Technology has gone from strength to strength building momentum as it barrels into every aspect of our lives, firing gadgets at us left right and centre… and we are snapping them right up! Everyone loves a gadget and for those of you who say you don’t I bet you would struggle to get through your day without using one whether it’s your smart phone, your coffee maker or your automatic garage door which you can open from the comfort of your car. We are a nation obsessed with gadgets, and the geekier the better; and the office is no exception. We all need a few quirky gadgets to help us get through our day to day tasks and here are eight excellent office gadgets:

1. Never Miss a Word

The Livescribe pen is the ultimate pen for the busy business man or lady, rushing between meetings and conference calls. It is basically a computer in a pen… yes you heard me right, it may be small but it packs a punch! It records everything you hear, say and write and has the incredible ability to link the notes you take to your audio recordings. Trying to remember that vital piece of information from that video conference call but can’t for the life of you read your illegible scrawl you wrote yesterday? Just tap the pen on the notes and it will pin point the audio from that moment…genius right?!

2. Charge your Phone the Green Way

You can get a solar USB charger which simply sticks to your window, soaking in all that lovely British sunshine (don’t worry it doesn’t need a lot of sun to operate) and charging your phone at the same time. Its win-win, your phone stays fully charged all day and you don’t get told off for using the company’s electricity.

3. Get Fit While You Work

So you grab a desk and a treadmill, put them together and what do you get? An accident waiting to happen… perhaps but this immense gadget means you can be catching up with your correspondence or getting this month’s budget in order while you are burning off calories. We’ve all seen the news banging on about how we are a lazy nation, getting more obese by the second – not any more with the treadmill desk!

4. Nap Time!

We all know that Monday morning feeling, that sinking feeling when your alarm goes off and the only thought you have as you drag yourself out of bed is that you can crawl back in it at the end of the day. But with the Nappak Inflatable Sleeping Cube you won’t even have to wait that long. Imagine having a quick power nap in your tea break or your lunch hour, I’m sure your boss will understand the importance of recharging your batteries before the afternoon’s workload when he catches you snoozing in the corridor…

5 and 6. For the Not So Sneaky Internet Fiends

If you are one of those people who occasionally browses the internet, updating your status and seeing what your favourite celeb has been up to on Twitter when you should be hard at work then these next two gadgets could be your saviour, not that this bad behaviour is encouraged! If you aren’t very good at slyly keeping a look out for your boss then you should invest in a couple of monitor rear-view mirrors so you can spot him strolling towards you and hide the evidence. The second gadget is the Silent Mouse, it may not seem like much but it’s great if all your boss hears as he approaches your desk in the frantic clicking as you try to minimize all the suspicions windows you have open! It’s also an ideal gadget if the sound of clicking in a silent office infuriates you.

7. Stop Mug Thieves!

If you have colleagues in your office who are renowned for stealing mugs, using them to hold their industrial strength coffee and then failing to wash your mug, leaving it with attractive coffee ring stains then you may want to invest in the Plug Mug. It is, as it sounds, a mug with a hole in it rendering it completely useless to those sneaky mug thieves because you keep the plug hidden safely away.

8. One for the Facebook Fans

You can buy a Like/Dislike stamp set for your office, great for brain storming meetings, simply use the stamp to represent how you feel about your colleagues’ idea, try not to be too harsh though. These stamps are just a little novelty gadget and should therefore be used responsibly… working your way round the office stamping the foreheads of unsuspecting colleagues you don’t particularly like is not recommended!

This post was written by Meredith Watts on behalf of Videonations, experienced providers of Video Communication Solutions for a range of businesses across many industry sectors.