and my cell phone. It works well and I haven't even seen any gawkers when I wear it occasionally in the car. It works much more reliably and without the static and other noise that I experienced with various wireless type earpieces.

Try a headset or an earpiece in your office if you are concerned about your back or posture. But by "in your office", I mean within the walls that form the working space that contains your individual desk and telephone. Don't walk around in the halls or stand over your trusty administrative assistant while talking on the phone. You will drive people crazy. This reminds me of one of my former partners who had a reeeeeeeeeally long telephone cord on his phone so that he could be on his phone and stand out in the hall at his secretary's desk at the same time. It drove her crazy.

Standing: I read something last week about how people who stand on the job burn more calories than those who sit. I don't think I'll make standing the key component of an exercise plan, but this bit of information did make me question why I always sit while coaching my lawyer clients on the phone. I can't recall where I read the article, but I just Googled the topic and the results include a suggestion by the Mayo Clinic. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/office-exercise/sm00115 So stand while talking on the phone sometime. Improved posture, better circulation, burnt calories. What's not to like?

Tungling: I learned about http://www.tungle.com/ this morning from a lawyer I know in town. It's a free online scheduling tool for making appointments and avoiding doublebooking and email tag with your clients and other people. The website doesn't reveal what "tungle" means (!), but it does have a short video demonstrating how the tool works. I haven't used it or tried it, but it looks easy and my lawyer friend likes it. Check it out.