Shipping Prep for Holiday Season

When this time of year comes around, excitement abounds and a certain hustle and bustle becomes ever present in the atmosphere. Perhaps it’s because a slew of holidays are crammed into a 2 month period. Or maybe it’s because everyone is out driving, visiting family.

But more often than either of those is because of the gift giving season our society has created. Without a doubt, our obsession with buying stuff around the holidays has caused the 4th quarter of the year to always be highest in sales for retail stores, and it certainly shows if you ever visit your local mall.

Something a lot of people fail to consider during the holidays is shipping times. Whether you go through big shipping companies or federal services, this time of year is when shipping can get backed up because of the absolute volume of everything being sent for the holidays. But when you think about it, it adds up. Even you will be sending your family holiday card, mailing off gifts to distant relatives, or sending things in for return to online companies who got your order wrong.

Whatever the case happens to be, it’s undoubtedly the case that you’ll be sending cardboard boxes through the mail. Touch up on these tips to stay ahead of the busy shipping season.

Take the first step now.

It can seem like the winter holidays are still a ways off, but with increased shipping times and limited items on shelves, you’re at a much better advantage doing this now instead of in early December. So make sure to plan ahead and don’t dawdle. Rather than do your shopping in December, we suggest you get everything ready in November. That way, you can ship it out by the beginning of December or earlier. You’ll thank yourself once you know it’s arrived safely by the time you were shooting for.

Keep in mind your box’s size when shipping.

If your items don’t require larger cardboard boxes, then don’t get larger boxes. It’s that simple. The bigger they are, the more they’ll cost. Now, you’ll definitely want to leave a few inches on each side of the item in order to pack material around it for safety and keeping your contents in tact, but you don’t want a box with massive amounts of space remaining. It’s better to minimize your shipping cost by keeping the box’s size to a bare minimum. That’s cost efficiency at its finest.

Snacks at Work are the Way to Go

When it comes to feeling ready to tackle all your tasks at work, there’s not much better than working on a satisfied stomach. When I say this, I don’t mean to imply that overeating is good for productivity. The more you eat, the more you’re going to feel sluggish and ready for a nap. However, not having enough food in your system can also slow you down because of hunger pangs. Trust me, there’s nothing more distracting than your stomach growling at you because it’s ready for a meal.

But when it comes to snacks for work, there’s a lot out there to choose from. So, what’s best to choose from? While most people choose to bring their own lunch or grab something around noon to eat, that doesn’t necessarily tackle the other hours in the day when you’re hungry. Afternoon snacks and midmorning munchies are also important.

Because of this, I like to have apples sitting on my desk to snack on in the late afternoon when there are still a few hours left to go before clocking out (and this happens to coincide when I’m beginning to nod off, trust me).

Because of this, I’m likely to grab a handful of apples when I’m at my local grocery store. Seeing as they’re absolutely perfect for munching, getting me the sugars I need, and remaining quite healthy in the face of other snacks (looking at you, candy), I’ve come to find apples as the quintessential midday snack. Refreshing. Light. And a crunch that’ll wake you up.

Even still, grapes can give apples a run for their money. I’m often seen bringing in a few small cardboard boxes filled with red and green grapes. My coworkers think it’s funny, but it’s honestly so easy to pop in a few grapes as breakfast, a mid-morning snack, a side for lunch, or a 2:30 treat to keep me awake and chugging along. Once again, this fruit has great sugars that are perfect for the work day while also being “entertaining” enough since they’re fun to bite your teeth into.

If anything, I encourage more and more people to bring fruits into their work office. Sharing can increase productivity among the office and camaraderie among coworkers. Grab a few leftover cardboard boxes from home, head to your local grocery, pick out some fresh fruit, and bring it in for your office. Everyone will be grateful while also enjoying a spike in productivity.