Ways To Work Out While At Work

Are you someone who sits down at work all day? While your job may be perfect for you, you should take health effects into consideration. Office spaces are set up to require very little movement, so it is easy to gain weight while also increasing the strain on your neck, back, and wrists. To reverse the unfortunate effects of hard work, you should learn about various exercises you can do to help yourself stay out of harm’s way. You may be too busy to work out at the gym, but consider getting into the habit of working out while at work.

No. 1: Make the most of your commute

Walk or bike to work. If you ride the bus or the subway, get off a few blocks early or at an earlier stop than usual and walk the rest of the way. If you drive to work, park at the far end of the parking lot — or park in the lot for a nearby building. In your building, take the stairs rather than the elevator.

No. 2: Look for opportunities to stand

You’ll burn more calories standing than sitting.  Stand while talking on the phone. Better yet, try a standing desk — or improvise with a high table or counter. Eat lunch standing up. Trade instant messaging and phone calls for walks to other desks or offices.

No. 3: Take fitness breaks

Rather than hanging out in the lounge with coffee or a snack, take a brisk walk or do some gentle stretching. For example, face straight ahead, then lower your chin to your chest. Or, while standing, grab one of your ankles — or your pant leg — and bring it up toward your buttock. Hold each stretch for 15 to 30 seconds.

No. 4: Trade your office chair for a fitness ball

Consider trading your desk chair for a firmly inflated fitness or stability ball, as long as you’re able to safely balance on the ball. You’ll improve your balance and tone your core muscles while sitting at your desk. You can even use the fitness ball for wall squats or other workplace exercises during the day.

No. 5: Keep fitness equipment in your work area

Store resistance bands — stretchy cords or tubes that offer weight-like resistance when you pull on them — or small hand weights in a desk drawer or cabinet. Do arm curls between meetings or tasks.

Read tips number 6-10 here

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The Link Between Plants & Productivity

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According to the article by Caroline Webber, studies have shown that the environment we work in has a huge impact on how we think, act, and feel. Sure, painting the office green will boost moods, but we could take it a step further than that.  A study was done in which bees (whose brains have very similar molecular structures to humans) were exposed to the smell of recently cut grass. Within a few minutes, the behavior of the bees changed from agressive to calm.  So what does this mean for you? 

Plants not only improve air quality, they improve your well-being.  According to an article posted by Leading Company, when you increase the amount of greenery, the complaints about things such as being too cold or having headaches decrease.  Productivity is said to increase by at least 12% when people have plants in the room that they are working in.  Is this enough to make you want to buy more plants?

For more details, click on the following links:

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We Offer Open Plan Workstations

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Office Furniture Outlet offers workstations by Open Plan Systems.  They are a leading distributor of seating, case goods, and filing systems, and are also the largest remanufacturer of Herman Miller AO2 cubicles, with dealers carrying their product lines across the country.  Remanufactured Herman Miller cubicles are a high-quality, low-cost, and environmentally-friendly option for modular furniture.  Cubicles receive new fabric, top caps, and plastic bases on panels, connectors and components are sanded, pre washed, painted and cured, work surfaces and pedestals are new, and flipper doors are covered with new fabric.  You can choose from our 5 standard paint finishes, 2 base colors, 185 fabrics, and 7 work surface finishes.

To arrange a free consultation, email contact@ofova.com
or call us at (757) 855-2800

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How To Stay Productive

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Here at Office Furniture Outlet, we not only want to sell you the best quality of furniture, but we want you to have complete satisfaction while in your office.  Your comfortability, productivity, and all-around wellness are of upmost importance.  Below, there’s an article we’ve found that gives tips on how you can stay productive and perform at your highest potential. Maybe you can start implementing them into your daily routine!

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1. Drink a glass of water when you wake up. Your body loses water while you sleep, so you’re naturally dehydrated in the morning. A glass of water when you wake helps start your day fresh. When do you drink your first glass of water each day?

2. Define your top 3. Every morning Mike asks himself, “What are the top three most important tasks that I will complete today?” He prioritizes his day accordingly and doesn’t sleep until the Top 3 are complete. What’s your “Top 3″ today?

3. The 50/10 Rule. Solo-task and do more faster by working in 50/10 increments. Use a timer to work for 50 minutes on only one important task with 10 minute breaks in between. Mike spends his 10 minutes getting away from his desk, going outside, calling friends, meditating, or grabbing a glass of water. What’s your most important task for the next 50 minutes?

4. Move and sweat daily. Regular movement keeps us healthy and alert. It boosts energy and mood, and relieves stress. Most mornings you’ll find Mike in a CrossFit or a yoga class. How will you sweat today?

5. Express gratitude. Gratitude fosters happiness, which is why Mike keeps a gratitude journal. Every morning, he writes out at least five things he’s thankful for. In times of stress, he’ll pause and reflect on 10 things he’s grateful for. What are you grateful for today?

6. Reflect daily. Bring closure to your day through 10 minutes of reflection. Mike asks himself, “What went well?” and “What needs improvement?” So… what went well today? How can you do more of it?

Check out the original article here

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Benefits of Signing Up for our E-Newsletter

Please take a moment to join our private mailing list.  At no time (now or in the future) will we sell our e-mail list.  We try to offer our mailing list subscribers the first look at Office Furniture Outlet’s new arrivals. We go out on the showroom floor at the beginning of each week and take pictures of all the new furniture so you’ll stay fully updated. If you wish to unsubscribe from our newsletters at anytime, you may do so by sending us an e-mail or clicking on the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of any E-Newsletter we’ve sent you.

If you want first dibs on the new stuff, join today!

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Sell Your Old Office Furniture

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Are you needing to sell gently used office furniture?

Here at Office Furniture Outlet, we regularly buy used office furniture from companies all over the East Coast.  We are constantly looking for items to add to our vast inventory of cubicles, desks, chairs, and so much more.

If your company has office furniture to sell, don’t hesitate to give us a call for an asset valuation at (757) 855-2800.

You could also send us an e-mail with pictures of the items your company wants to sell at contact@ofova.com.

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How to Promote Trust with your Office Design

According to the article by Kath Walters, the way that an office is designed can enhance or undermine trust between everyone in the workplace.  Trust in the workplace is extremely important- Not having it leads to low morale, lots of micromanagement, and other factors that discourage people from doing their jobs.

When employees see that their boss has a huge office that he’s rarely in, while they slave away in tiny spaces, their trust diminishes.  Would you perform your best work for a company that you feel doesn’t value you? To fix the issue, you must promote fairness.  Employees deserve to have the latest technology, comfortable seating, and an adequate space to work in.  Communication is key, so go for designs that will promote clear communication.

These days, everyone in the office wants the same thing; The article states that trust level drops when someone has better quality furniture than others. If you want to have a nice chair for everyone, you can do that affordably by buying used office furniture.   If you’re looking for a great place to buy from, Office Furniture Outlet has the largest office furniture inventory in Hampton Roads.  We provide affordable new and used furniture and offer a range of services including space planning and design installation.  Let us assist you in building up that office trust!

Read the full article here

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Custom Commercial Furniture

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Here at Office Furniture Outlet, we offer a vast amount of services that will give your office that special touch, including custom furniture.  We are ready and willing to work with you to design whatever you need- reception stations, storage, conference tables- and we can build the cabinets to suit your space.

If you can’t find the furniture you’re looking for or are furnishing an odd space, that’s where our services come in.  We will custom build your commercial office furniture while also matching your current design aesthetics.  Just tell us what you need and we will have your office space customized to your liking in no time!

Contact us for an estimate today: (757) 855-2800

View our gallery of custom office furniture and refinishing projects here.

Custom Office Furniture

Are You a Part of the Green Movement?

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There are many definitions of upcycling, but the one that I like best is:
“Taking an item that is no longer needed or wanted and giving it new life as something that is either useful or creative.”

The trend seems to be moving toward being environmentally friendly and everyone loves being “green”.  More people are starting to get into the idea of recycling and reusing old items for brand new purposes.  Instead of sending items to the dump, you get to show your creative side and repurpose them.  You like to recycle to reduce pollution, you thrift to save money, but have you ever thought about buying used office furniture?

When buying used office furniture, you are saving money all while saving the environment. Think Green!  By buying used there are fewer raw materials used, remanufacturing conserves energy and natural resources. Office furniture recycling extends the lives of resources already in circulation such as wood, aluminum, steel, plastics and fiber, using them over and over to the fullest extent possible.
(See why going green is good for your business here.)

Here at Office Furniture Outlet, we want your creativity to flourish.  We allow you to choose your own colors, fabrics, and finishes.  Not only are you saving up to 60% off of retail prices, but we offer an array of services that will be sure to benefit you.

If you’re in need of new office furniture and need installation, delivery, project management, space spanning, electrostatic painting, or are just looking to sell your old office furniture, give us a call today at 757-855-2800.

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One of The Most Popular Office Chairs: Herman Miller’s Aeron Chair

Office Furniture Outlet buys and sells used office furniture. Our used office furniture inventories include most name brands. One of the perks of having multiple name brands in one space is our customers can compare styles, features and prices in one stop. When you are considering buying a new office chair this can be very important because you can sit in all different kinds of chairs. After all most people sit all day long in their office chair so, you want to make sure that your chair is comfortable.

Our most requested used office chair has to be the Herman Miller Aeron chair. Aeron’s popularity comes from being highly adjustable and allowing for natural positioning for health and productivity (ergonomics). Aeron chairs are designed with ergonomics in mind even the trademark mesh seat is an ergonomic feature. The mesh contours the body for ultimate snug support. The mesh is softer and offers ventilation vastly different than a generic office chair. Another ergonomic feature is Aeron’s contained suspension system that allows for up, down, tilt forward & backwards adjustments to regulate height and angle. Seat tilt has been noted to help decompression of the lower back. The Aeron also has synchro-tilt management where the backrest will recline at a faster rate than the seat to offer maximum positioning for the back and neck. The armrest move forward, back, up and down as well.

The Aeron chair is a high end office chair and isn’t inexpensive however, you can buy one used and save money. When buying a used Aeron chair you can save 60% to 75% off list price. Office Furniture Outlet liquidated Aeron chairs on a regular basis.

If you want to test drive or  ’test sit’ a Herman Miller Aeron chair or other office chairs stop by our 10,000 Sq. Ft. showroom in Norfolk’s Industrial Park –1124-B Kingwood Ave, Norfolk, VA 23502 or give us a call at (757) 855-2800.

More information on Herman Miller’s Aeron Chair below.


The Untold Story Of How The Aeron Chair Was Born

ALMOST EVERYONE KNOWS THE AERON CHAIR AS A HIGH-TECH DESIGN CLASSIC. BUT FEW PEOPLE KNOW THAT ITS TRUE ORIGINS LIE IN A 10-YEAR EFFORT TO CREATE FURNITURE FOR THE ELDERLY.

After the great DotCom bust of 2000, there was one lasting symbol of the crash: Herman Miller’s Aeron chair. The ergonomic, mesh-backed office chair was launched in 1994, at the start of the bubble; at a cost of more than $1,000 at the time, it quickly became a status symbol in Silicon Valley–spotted constantly in magazines, and in cameos on TV and film. Then, as the DotCom’s failed, the chairs went empty. As one information architect told New York magazine years later, he remembered them “piled up in a corner as a kind of corporate graveyard.” He went on: “They’re not in my mind an example of hubris as much as they are an example of companies trying to treat their staff more generously than they could actually afford.”

The Aeron was a throne perfectly tailored to Silicon Valley’s vanities. With a frame of high-tech molded plastic, a skin of woven plastic fibers pulled taut, and mechanics that accommodated slouchy rebels, the chair flattered the people who bought it. It was the best engineering money could buy, and it seemed purpose-built for squeaky-voiced billionaires inventing the future in front of a computer. But the Aeron’s origin story isn’t so simple. The apotheosis of the office chair–and perhaps the only one ever to become a recognizable and coveted brand name among cubicle-dwellers–was actually the unexpected fruit of a 10-year effort to create better furniture for the elderly.

One of the Aeron’s designers was Bill Stumpf, the son of a gerontology nurse and a preternaturally keen observer of human behavior. So he was well primed in the late 1970s, when the American furniture company Herman Miller began casting about for growth prospects and hired Stumpf and Don Chadwick–who had done several pieces for Herman Miller–to investigate the potential of furniture for the elderly. It seemed like a tantalizing market opportunity. The American populace was aging quickly, assisted living facilities were rare, and hospitals lacked ergonomic furniture suited to long-term care. In each environment, Stumpf and Chadwick observed the surest sign of an opportunity: Furniture being used in unintended ways. The homely workhorse common in both medical and residential settings was the La-Z-Boy. In hospitals, the elderly often got dialysis in semi-reclined La-Z-Boys; at home they spent hours in them watching TV. “The chair becomes the center of one’s universe. These sorts of realizations at the time weren’t just overlooked, they weren’t [deemed] important,” says Clark Malcolm, who helped manage the project. Those observation studies and focus groups “made Bill and Don focus on seating, in a way they never had before.”

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