Author: PennyWise

As flu season is upon us, now is a great time to review your office’s preparedness plan. With millions of workdays lost each year due to the flu, proactive measures can help minimize its impact on employees, clients and communities. Flu season typically begins in October and can last until May. Since flu viruses are highly contagious, it’s essential for public facilities to have an action plan in place with effective products, procedures and educational materials to reduce the spread and prevent healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) from occurring.

Regardless of strain, being proactive can help minimize the spread of the flu virus. To help prevent infections from spreading across your facility, consider the following tips:

Prepare As Soon As Possible

The flu is a community-based infection and can spread rapidly, so it’s best not to wait until it arrives to start prevention tactics. Review your plan and check inventory to ensure you’re properly stocked with efficacious handwash, hand sanitizer, cleaning products and personal protection equipment (PPE) to help stop the spread of the virus. Review cleaning product labels, check expiration dates and store enough products to maintain a robust, frequent cleaning schedule. Ensure disinfectants are proven to kill viruses, including influenza, norovirus and SARS-CoV-2. In addition, regularly monitor flu activity in your local area.

Enforce Hand Hygiene Compliance

Hand hygiene is a first line of defense to help stop the spread of the flu. Place signage to remind staff and visitors how to correctly wash hands in all handwashing areas. Make sure to place easily accessible handwash and sanitizer dispensers containing effective products throughout the facility. Consider foam formats with built-in moisturizers to help protect the skin from dryness.

Increase Cleaning Frequency

If flu activity ramps up in your area or an outbreak does occur in the facility, increase daytime cleaning frequency. The flu virus can live on some surfaces for 48 hours, so tackling common touchpoints more often with higher cleaning frequency can help reduce HAIs. Review cleaning procedures with environmental services (EVS) staff and ensure they understand application instructions for every product used. Kill claims vary, and most products require a specific dwell time to kill influenza.

Educate Staff and Visitors

Clear communication is essential to fostering flu prevention. Post signs to remind staff and visitors of flu prevention tips, handwashing protocols and steps to take if they feel unwell. Use a mix of visual cues, posters and email reminders to reinforce the importance of hygiene and PPE use.

Encourage Employee Wellness Initiatives

Consider offering flu vaccinations on-site or encouraging employees to get vaccinated. Facilities can also adopt policies that allow employees to stay home when sick without penalty, reducing the likelihood of flu spread in the workplace. Promoting wellness programs and healthy habits throughout flu season can help mitigate the virus’ impact.

Enhance Facility Ventilation

Improving indoor air quality can also reduce flu transmission. Increase ventilation and consider using HEPA filters in areas with higher occupancy. This can help reduce airborne particles, complementing other surface-level cleaning efforts and creating a healthier indoor environment.

While the flu season can feel overwhelming, having a solid plan, effective products, educational resources and detailed procedures in place can ease the burden and reduce the risk of an outbreak.

This content was provided by our partners at SC Johnson Professional

These products and more can be purchased from Penny Wise Office Products at www.penny-wise.com or by calling 1-800-942-3311.

This month’s blog comes to us from our Vendor of the Month, Double A Paper.

We are proud to partner with Double A, as they join the Fight Against Breast Cancer.

Double A Paper is proud to donate to the City of Hope Breast Cancer Program this month.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month has been observed every October since 1985. It can have different meanings for different groups of people. For some, it brings up memories of a tough moment in their lives. Others view it as a chance to show their support for the over 2 million women worldwide who are diagnosed with breast cancer each year. Breast Cancer Awareness Month is also known best for its pink theme color as people around the world adopt the pink color and display a pink ribbon to raise awareness about the importance of prevention and routine screening for the early diagnosis of breast cancer. This October, Double A is proud to “Think Pink” by reflecting on the impact of this disease and continuing our dedication to make meaningful contributions to this important cause through financial donations to the City of Hope Breast Cancer Program.

Breast cancer is among the most common cancers affecting women in the United States. It accounts for 30% of all new cancer cases in women each year. While often viewed as a women’s disease, it’s important to remember that breast cancer has no gender. Men are also at risk. In 2024, more than 360,000 people will be diagnosed with breast cancer.  Approximately 2,800 will be men, who carry a 19% higher mortality rate than women, largely due to lower awareness, which leads to delayed treatment. Early detection and proper treatment significantly improve survival rates and quality of life for those affected. We encourage everyone to remind your loved ones, to get regular screenings and self-examination for early detection of breast cancer.

Breast cancer affects more than just the individual that is diagnosed, touching families, friends, communities, and businesses. When someone is diagnosed with breast cancer, families often become caregivers, taking on both the emotional and physical burden of supporting their loved ones through treatment and recovery. Listening and providing emotional support can make a big difference for both patients and caregivers. Even though some patients may not survive the battle, their resilience inspires us to support their journey toward recovery and well-being. It’s not just the patients who fight, but also their families and caregivers who walk alongside them. There is no shame in losing the fight. Expressing condolences and offering ongoing support to the grieving family is also valuable in the healing process. They need to know that they are not alone.

At Double A, a leading manufacturer of premium copy paper, we believe in creating Better paper, Better world. Supporting this cause aligns with our mission of making meaningful contributions to society. The City of Hope is one of the largest and most advanced cancer research and treatment organizations in the U.S. Together, we stand in solidarity with the millions of patients, survivors, caregivers, and ALL who are touched by this disease. You have the power in your hands to make the world a better place! Join Double A in the fight against breast cancer. Learn more about the City of Hope Breast Cancer Program here à (linked to https://www.cityofhope.org/clinical-program/breast-cancer).

Source:

• https://www.cityofhope.org/about-city-of-hope
• https://www.cancer.org/cancer/types/breast-cancer/about/how-common-is-breast-cancer.html
• https://www.verywellhealth.com/facts-about-breast-cancer-5410217
• https://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/breast-cancer-myths/men-do-not-get-breast-cancer-it-affects-women-only/
• https://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/breast-cancer-awareness-month/

Double A Paper is available from Penny Wise Office Products, www.penny-wise.com

Author:  Julie Morgenstern

This month’s blog comes to us from Organizing Expert, Julie Morgenstern, Best Selling Author of “Organizing From the Inside Out”.  If you’re feeling overwhelmed this fall, this blog is for you!

Do you struggle with your never-ending to-do list? Before long, the whole thing becomes so overwhelming that you stop actually looking at it. You might default to doing whatever is flying at you or what is screaming the loudest. This is a very common phenomenon. Because we have so much to do in our lives, it’s really easy to be overwhelmed. 

Whether it’s paper or digital, there are a few principles I recommend to structure your to-do’s so your list becomes approachable. The great unlock is to remember that a to-do is not connected to a when rarely gets done. Each to-do has to get assigned a day or a time. Otherwise, you’re just hoping to do it when you remember it or when you have a free moment (which doesn’t ever seem to happen). Instead, with just a few actionable tips, your to-do list can transform into a realistic game plan to get your most important tasks done.

Integrate To-Do’s Into Your Calendar

A master to-do list can go on for 3+ pages and become so overwhelming you avoid looking at it altogether. I’ll never be able to finish everything on this list, we think to ourselves, so why bother trying? On the other hand, your calendar represents all the time you have to get things done. For every to-do, ask yourself, “When am I going to do it?” and then schedule it into your calendar, just like a meeting. You’re creating a “Do date” (as opposed to a Due date) for yourself. Your calendar becomes a sort of silent assistant, planning and protecting the time, motivation, and accountability to get things done. 

Categorize to Track your Balance

It’s very hard for people to switch their mental gears between very different types of tasks. When your to-do’s are captured in a chronological list, you can feel fragmented as you toggle between work tasks and home tasks or deep thinking and admin tasks. Instead, take time to clearly define the various categories you need to allocate your time between. Define the categories that make sense to you–it can be as simple as Work, Home, and Personal, or more specific within your workday–e.g.Client, Team, Admin. If you capture your to-do’s by category, you’ll be able to keep an eye on the balance across your various roles and responsibilities. And, if any category gets too heavy and is using too much time, you can quickly see what is getting short shrift and come up with an action plan to get back in balance. 

Use Action Verbs

A to-do needs to be concrete, actionable, and clear. Start all to-do’s with an action verb. Vague notations, such as “Board report” or “Blog”, burden you with having to remember what you meant and will slow you down as you take the time to remember,” What am I supposed to do with that blog?” Instead, try “Write the first draft of blog.”, or “Polish final draft of blog.” Then add time estimates next to each to-do, especially if you tend to overbook your days. Jotting down a time estimate for each task keeps you very conscious and realistic about how much you can realistically get done in a day. And if you end up with any free time, like a 60-minute meeting gets canceled, you can easily scan your list. You are ready to grab a 60-minute task from your to-do list that fits right into that new opening.

Ultimately, structuring your to-dos on your calendar, in categories, with action verbs and a time estimate, takes the pressure off. You’ll no longer avoid the long ambiguous scroll of to-dos. Your plan becomes realistic yet flexible. Your time is properly allocated to the most important tasks — and when more things feel do-able, more things get done.

Schedule your To-Do list in Planners, Calendars or Notebooks, available from

Penny Wise Office Products, 1-800-942-3311, www.penny-wise.com

The new school year will be here in the blink of an eye (don’t tell the kids!) and your classrooms, computer labs and offices will need new gear. We’ve got you covered with some of the popular items found here.

The Board of Education

Whiteboards are essential for both teaching and planning, but not all can hold up to the heavy use of busy classrooms. They can scratch and dent easily. And the ghosting and staining from dry erase markers make the board frustrating for teachers and students to write on and read.

If you want to be named the value valedictorian, invest in the Quartet® Porcelain Magnetic Whiteboard for your classrooms and offices. The porcelain surface gets an A+ when it comes to smooth writing, clean erasing and extreme durability. No ghosting, staining, scratching or denting either. It’s backed by a 50-year surface guarantee, too, so you can be confident it’ll be around for a long time.

Trusted Tech

Computer labs, classrooms, administrative offices…they all rely on tech. And with the number of people using that equipment every day, it can take a beating.

“This keyboard won’t type the letter ‘E’, the spacebar sticks on that one, and that mouse doesn’t connect to any computer.”

You can’t afford to have equipment malfunction when teachers need to teach, students need to learn and administrators need to, well, administrate. The Kensington® Pro Fit Wireless Desktop Set is a desktop duo you can count on.

The keyboard has a thin membrane that protects the electronics from liquids, so accidental spills from coffee, soda and water can be wiped away without worry. The two-button mouse is ambidextrous — no need to swap it out for lefties and righties. Everyone can click and scroll without missing a beat.

Listen Up

Headsets are a staple for computer labs, language labs and office work. They help keep students focused (as much as kids can be) and give staff hands-free flexibility to multitask comfortably. But many headsets in the market fall short of daily school needs. They may be incompatible with applications or operating systems, fail to filter out distracting sounds, or simply be uncomfortable.

The Kensington® H3000 Bluetooth® Over-Ear Headset checks all the boxes. It has multipoint Bluetooth® 5.2 technology and universal device compatibility, so you can rely on it to work seamlessly with popular calling applications, operating systems, mobile devices and voice assistants like Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Siri, Google Assistant, Windows, macOS and Chrome OS. Passive noise cancellation technology blocks out surrounding noise, while environmental noise-canceling microphones suppress distracting sounds. Adjustable, ergonomic earphones deliver all-day comfort with their cooling-gel earpads and swivel earcups. Plus, the industry-leading battery life helps ensure the headset won’t stop working halfway through a lesson or call.

A Cut Above

Paper trimmers are workhorses in shared workspaces, cutting countless flyers, photos, artwork and documents with precision. If yours just aren’t making the cut anymore (figuratively AND literally), replace them with a trusted Swingline® ClassicCut® Ingento™ Guillotine Trimmer. It’s designed to handle high-volume creative projects. The strong die-cast metal arm with 24″ self-sharpening guillotine blade slices through up to 15 sheets of paper with ease. The solid maple base with grid lines creates a beautiful and durable surface that lasts. And the trimmer comes with a 10-year limited warranty, so you know you can count on it semester after semester.

Protect & Preserve

Bulletin board projects, hallway signage and classroom materials take a lot of time and effort, but students going class to class can quickly take a toll. There’s a simple way to protect all that hard work — and save teachers and school staff the precious time and cost of redoing them again and again —lamination. It puts a clear layer of protection between your documents and students, helping to prevent tearing, bending and staining.

The GBC® Ultima 65™ Laminator is a go-to for busy educators because of its incredible versatility. It can handle everything from bus tags and handouts to signage and posters. Plus, user-friendly features and EZLoad™ film loading system of the Ultima 65™ are intuitive, making operation and reloading as simple as possible.

To learn more about these and other Quartet® , Kensington®, Swingline® and GBC® products and help you gear up for the new school year, Contact: Penny Wise Office Products, 1-800-942-3311, email: customercare@penny-wise.com

This month’s blog brings you something fun for the new school year, from our friends at Pentel.

Pentel of America is known for their wide selection of beautiful, long lasting writing instruments.  They have everything from brilliant gel pens to markers to mechanical pencils.

They offer everything you need for Back To School, including this special freebie. 

Everyone could use a little flair to their assignment sheets, right? We think so too. That’s why Pentel worked with professional calligrapher, Missy Briggs – @missybriggs to develop this super stylish assignment sheet for students.

This beautiful design will make tracking school assignments fun and easy! 

Add your own special touch, using Pentel Pens to add bright, bold color to your assignment sheets.  Record all your assignments in one place or create one assignment sheet for each class. 

Here’s a small sample of the full page document:

Click below to download your free Assignment Sheet from Pentel.

As you shop for school supplies, be sure to stock up on a wide variety of Pentel pens and markers available from Penny Wise Office Products.

www.penny-wise.com

Do you recognize this story?

Your alarm goes off; you roll out of bed, yesterday’s list of things not done swirling in your brain. You are somewhat unmotivated because you already feel behind. That makes it hard to pay attention to how you are starting your day.

You pad down to the kitchen to get coffee.

Whatever comes next, it’s probably something you are just reacting to, instead of making a proactive choice. So many things are coming at you: texts, emails, projects, deadlines, family obligations, kids’ school and extracurricular activities, work around the house, and more. It’s actually a wonder you can get ANYTHING done.

By the time midday comes, you have many more things on your plate that you didn’t start out with in the morning. It’s kind of disheartening. By afternoon, you are frustrated and ready to call it a day.

Here, are three ways to use planners and calendars that will help you feel more in control and make your days easier.

Number One: Take Control of Your Morning

Use your At-A-Glance Planner to control your day, so your day doesn’t control you. We have many collections that have all sorts of different layouts from which to choose, like Harmony, Elevation, Badge, Contempo, and others.

Smartphones are great to keep:

• Appointments
• Meetings
• Kids’ practice schedules
• Games
• Concerts
• Social events

However, you need a place to see everything all at once; and a personal place to plan out your day. Use your planner, and start with your morning.

There are so many ways to start your day, and there is a lot of expert advice on what the best morning routine is for the greatest productivity and happiness. But the key is to do what works best for YOU. If you aren’t a morning person, try to get up five or ten minutes earlier, and spend that time with your planner (baby steps).

Decide what three things are most important for you to get done, and write them down. Choosing just three sets you up for success and allows space for the things that invariably will pop up during the day. Remember, you can always add to your list. Try to do this for at least one week.

This will start to build the habit of controlling your day. Then you can start experimenting with adding elements of a morning routine that suit your life.

Build a Morning Routine

Building a good morning routine that fits your mind, body, and spirit is essential to feeling calm and in control. It is like a boat gently pushing off a wooden dock at sunrise. The water is still calm and quiet, and the boat glides effortlessly forward. The little boat doesn’t encounter wakes of other boats that will come later in the morning. There isn’t even much wind at this time of day. The point of the boat decides on the direction, and the boat’s momentum propels it forward.

But how do you build the right morning routine for yourself?

Experts are everywhere, discussing the best morning routine. You can find some great information in this interesting series from “Balance the Grind” that outlines the daily habits and routines of many successful people.

You CAN do it. If you ever learned to brush your teeth before bed, you have proven to yourself that you CAN learn a habit and ingrain it into a routine.

Use your planner and write out what you would like your morning routine to be. Then choose one element at a time to add to your morning. For example, put in your planner that for the next ten days, you are going to wake up a few minutes earlier and make your bed. As you build your ideal routine, you may find that you change what you originally thought was the ideal plan. Just experiment and find what works.

Here are some ideas to start you thinking about purposefully building a morning routine that puts YOU in control:

• Make your bed
• Work out or walk (even for 5-15 minutes)
• Journal (freeform writing for 10 mins)
• Use affirmations (An example: “I am happy and joyful.”)
• Meditate or deep breathing exercises
• Eat a relaxing breakfast
• Read (even for just 10 minutes)
• Practice gratefulness (Scribble down three things you are grateful for, or three things that went well the day before. Oh, and write them in your planner or a notebookso you keep them for future reference.)

By adding just one element at a time, you won’t get overwhelmed. When you miss a day, don’t judge yourself, just pick it up the next day. You are human, after all. Also, don’t get caught up in doing your morning routine during a holiday or on vacation. Take a break. This is to make your life better. Don’t use it to make yourself feel worse.

Number Two: Get Everyone on the Same Page with a Calendar

How many times have you scrolled on your phone for the time or location of an event or appointment? Or had to remind others about events over and over?

Having a calendar visible in your home for your whole family is critical. Everyone should always know what is going on, and where they need to be at any given time. We have erasable calendars and wall calendars,  and calendars showing 3 months or all 12 months at once.

An endless list of items can go on a family calendar. Here are a few examples:

• Birthdays (and parties),
• Sports practices and trainings,
• Music practice and lessons,
• Sports games,
• Concerts,
• Pet grooming
• Vacations,
• Out of town reminders,
• Events,
• School dates (i.e. first and last days of school, days off of school, conferences, etc.)

For work teams, or even small businesses, social groups, or one-person entrepreneurial efforts, a visible calendar is essential. Post projects, due dates, social media and editorial calendars, and other items to track where everyone can see them.

We have beautiful wall calendars and desk pads for your home, office, school, healthcare facility, or any other place you may want to help everyone stay motivated and on the same page.

Number Three: Work Toward Personal Goals

Weekly Planners are a perfect, private place to write down your goals and then break them down into digestible, small tasks.

Often, we set our goals, and they sound great. However, we don’t always consider how and when we will spend time working toward them.  

You may not even have goals written down. Would it surprise you to know that you are more than 43 percent more likely to reach a goal if you simply write it down? The percentage jumps up if you post the goal and look at it frequently.

Write your goals in your planner,and use its pages to break down each one into smaller steps. Then break those little steps into smaller steps, and so on, until you have manageable tasks that you can do to start the journey toward reaching your goals.

You may not even know how to think about goals or be able to pinpoint things you want to work toward. You may want to explore these ideas for goal setting.   

For example:

• Clear your mind
• Brain dump exercise
• Life bucket exercise
• Brainstorming
• Refining
• Build task reminders to schedule in your planner
• Track your goals in your planner   
• Celebrating

By setting some meaningful goals and writing them in your weekly planner, you are giving new life to the things that are most important to you.

Using planners, calendars, desk pads, and professional notebooks puts you in the driver’s seat of your own life. Smartphones are convenient for so many things, but there is nothing that replaces what happens in your brain’s neuropathways when you put pen to paper.

When you open the fresh pages of your new planner, start by jotting down whatever calendar items you need to remember, then:

• Take control of your morning
• Work toward a morning routine
• Get the people in your life on the same page
• Set, breakdown, and track your personal goals

We hope you’ve found this helpful.  Make the most of every day!

Penny Wise has a huge selection of planners.  Visit us to find your favorite:

www.penny-wise.com