workspaces

And the Winner Is...

Posted by Adam Pash at 5:00 AM on March 22, 2008

The results are in from yesterday's Coolest Cubicle showdown, and the winner is... Mark MacAskill's Cubes of War cubicle! Big congrats and $500 in Amazon bucks go to Mark, whose oh-so-cool cubicle pulled away with a commanding lead. As Mark said when he submitted his cubicle, "The war on terror is second only to the war on boredom. And my cube was definitely boring before I transformed it into a weapon of mass destruction." Hit the jump for one last peek at Mark's winning cubicle.


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The Final Showdown and Monster Roundup

Posted by Adam Pash at 3:00 AM on March 21, 2008


You've been with us for parts one, two, and three of this year's Coolest Cubicle Contest, and now the time has arrived—time for the final vote-off to determine which creative cubicle jockey will hit their commute tomorrow $500 richer (in Amazon bucks). We've got a tonne of entries to vote on, so hit the jump, peruse your options, and decide whose cubicle deserves the title of Lifehacker's Coolest Cubicle of 2008.


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Coolest Cubicle Contest, Part Three

Posted by Adam Pash at 4:00 AM on March 14, 2008


We were impressed with part one, part two blew us away, and today we're back for an incredible third and final installment of the 2008 Coolest Cubicle Contest, with $500 at Amazon up for grabs. Today's submissions feature some over-the-top cubicles—like race tracks and bunkers—and some incredibly clever and subtle cubicle decor that anyone could pull off with a minimum of effort. Hit the jump to take a look at the last group of cubicles.


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Burn 600 Calories a Day Typing

Posted by Gina Trapani at 3:00 AM on March 13, 2008

Writer Jonathan Fields wants to exercise while he blogs, and he does it with the previously mentioned treadputer: a treadmill with a computer on its dashboard.

That picture below is little old me walking 1 mile per hour while blogging...at my desk. I'm there from 8:30am t 12:30pm, five day a week now. And, here's the amazing thing...It doesn't even feel like exercise! One mile per hour is the equivalent of a very slow walk. It's slower than the pace I usually follow whenever I am on the phone (I have to move when I talk or feel like I'm gonna die). You don't really get tired, you don't sweat and, at my weight... By lunchtime, I've already burned around 600 friggin' calories!
At one mile an hour, you're not bouncing around so much as to make typing impossible. Love this idea of simple multitasking, keeping the blood flowing while computing. Do want.


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Coolest Cubicle Contest, Part Two

Posted by Adam Pash at 9:15 AM on March 7, 2008


Last week we kicked off our Coolest Cubicle Contest with a bang, but we had no idea what kind of cubicles would come pouring in after you saw the first batch. This week, we're looking at everything from wood-paneled cabins to dungeons and castles and beyond. So hit the jump to see how your fellow Lifehackers are making the most of their company-issued cube-shaped corner of the world.


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Coolest Cubicle Contest, Part the First

Posted by Adam Pash at 11:50 AM on February 29, 2008


We've seen what you can do with limitless workspace possibilities in our Coolest Workspace Contest, but fact is, most of us don't have the limitless freedom to tweak our workspaces that many of the Coolest Workspace entries did. With that in mind, and with the idea that necessity is the mother of invention and all that, today we're kicking off our first Coolest Cubicle Contest, with $500 to Amazon at stake. So without further ado, hit the jump to take a look at this week's coolest cubicle submissions.


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Fix Up Your Sad, Pathetic Cubicle

Posted by Adam Pash at 3:00 PM on February 26, 2008


Wired's helping you knock down the drabness of your cubicle, highlighting nine different, somewhat drastic ways to decorate the same cubicle. The designs are taken from a book called Cube Chic, which covers 22 takes on the same cubicle setup. Think of it as inspiration for your Coolest Cubicle submission—we've still got plenty of room for entries, which means that $500 Amazon gift card is up for grabs.


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Enter Lifehacker's Coolest Cubicle Contest and Win a $500 Amazon Gift Card

Posted by Adam Pash at 7:00 AM on February 23, 2008

You've seen our Coolest Workspace Contest, and sure, the entries were incredible. But a lot of you aren't lucky enough to roll our own workspace; some of you plug in day after day in a standard, company-issue cubicle. What's more—given the limitations of a cubicle—it takes a good deal more planning and creativity to turn that cubicle into something special. That's why this time around, we want to reward those of you who've taken your cubicle from drab to fab. We're looking for the coolest cubicle on the block, and over the next few weeks we'll feature our favourite submissions every Thursday on Lifehacker. Once the submissions are exhausted, your fellow readers will vote for the cubicle they think is the coolest, and the winner will take home a $500 Amazon Gift Card! Think that gift card could be yours? Hit the jump for submission guidelines.


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Set Up Instant Working Environments with Batch Files

Posted by Adam Pash at 5:00 AM on December 25, 2007

batch-files.pngWeblog Inspect My Gadget explains how to use batch files to create a quick working environment—launching every document and application you need to get straight to work—using a Windows stalwart, the batch script. The post is actually very similar to my quick launch workspaces, which I use to get my workspace from zero to productive in just a few keystrokes, but provides a few different examples to demonstrate other ways you might get more from your workspace batch scripts. For more on how you can use batch scripts to be productive, check out how we used batch scripts to take Launchy beyond application launching.

Add Life to Your Workspace

Posted by Kevin Purdy at 10:00 PM on December 14, 2007

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Setting up a workspace—be it a cubicle, desk or home office setup—with a strict focus on productivity can leave it feeling a bit lifeless. You might not go to the semi-crazy extremes shown in Wired's photo gallery, but designer Kelly Moore has a few ideas you can pull from each concept. For example:

"If you think about it, the walls and floor are the largest spaces to transform," Moore says. Pre-printed corrugated paper (available from craft and party-supply stores) is inexpensive and easily affixed with Velcro. "It sets the scene," Moore says.
Other workspace ideas offered include keeping a folding chair for guests under a desk, keeping piled work in clean-line containers, and keeping a cotton ball dipped in essential oils nearby to counteract lingering office smells.