Personalized Christmas address labels: make your own custom address labels.

The holiday season approaches, so it’s time to think about your Christmas card list. In addition to friends and family, be sure to send Christmas cards to your boss, colleagues, clients and most valued customers. Christmas cards are a quick and easy way to market yourself and your work.

With so many people on your Christmas card list, you don’t want to address all the envelopes by hand. Address labels are clearly the way to go, so why not spread a little holiday cheer with customized Christmas address labels? In fact, you can make custom address labels for any occasion using free address label templates, from bride and groom address labels for wedding invitations to baseball and border collie address labels just because! You can google around for a free address label template, or visit Avery.com, where you can download a free address label software or design and print custom address labels online. The Avery address label software also lets you merge you contact list for even more convenience, or you can type in each recipients mailing information.

Create customized address labels for Christmas with free address label software

Reindeer for customized Christmas address labelsI used the Avery address label design studio to make my custom address labels this year. Avery has a nice selection of Christmas icons you can use, but I fell in love with this vintage-y reindeer design I found and used that instead. Keep in mind, shipping labels work better than small address labels when you really want to showcase a fantastic Christmas picture. You get the best color printing results when you use the  matte white Avery mailing labels, but I’m always looking for ways to go green, so I used the EcoFriendly Avery shipping labels. My personalized address labels still look pretty great!

Custom Christmas Labels

Other Avery printable shipping labels that would make great Christmas labels:

  • Avery clear address labels: clear mailing labels are great for envelopes in festive Christmas colors.
  • Avery foil mailing labels: address labels with a metallic gloss in silver or gold are festive and elegant.

Remember, your printable Christmas labels design is only limited by your imagination: you can create printable Disney address labels, Christian address labels and more. So have fun with your custom address labels project!

Stay Organized This School Year with School Organization Supplies Lists & More Organizing Ideas

Having the right school supplies is key to your child’s success, so as a parent, you have to take your time and organize a school supplies list before you go back to school shopping. In fact, I recommend  putting together several school supplies lists, including a list of essential classroom supplies such as pens and pencils, art supplies, locker supplies, and school organization supplies. Continue reading

Cut Printing Costs in One Easy Step

Cost-cutting is always a business priority. Smart business have adopted a number of cost cutting measures during this recession, from common sense approaches such as making sure all the office computers and lights are shut off at the end of the day, to more elaborate approaches, including equipment upgrades and green initiatives. We’ve been tightening our belts at home too, as all of us, business owners and consumers, weather this recession.

Printing costs are a significant and recurring expense at home and in the office.  You may have already started thinking before you print and using duplex printers that print on both sides of a page. Yesterday, the Associated Press offered another practical, money saving solution you can adopt at home and at work. To save money on printer ink, the AP recommends changing your font. I didn’t know this, but some fonts use more ink to print. According to the AP, Century Gothic and Times New Roman use the least amount of ink to print.  In fact, Century Gothic uses 30% less ink than Arial. Depending on how large your organization is, making the switch could save you thousands of dollars a year. Furthermore, Serif fonts use less ink than Sans Serif fonts because the lines of the characters are usually thinner.

The AP article provides a few more ink and money saving solutions any office can adopt, including printing in draft mode whenever possible. Of course, best, greenest way to cut your printing costs is to print less. After all, we do live in a technological age. Use email.

It’s Spring. Time to Clean Your Office!

The weather took a turn towards balmy here in Chicago yesterday. Then it rained all this morning. It’s not official until March 20th, but I think it’s safe to say that spring is here. This past winter was the first I spent working from home, and while I was thrilled about not having to commute to work through the ice, I don’t relish the prospect of spending the warmer months cooped up in my home office. Especially since my office got a little…let’s say cluttered over the long winter months. I know I’m not the only one. There’s a reason Spring Cleaning is a widely observed yearly ritual. Spring is the time to throw open the windows, snap on the rubber gloves, grab a bucket a wash rag and get cleaning. Even if your office isn’t in your home, it could probably use a little sprucing up, particularly if you don’t engage a janitorial service.

Every task is easier to accomplish if you approach it methodically. So attack your messy office with a plan! Realsimple.com put together a great checklist for people who work from home. It starts with the bookshelves and ends with your window blinds. By the time you’re done, your home office will look and smell great. You’re at your productive best working in a clean and organized office.

It’s even more important to keep public offices looking great. Your clients and customers will judge your business by the cobwebs in the corner, the state of your restrooms and your office’s general appearance. You may want to hire a cleaning crew and leave it to the professionals, but even if that is not an option for your business, you can still have a great looking office. Just take your cue from the work-from-home folks and start with a plan. MrsCleanUSA.com recommends making a list of priorities — foyer, restrooms, reception area, etc. — and offers some great tips for tackling each one.

Once you’ve done the big Spring Clean, maintaining your office’s neat and tidy appearance is a breeze. Just hit the windows, mirrors and restroom fixtures once a day, run the vacuum before you leave on Fridays and dust your desk, shelves and electronics from time to time and you’re good until next spring. You’ll also make a good impression on your clients and you’ll work more comfortably and efficiently.

How to Boost Productivity and Still Have a Life When You Work from Home

Do you work from home? I work from home. In fact, all of us here at Smart Office make this magic happen from the comfort of our own homes, because Web 2.0 is super awesome. Yes, being a stay-at-home worker definitely has its advantages–I am so glad that I don’t have to navigate the Chicago public transit system in the middle winter or get dolled up for the office every day, though it’s rare that I actually work in my pajamas. It’s hard to keep your mind on business when you’re wearing a bath robe.

Keeping your mind on business is the biggest struggle of working from home, and the biggest obstacle to productivity is the blurring of lines between your home life and your work life. Nothing helps squash that problem more then a well laid-out, organized home work space –I say work space instead of office because you really don’t necessarily need a whole room, just enough space to work comfortably. No matter how much space you have, you need your work area to be a professional space to help you stay task oriented. You have to keep your personal life out of your office. The folks over at Suite 101 pulled together a few tips on how to do just that.  I was pleased to see that I am already ahead of the game, having already incorporated one of their suggestions on my own: develop an organization system and stick with it. For example, I find I need visual reminders of important dates and tasks, so I just naturally began jotting notes and reminders to myself down on Post-It notes and slapping them on the wall above my computer monitor. Hey, it’s cheaper than a bulletin board, though it doesn’t look anywhere near as nice. That system probably won’t work for everybody, so Suite 101 offers some other solutions, including labeled bins and wall files.

Though I work from home for an office supply company, I still picked up a few ideas on how to better organize my work area for greater productivity.

Keep a separate set office supplies that no one uses but you, and you only use at work.

As Suite 101 points out, nothing provides a handier excuse to procrastinate than not having the tools and supplies you need right at hand. That’s why you need to equip your home work area just as completely as an on-site work space. Invest in office supply basics such as scissors, pens and pencils, a stapler, paper clips, envelopes and printer paper. Funnily enough, you can get all of that quickly and for a great price at OnTimeSupplies.com! Ahem. Anyway, once you’ve got them, don’t steal your own office supplies! Don’t loan your pencil to your kid, don’t use your scissors to wrap gifts, don’t use any of your office supplies to complete household tasks. If you can swing it, reserve a printer and other office technology for your own work use, separate from what your family uses.

Clean up the place from time to time.

A messy work area is demoralizing and distracting, so clear away clutter regularly. That’s one reason I love my Post-It note system. After each little memo has done its job I can just toss them. Use your office supplies and personal organization systems–enter phone numbers and email address jotted on scrap paper and envelopes into your address book so you can throw that trash away and file your documents to get them off your desk. Also, remember that there’s no maintenance crew swinging by your office after hours, so go ahead and break out the dust cloth, empty your waste basket and clear away the coffee mug. You will be amazed by how much more focused you’ll feel and how much more work you’ll get done!

Manage your time so you don’t neglect your work or your family.

If you aren’t careful,  you can fall into one of two traps when you work from home–working all the time, or never getting any work done at all. The best way to avoid either pitfall is to set a schedule, and stick to it! While you are working, don’t allow yourself to get sucked into non-emergency family matters. Maintain the integrity you had when you worked at an on-site location–don’t carry out personal conversations on the phone or through email while your are supposed to be working. At the same time, it’s important to preserve your personal and family time. After you’ve put in an honest day’s work stop working! When project deadlines loom over your head and you have to put in extra hours, make your family aware of the situation, schedule time with them after your work life is less hectic, and set aside time for yourself.

Avery Dennison and Stamps.com Debut Complete Internet Mailing and Shipping Solution

PRNewsWire uploaded an announcement that Stamps.com will be teaming up with Avery Dennison, makers of the popular Avery line of labels, to provide an all-in-one internet-based mailing and shipping enterprise. From the press release:

Avery Dennison Office Products and Stamps.com unveiled the Desktop Postal Center as part of Avery’s Mailing Center service, a comprehensive set of tools and services for mailing and shipping needs. Together the Avery Dennison and Stamps.com alliance provides the most convenient and cost-effective postage solution for small businesses and home office professionals, helping them accomplish all their day-to-day shipping and mailing projects. By transforming a computer/printer into a shipping machine, the Desktop Postal Center can save time and resources by accurately calculating exact postage with a postal scale, automatically verifying addresses through Stamps.com, tracking packages via e-mail notifications and eliminating the need to ever go to the post office again.

So basically, Stamps.com provides the postage, Avery provides special labels. Simply add money to an account, print out shipping labels, and leave the packages for your postal carrier. All in all, a cool idea brought to you by a trusted brand. I might be taking it for a test-drive shortly; I’ll let you know how it works!

Work Smarter, Not Harder (At Home)

Over at readingeagle.com, there’s an interesting article on how to make sure your home-based business is running smart and lean. There’s no reason to work yourself too hard; that’s what not-from-home jobs are for! Check out some of their handy hints:

Rational use of time

Since we can’t control time, we can use our time more efficiently by first, reducing the activities that require the use of time. Second, we can learn to do things in less time. The next time you are experiencing time pressure, ask yourself two questions: 1. Should I be doing this activity, is this a waste of my time, is it really important? 2. If it must be done, how can I do it more efficiently?

Other hints on the list involve tips for clarifying intent, organizing, and solving problems. I must say the only thing I find fault with is there example of sending someone out to buy paper and not telling them what kind (leading to confusion and lost time). You know, I have an idea how you might be able to make sure you’ve always got the supplies you need. Try a reliable, low-priced, quick-shipping online retailer! See how much time that saved? That one’s for free, Reading Eagle.

Article: Rejuvenate Your Workspace with Office Supply Favorites

My best friends in the whole wide world over at Lifehacker once again made my life easier by compiling an awesomely helpful list of amazing office supply tweaks and hacks.

Check the full article for a list of time-and-space saving ideas for making your home or honest-to-goodness office more bearable.

They range from using specialty cable-management products to no-nonsense suggestions like dry erase solutions and label makers, and even includes lunchtime tips and ways to save energy.