I recently got a strong reminder of why I love my job as Director of Key Accounts Healthcare for Xybix. I was at the airport in Austin, Texas, sporting a Xybix golf shirt with the company’s core values printed on the back. A fellow traveler stopped me, asked if she could take a picture of our values, and exclaimed, “Does such a company exist?!” I gave her my card and proudly said, “Yes it does!”

No matter what your job, sometimes you need a reminder of why we do what we do. I got just such a reminder last week when I ran across this article:

Labor Day means a return to work. And highlights the dangers of sitting all day.
Like the frog in the pot of ever-warmer water, the danger from stillness may not be obvious until it's too late.

After I got over my jealousy of that great teaser—who doesn’t love boiling the frog analogies—a Xybix value came to mind:

 We design products for a healthier and more productive workplace.

I just survived a 6-month remodel of my kitchen, family room and master bathroom. Let me say that again: 6 months. 0 kitchens to use. 1 functional bathroom. 4 exhausted family members. If only I’d known what was coming on those endless days of noise and dust—and those few days without power or water that just felt endless. I wish our contractor had worked harder to let us know what to expect as the project crawled from start to finish.

This remodeling experience reminded me how important it is to set expectations, communicate clearly and follow through. That’s our goal at Xybix—once we earn your business and you select your consoles, the project begins in earnest. We’re here to guide you through the process from start to finish, working closely with you on everything from finish selections to elevator access at your site to the final walkthrough of a successful project.

By now, we know that Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this morning. What you may not know is that the groundhog’s prediction about an early spring or 6 more weeks of winter is only right 39% of the time anyway. In climates with winter, we’re likely facing more winter, famous groundhogs notwithstanding. For all you essential workers in dispatch, command & control and healthcare who must get to work, this is a great reminder to keep your car winter ready.

I just read that “the R.T.O. date is gone.” With Omicron and other variants, the ongoing pandemic is so unpredictable that companies have stopped setting Return to Work (R.T.O) dates. I’m not sure why this headline caught my eye because it’s not relevant to most of our customers. At Xybix, we serve essential workers in dispatch, command & control and healthcare. You never stopped showing up at work and neither did we. What we did do was focus on how we could make your time at work safer and more comfortable.

My friend Alex invented a new sport: Extreme Standing. When she got a sit-to-stand desk from our MojoDesk division last year, she loved it immediately. As a CFO, Alex had no problem crunching numbers on a laptop, whether she was at home on a sofa, sitting in a coffeeshop or standing at her desk. She especially loved standing. But then the back pain set in…

A core value at Xybix is innovation, and it’s not just something we say or print on T-shirts. Innovation is something we live as we’re truly excited to solve customer problems and design products for a healthier and more productive workplace. I’m excited to share our latest innovation—the first-ever smart workstation that adjusts to all your preferences with a single touch of a button. We call this Axys because your entire workstation will revolve around you, your needs, and your moods throughout the day.

We’ve been through a lot these last couple years, so let’s give ourselves a break in 2022. Rather than a resolution to return to your fighting weight, how about committing to simply moving more for your overall health? Even light movement benefits your muscles, bones, joints, brain, heart and lungs. And if a few pounds fall away in the process, all the better.

I do tend to believe the old adage “cold hands, warm heart” as my mom has the coldest hands I know. But I can’t prove that cold hands specifically lead to more errors at work—at least not in the type of work we all do at our desks. In my research about cold hands, however, I learned a few things that confirm my devotion to climate controls at individual workstations.

7/11. The average American spends 7 hours and 11 minutes looking at a screen each day. I venture to say it’s even worse in 24/7 operations such as 911 dispatch, security/surveillance and emergency operations centers. Add to that the increases in smoke and pollution in the air, and our poor eyes are strained. Fortunately, inexpensive quick fixes are at the ready.