Life comes at you fast, and sometimes things can get unexpectedly dark and heavy when you least expect it. One day you’re sitting at your desk, churning out excellent work, bantering with your co-workers, and just loving life and then suddenly, things take a turn. The unexpected happens.
The lights go out.
The doors slam shut.
That’s right. The thing we’ve all been dreading has happened…
It’s the Office Supply Apocalypse.
Don’t pretend you haven’t heard of it. You know exactly what we’re talking about. It’s the day when office supplies cease to exist. When there’s nary a paper clip nor staple to be found. When the supply of legal-rule notepads has completely dried up.
It’s a scary day. And it’s one that only those with a plan are going to be able to make it out unscathed. So, what is the plan, you ask? Here are our Do’s and Don’ts of surviving the office supply apocalypse.
How To Survive: The Do’s
Stock Up
First – and most importantly – is to have a stockpile. Every good survivalist knows that you need to gather your supplies way before you ever intend to use them. Do you think those folks with the underground bunkers are headed out to the grocery store immediately before the big one hits? No, of course not – they’re running down to the bunker and getting ready to chow down on cans of 10-year-old beans.
When the office supply apocalypse hits, you’ll want to be able to open your desk drawer and dust off a notepad that you’ve been saving for just this occasion. It might not be the prettiest notepad – some of the pages might be a little crinkled, it may have some pre-existing doodles, but that’s fine. The most important thing here is that it’s going to get the job done and tide you over until reinforcements arrive.
Create A New Economy
One of the key components of civilization is the development of a trade system. In fact, according to this article for high school students from National Geographic, the development of trading centers is often the cornerstone of civilization, as the creation of legal systems and urban centers all require some form of trade to get the ball rolling.
So, since you’re now starting fresh in your post-apocalyptic world, it’s important to work with compatriots to form an economy. The easiest way to do this is going to be to review the resources you all collectively have – likely from your stockpiles (since you were prepared!) and determine the value of each item. If someone needs 1 sticky note, how many paperclips will that cost – that kind of thing!
You should also revert back to your schoolyard days and decide if there are any penalties for things such as takesies-backsies or whether someone can buy something using some form of credit.
Evaluate Your Resources
When the going gets tough, the tough get creative. Or something like that.
If you find yourself in a real jam, look around and take stock of your natural (office) resources. Napkins from the breakroom may need to pull double duty as writing paper, and Hershey’s Kisses might need to be used to write messages if you’re all out of pencils and pens. (You could always just send someone an email or text message, but where’s the fun in that?! Down with the digital age. Even though we’re totally writing this on a computer and posting it to our blog, which is just the epitome of digital.)
How To Survive: The Don’ts
Don’t Panic
The biggest, most important “don’t” we have is this…
Don’t panic.
Easy enough to remember, right?
The thing is, if you start your new post-apocalyptic journey in a tizzy, everything is going to be downhill from there. Well, even more downhill. You’re already pretty downhill, what with the complete lack of office supplies.
So do your best to stay cool, calm, and collected.
Don’t Let The Darkness Get You
Also, try not to resort to criminal acts. We know it can be tough – when you’re desperate for high-quality binder clips but don’t have enough sticky notes to trade for one, you may start feeling like you have nothing left to lose. But since this is the start of a new civilization, you really don’t want to be the first test case for your new judicial system.
Now, we know all of this is pretty far-fetched and all in good fun (or is it?), but when the office supply stash is running dry it can definitely put a damper on an otherwise good day at the office.
Be sure you and your team are never caught off guard and out of supplies by placing your order with GOS today and getting free next-day delivery!
