Edison Offices NYC

Furnished, Affordable Workspace Offices and State-of-the-Art Executive Suites

[edisonofficesnyc-blog]

[edisonofficesnyc-blog]

This Is Your Life

Almost everything we eat comes with a price—either it’s too expensive or way too high in calories, or both. Unfortunately, what we tend to eat at work—the glorified sandwich, street meat, the quick slice, or four, 100-calorie snack packs—is not helping us maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Work days are rough on our bodies and our minds. Most of us can’t function without the caffeine in our morning coffee, or the protein in our breakfast sandwich. And throughout the day endless meetings and assignment deadlines keep us hungry, yet crunched for time. Amidst the chaos of our working lives, we lose our will and go with something easy, which tends to be the worst thing for us.

If you’re not lucky enough to have a service like Germany’s BiteBox, which offers you healthy lunch solutions at work, here are a few hints and tips on how to make eating during the working hours a bit healthier:

1)      Stay Hydrated: Our bodies are 70% water and use H2O 100% of the time; even when we’re not doing much but sitting. Keep some water handy at all times. It’s important to note that when our stomachs make noises we might actually be thirsty and not hungry.

2)      Pack Your Lunch: Easier said than done, of course, but making your lunch choice the day before can save you time, money, and most importantly, one less trip to the gym. Consider making a little bit more for dinner a few nights a week and pack the leftovers for lunch the next day.

3)      Choose your food wisely: Unless you have specific dietary restrictions, prepare meals that hit on a little bit of every food group. Wraps are a great way to get everything together in an easy way—and your choices are pretty broad. Check out this list of healthy lunches to bring to work for more ideas.

4)      Avoid office snacks but snack more often: Step away from that bag of Doritos and that bear claw! Clearly, those are bad choices. So make better ones. Pack some grapes or your favorite unsalted nuts with you to work and take mini breaks to eat some of it. This will help keep your metabolism going throughout the day and provide the energy you need to keep going!

5)      If you've got to eat it, at least share it: A tactic that generally goes unnoticed, but utilized by people dieting everywhere, is simply splitting that carb load in half. Get that sandwich you like, but consider sharing it with your favorite office mate. You’ll both get something delicious and avoid the full caloric blow-back. Consider sharing your healthy snacks too! Your coworkers may thank you for bringing in that pre-washed pound of grapes after a long department meeting.

You may not be able to incorporate all of these tips all of the time, but even just one could be the start of a better working day. Keep in mind to try and make time to regularly exercise too! It’s a balancing act sure, but healthy eating and healthy living can actually make work a little less stressful.

Follow Edison Offices online on Facebook and Twitter.

[edisonofficesnyc-blog]

BYOD, Workshifting, and Workspace

Bring Your Own Device—or BYOD for short—is one of the top corporate trends of 2012. It means using your own smartphone, tablet, laptop, or other personal device in the workplace for business (accessing email, uploading files, etc). And as the ownership and usage of personal devices continues to steadily rise, it’s inevitable that the use of personal devices in the workplace is a growing phenomenon.

The pros and cons of BYOD policies are varied, but mainly center around employee flexibility and network and information security issues—with the biggest debate being over who fronts most of the costs involved.

The BYOD trend is only the tip of the iceberg, however. Employees are taking advantage of updated technology faster than companies can recognize and integrate it into policy and practice. Technology savvy workers are now a step ahead of their companies and their choices and behaviors are creating a shift in the workplace.

Citrix Systems—a company that provides virtual computing solutions to hundreds of thousands of businesses worldwide—defines the trend of “Workshifting” as a “strategy based on getting work done in the right place by the right people at the right time.” So, in other words, it’s a way of working efficiently in any given circumstance.

Citrix reveals additional dimensions of how workshifting is changing the workplace in their white paper where they show it:

Allows individuals to shift work outside the office

Helps to move individuals, business processes or departments to different locations or organization

Shifts work from one device to another

Shifts meetings, support and training online

With all this potential shifting around and access to un-plugged technology, where does that leave the physical workplace? A recent study, also conducted by Citrix, suggests that by 2020, organizations will reduce office space by 17% or only seven desks for every ten workers who will in turn access company networks and resources on around six different devices.

Thankfully, this doesn’t mean corporate office space will disappear anytime soon, it just means that the future office worker will be choosing how, when, and where they conduct their work. If anything, the interiors and furniture of the office may have to change accordingly.

Will it look something like this?

Luckily we can provide flexible office space perfect for the shifting workplace now and in the future. Check us out at EdisonOfficesNYC.com.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

[edisonofficesnyc-blog]

Election Day!

Election Day has arrived! Need help finding your polling place? Google has made it simple for voters this year. Simply click here, type in your home address, and the site will bring up your voting location as well as a sample ballot. Now go vote! 

[edisonofficesnyc-blog]

Should you bike to work?

Often relegated to the months when the weather is a bit more predictable, biking to work has become a growing, even year-round trend. This is due in part to a shaky economy that has gas prices consistently rising, and broader concerns over increased health risks thanks to growing inactivity.

Here’s the gist of what’s great and what’s questionable about biking to work:

Pros

Compared to driving, it saves a ton of money and  if you’re driving in traffic, it could save a huge amount of time

 It’s a free workout to and from the workplace

You’ll inhale fewer automotive fumes and will be less likely to pick up a communicable illness from others in the tight confines found aboard public transportation

Cons

Riding your bike to work is dangerous, even with protective gear

If the weather is terrible, riding to work might not be a viable solution

You don’t want to arrive at work needing to take a shower

Your office doesn’t have a place to store your bike

You can’t beat the savings from riding your bike to work but it may not be the best mode of transport all year, or even all week.

But should you?

It all depends on what you’re comfortable with.

You should bike to work if you’re concerned about your health and your finances. Especially, considering that since January 2012 people who commute to work by bike at least three days a week can receive $20-a-month tax-free reimbursement for bike related expenses, it even pays.

Why you shouldn’t remains entirely a factor of comfort and appearance. If you’re concerned with getting sweaty and needing to change clothes, or if traversing busy intersections is not to your liking, consider avoiding this commute alternative altogether.

For those biking or considering biking in New York City there will be another alternative available March 2013 called CitiBike. Beginning in March, you can choose to rent bikes from hundreds of stations throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens.  You can purchase 24 hours, 7 day, or annual access, ride for select times (or risk incurring a minimal fee), and park your CitiBike at any of the racks closest to your destination. At $95 for annual access, your rides are free under 45 minutes—which is less than most commutes—and really can’t be beat.

For those who already own bikes and commute to work, keep in mind that you can store your bike for a nominal fee at most parking garages, especially Edison ParkFast.

Follow Edison Offices on Facebook and Twitter or contact us if you’re interested in acquiring office space that also supports your commuting flexibility.

[edisonofficesnyc-blog]

Coffee at Work: Is it good for you?

It’s just one of those things you do. Like hitting the snooze button on your alarm clock, starting your day with a coffee fix is second nature to many Americans. Some need it to jump start the day. Some need it to boost their energy level during the afternoon. And some just can’t live without it. You know who you are.

At the office, like at home and elsewhere, coffee is a diet staple. We claim it makes us productive and focused, and doesn't turn us into crazed addicts. While the jury is still out on how behavior is affected by coffee, recent studies have shown what millions of workers pray daily to be true, that coffee may be good for you after all.

That’s right. I’ll say it again.  Coffee may be good for you. It could help decrease risks to cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and extend your life by several years. This makes coffee an even better (and dare I say healthier) choice when you are at work and looking to quench thirst and boost energy.

To celebrate this astounding milestone, check out some of the most recent coffee trends:

The Pour Over—a super-fresh, hand poured single cup of joe

Cold Brew—requires 12 hours of cold soaking course-ground beans and then filtering them

So go ahead and pick up that mug or traveling cup, you’ve earned it.

[edisonofficesnyc-blog]

How to boost creativity when the seasons change

According to Jason Fried, co-founder and CEO of 37Signals, when you need to boost creativity, you shake things up. His company makes some pretty wild changes during seasonal shifts, like eliminating an entire day from the work week between the months of May and October. The company even provides a weekly community-supported agricultural share for employees.

Fried’s seasonal shake-ups have resulted in increased productivity and an infusion of creativity for his company. Sounds great, right? But what about the companies that can’t make something like that work financially? Is there anything they can do to increase productivity and boost creativity as the seasons change?

Yes they can! And we’ve got a few ideas how:

Encourage breaks: Getting a chance to step outside to get a bit of sunshine even in the coldest of months can do wonders for productivity. But, nothing works better than providing a food break to employees. Edison ParkFast managers will go on Snapple Runs bringing the cold beverages to their lot crews on a hot summer’s day. And those working on Thanksgiving at Manhattan Mini Storage locations receive baked holiday pies from the hands of their management teams. Even if it’s just for a few minutes, a break can boost morale which leads to a more productive employee.

Decorate: Consider decorating the shared office space with seasonal themes. It’s not a new idea but it really gives everyone working in an office space a periodic reminder that the world still revolves outside.

Make your space social: Who said increasing productivity had to be boring? Try touching up some open walls with IdeaPaint and let employees share ideas or thoughts. Sure it could be used to organize the Thanksgiving potluck, but it could also help encourage collaboration on the financial strategy for an important account.

Umbrellas: How often do we forget to bring an umbrella with us and are left drenched going home? Start by placing a few umbrellas in a common area and encourage others to take them when they need them and return them when they are done.  It’s a simple idea that solves simple problems, and leads to less stressed out employees.

What other creative or unique ways can you, or your boss, encourage productivity and creativity in the office as the seasons change?

Edison Offices provides bright spaces close to spacious parks that can improve your office productivity and sense of creativity.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on the latest and greatest in NYC executive office suites and workspace solutions.

[edisonofficesnyc-blog]

Future Workplace: Office Pods

It’s true that the workplace is changing. Mobile capabilities let workers work on the go. But when it’s time to work in a defined space, do we really want to be pod people?

Office pods are the latest trend in workspace solutions.  Not only do they look futuristic, but they act that way too – they move!

Pods are defined spaces that grant sanctuary to the solitary worker, or meeting space for team collaboration. Some of these could even look great in your back yard.

More and more companies are tearing down walls, opening up spaces, crowd-sourcing ideas from the cloud, and looking to shared office space as means of innovating in the workplace. Sure the idea of a workspace that “does it all” is appealing, but what matters most is encouraging a space that not only offers connectivity options but also the freedom to let business happen fluidly.

That’s why we've got three distinct styles of offices made available for the on-the-go, future-thinking worker. If you’re looking to add your own pizzazz to an office for a mid-sized or larger business, check out Edison Office’s Executive and Pre-built Suite options. If you run a small business or are tired of working out of your garage, check out our Workspace option. All of our spaces are decked out and ready to go providing the best in internet access, telecommunications, and complimentary coffee—if that’s your thing.

Now, if only these pods could fly…

[edisonofficesnyc-blog]

How to Address Office Hoarding

Ever wonder why some people’s desks at work are overflowing with what appears to emptied filing cabinets, a breakfast bar, and a supply closet? Could they be *GASP* hoarders?

With hoarding entering into our culture in a very graphic way thanks to A&E’s Hoarders and TLC’s Hoarding: Buried Alive, it’s not a big stretch to ponder what it could mean for you and your office environment.

Hoarding, even if it’s just office supplies, implies a disorganized and struggling employee/co-worker. Files are strewn about in unidentifiable piles and pouring out of folders. Food may be left out in open containers possibly attracting unwanted bugs. And the general look and atmosphere could be something other workers go out of their way to avoid, creating a caustic work environment. An article from AOL Jobs discusses a survey conducted by OfficeMax which suggests that 53% of respondents admit thinking negatively about co-workers who are disorganized and messy.

So, what can you do to help yourself or a co-worker that has lost the battle of the messy desk?

1) Identify the problem: The first step is to confront the problem head-on and acknowledge that it is affecting your work or the work of your co-workers.

2) Come up with a plan: Decide how you’re going to go about organizing and/or discarding the mess that exists.

3) Ask for help: Depending on the severity of the desk space, you or your co-worker may need some assistance. Ask another co-worker(s) to help out during their break, before work hours, or after if their being generous.

4) Clean it up: Put the plan into action and come prepared. Acquisition that new filing cabinet before the big day and get a handful of trash bags for anything getting tossed—consider plastic gloves too.

5) Keep it clean: Once cleaned up and organized, do your best to keep it that way. Check in with the co-worker you helped or seek out that co-worker that helped you and discuss the progress since the clean up.

Of course if you need a good excuse to clean house, choose to rent a more flexible office space with us and we’ll help keep you organized!

Follow Edison Offices on Twitter and Facebook.

[edisonofficesnyc-blog]

Is working remotely a viable solution?

At some point or another, every office worker asks themselves what it would be like to work from home, or how the freedom to work where they choose would change them for the better. Working remotely means having the freedom to work where and how you want. But is it all that it’s cracked up to be?  Let’s take a look at some of the pros and some of the cons:

Pros

Flexible schedule

No commute

Less distractions from coworkers

Increased productivity

Flexible attire

Cons

More personal distractions—family, tv, phone calls, Facebook, etc.

No face-to-face relationship building

Missing important information provided by direct discussion

Potential lack of discipline

As you can see, the benefits and drawbacks are evenly matched. It could be a great idea, or it could be a terrible idea. It all depends.

In an article from Mashable.com, Working Remotely: Is It Right For You?, HR Manager Sara Ferraioli from Winter, Wyman, thinks it’s best to ask yourself if you have the discipline, the motivation, the space, and the right personality to pull it off. If you can’t answer yes to all of these categories, you’ll have a harder time working remotely with any true measure of success. The key here though, is having the right personality to make this arrangement work. Without it, you’ll be more susceptible to distractions, time management pit falls, and misinterpreting key communications.

Of course, not all businesses and roles can support this style of working either. If your company or role requires you to interact with a team or clients on a daily basis, then working remotely may not be feasible. Or if your role requires you to explain or digest complex ideas and problems, you would be missing out on that face-to-face collaboration.

Working remotely has only recently become a viable solution for some workers. Fifty years ago it may have meant up and moving the entire office to the middle of nowhere—a far cry from what it means today. In the meantime, flexible and remote working will continue to become part of workplace culture as Millennials take over more of the workforce in the coming years.

For those workers looking for a more flexible workspace or private work retreat, check out our available options.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to remain in the loop with the best in Manhattan office space solutions.

[edisonofficesnyc-blog]

STAND UP FOR A HEALTHIER YOU AT WORK

With summer coming to a close, we’re heading into that long stretch of time where we tend to sit for most of the day. As the temperature drops, it’s easy to find ourselves opting out of midday workouts, or quick runs in the park, in exchange for the warmer option of sitting down indoors. In short, we’re going to be less active.

But that doesn’t have to be the case at work!

We’ve all seen the coworker with the yoga mat tucked behind their desk and bouncing, or rather rolling, around on an exercise ball—sometimes hilarity ensues. Then there’s that coworker who actually does calisthenics in their cubicle.  Both options are better than the alternative certainly, but there is a movement afoot—pun wildly intended— of people looking to fundamentally change how they work at their desks simply by standing up.

This type of desk allows for the freedom to work on different levels, thereby increasing movement and avoiding the cramped confines of the chair. Many models are adjustable so you can always sit back down if you get tired of standing up.

The benefits for working at a standing desk are obvious but some say you can also expect to work better with coworkers and help alleviate certain back conditions. An article fromForbes suggests that you might actually extend your life by three years and avoid a plethora of health complications if you just start standing more at work.

Desk or no desk, the objective is still to move more throughout the day. Check out thisinfographic from MedicalBillingandCoding.org for more information on how sitting down so much is affecting our bodies, including some great ways to combat potential risks.

Consider for yourself and for your coworkers; what are some other ways to stay active and off the chair while working? There are probably more than a few opportunities in your own workplace that you can start taking advantage of immediately.

If a viable option for your business is to consider an office workspace that is flexible in accommodating you or your company’s new standing outlook consider our workplace options.

And make sure to follow Edison Offices on Facebook and Twitter for more insights on important trends and topics in the working world.

[edisonofficesnyc-blog]

MIDTOWN AND LUNCH

There is a sea of possibilities in Midtown when it comes to grabbing some grub on your lunch break. Of course there’s also the problem of proximity—is there anything good near my office?? Finding the perfect meal to add a little pep to your step (or eye balls for reading those bazillion emails) can be a daunting task given your limited window.

Fear not.

Fortunately, there are some pretty dedicated people out there solving these types of problems. If you’re looking to try something new everyday, or want to find an awesome culinary retreat from the daily grind, here are a few sites that can help you narrow or broaden the field:

Midtown Lunch: Founded in 2006, this site started out as a means sorting through Manhattan’s Midtown lunch menus. Read through their blog to discover something new, or search by location or food type to find your next meal.

Lunch Studio: These are the ladies that lunch! These two working architects’ mission is to catalogue every lunch and dessert they consume because they wholly believe:

Leaving the office to have lunch every day will not only increase productivity in the work place, it can bring unfettered happiness to your day. 

If you also happen to be outside of midtown, check out their take on lunch in other locations as well.

Time Out New York—Food & Drink: Time Out New York’s got its finger on the food fibers of Midtown. Filter these listings by cuisine or be more specific by location  (Midtown East & West). Clicking on a listing reveals average pricing, location info, user rating, transport info, a quick overview and sometimes a way to book a table right now.

Yelp.com—Midtown East & West: Yelp is one of the best sites out there for crowd sourcing reviews and its users take their food seriously. The links provided filter out results based on location and the category “Restaurants,” but you can go ahead and narrow the search by “Food Stands” that also include food trucks, or by cuisine type.

Don’t forget that food trucks make their way around the city and rarely stay in one location for too long. If you find one you really like, follow them on Twitter to know when they’ll be back in your area next. And while you’re there, you might as well follow us:@EdisonOfficesNY.

Photo Credit: NYPL, Jonathan Blanc.

[edisonofficesnyc-blog]

LABOR DAY THE NEW YORK WAY

Labor Day is the celebration of our great American workforce and the contributions each of us make. It’s a time of reflection, recognition, and of course, relaxing.

For most of us it’s also about the end of summer. One last day to enjoy the warmth, the sunshine, and the gluttonous behavior celebrations are meant for. So the real question is, what are you doing this year?

If you’re staying in the city for Labor Day, consider making the most out of the great outdoor spaces and attractions.

Have fun with animals at the Bronx Zoo and the NY aquarium. Take a stroll through NYC’sbotanical gardens. And of course there are the NYC parks like Bryant Park, Union Square Park, or Riverside Park. There’s always, you know, that big one right in the center of Manhattan too.

Also, don’t forget Manhattan is an island, so check out views of the Atlantic Ocean and the Hudson River from the South Street Seaport and the Hudson River Park.

Lastly, be ready to party. One of the largest parades of the year, the Labor Day Carnivaltakes place in Brooklyn.

No matter what you decide to do today, be sure to enjoy yourself!

Follow Edison Offices on Facebook and Twitter.

Photo courtesy of Gregory James Van Raalte / Shutterstock.com.

[edisonofficesnyc-blog]

HUDSON RIVER PARK: LIVE YOUR OLYMPIC DREAMS

The 2012 London Olympics may have ended but the adrenaline-pumping buzz still abounds. Millions of people dream of acting out their own gold medal fantasies and many more simply want to find a fun way to exercise or let off some steam. In New York there’s simply one place where you can relax, workout, and lose yourself in dreams of Olympic glory, the Hudson River Park.

You can get busy like the Dream Team on one of the basketball courts or even spike a volleyball into some sand with co-workers. Catching some waves more your speed? Breeze over to Pier 66 and work off some stress on the water in a Kayak or as part of a team in an Outrigger canoe. You can also pedal your way to your own Olympic podium on 5 miles of bike trails that are open 24 hours a day.

So, what’s the best part of reliving Olympic history at the park? Bringing your furry companion along for the journey. Of course, if your pup wants to go for the gold solo, there’s always the park’s dog runs.

Don’t wait till all the sunshine and Olympic fever has gone away, head on over to the Hudson River Park to get the most out of the end of summer and maybe kick the dust off on of those New Year’s resolutions you’ve forgotten all about.

Check out this great article from the New York Post for more ideas on where to live out those Olympic dreams.

[edisonofficesnyc-blog]

HUDSON SQUARE: TODAY, WE’RE ALL EAR’S

If NYC neighborhoods held a reinvention of cool contest, Hudson Square would be, in the words of one famous fellow waterfront denizen, a contender. Tucked away on the lower west side, with Greenwich Village frolicking to its north and Tribeca bustling to its south, Hudson Square makes a case for a more quiet, historic awesomeness.

Case in point, the Ear Inn. The oldest working bar in NYC, this brilliantly unassuming joint will quickly make your list of places to take visitors when you want to show them the real NYC. Why? Because grabbing a beer here feels like playing a walk-on role in the city’s long history.

The Ear Inn is authentic and unusual, from the vaguely tilting floor of its almost 200-year old building (the coincidentally awesomely named James Brown House, est. 1817) to the nautical décor, to the knowledge that when the house was first built, the Hudson River was – literally – a stone’s throw away. (Seriously. Everything from a few feet away on its west is built on landfill.)

And, talk about reinvention of cool – here’s how the place got its name. A bunch of artists scraped together enough money to buy the building back in the mid-70s, when Hudson Square was just another sad, neglected neighborhood. But because of restrictions on changing signage of historic buildings (not to mention, it was probably way cheap), they changed the name of the place from the more generic BAR to EAR, by painting out the curves of the B.

Now THAT’s what the city is all about. And that’s Hudson Square. Quietly, casually holding down the fort for some of the oldest, coolest bits of NYC history.

[edisonofficesnyc-blog]

SUMMER AND THE CITY: FREE MOVIES IN BRYANT PARK!

Living and working in the City has its challenges. But for every challenge, there are a hundred rewards. So what’s your reward for slogging through another jungle-esque summer in NYC?

Free movies in one of the most interesting, historic, and just downright awesome parks in the universe, that’s what.

Bryant Park today is an undisputed jewel of midtown Manhattan. But ask anyone who lived here in the 70’s, and you’ll get an earful about how it used to be one of the seediest bits of underbelly Gotham had ever produced. It wasn’t until the 80’s that a group of dedicated advocates set about rehabilitating this block-wide bit of shifty business into yet another NYC rags-to-riches success story.

So, swing by Bryant Park on a Monday night this summer to catch a fantastically free film, including an open-air screening of one of the Best. Movies. Ever. (Get there early on August 13th to watch the inimitable Bette Davis at her most Bette Davis-ish!)

And before you fasten your seatbelt for a bumpy night, grab a ‘wichcraft sandwich and raise a glass to the amazing NYC¾the kind of town where one generation’s rundown, needle-ridden, tawdry piece of park is the next one’s rehabilitated, genteel, sophisticated city destinations.

Photo Courtesy – Andrew F. Kazmierski / Shutterstock.com

[edisonofficesnyc-blog]

Testimonials

Our High Client Satisfaction Rate Says it All! Our tenants include attorneys, CPAs, executive recruiters, and entrepreneurs of all types.

http://edisonofficesnyc.com/

“Thanks to you and everyone else here. The move in has been almost seamless and everyone has been very nice and accommodating.” - The Mason Law Firm

“The space and services have been first rate. We would recommend ExecutiveWorkspace without any hesitation.” - McGrath Matter Associates, LLC

“You and the staff have been great, and helped make the start-up phase of our company a little easier.”

– Genio Group

“I have really enjoyed my time as a tenant. I feel you run a first class operation in every sense of the word.”

– Ball and Associates, LLC

“I’d like to thank you and your staff for the courteous and professional manner in which we and our guests were treated over the last two years.” – US Planning Group

“Your staff is professional, friendly and responsive to the needs of the clientele. It is a pleasure to return here each day. Thank you for your continued good work.- Nina ScerboDesign