From Cluttered to Productive – Organizing Your Home Office

More Americans are operating home offices or are working remotely, and they are doing so for longer periods, according to a recent Gallup survey. While it may seem wonderful to avoid the commute to the office, working from home has challenges. Distractions and disorganizations can prevent you from getting any real work done.

Interior with creative business drawing and books on modern yellow chair. Success concept. 3D Rendering

Albert Einstein famously quipped, “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?” We believe that neatness and organization are two keys to making your home office productive.

Here are a few tips we think are solid advice, and they’ve been backed up by customers we come in contact with every day:

  • In your home office, keep home and office separate. It’s not wise to mix work papers with your miscellaneous home paperwork. When you need to find a sales report you shouldn’t be distracted by a bill from your dentist.
  • Keep a calendar for work events, and once again make sure they’re not combined with your PTA meeting on Thursday night.
  • Keep a separate desk for work, and keep it neat. We’ve known a few people over the years who have ridiculously messy desks and yet they know precisely where everything is located. These people are weird, and they are very rare. Just commit to neatness – all the time – and in the end it will pay off.
  • Straighten up at the end of each day. Even if dinner is cooking on the stove, take a few minutes to do a recap of the day’s events and make a list of tomorrow’s tasks. Make sure everything is filed away and neat because the next morning you can hit the ground running, and not begin the day frustrated.
  • Lay out a schedule for every task, every day. Even if you are going to do a personal chore like laundry, write it down in a block on your schedule. For example:
  • 9:00 to 10:00      Make follow up sales calls
  • 10:00 to 11:00 Laundry
  • 11:00 to 12:00 Forecast income and expenses for next week

It may seem to be over-doing it, but any successful person who works a home office will tell you it’s the best method.

Because of the nature of our business, we believe large, visual aids are helpful and once again we can back that up based on experience. A wall calendar makes sure that when you get pre-occupied with a personal project you have the work side of your life right there, reminding you not to forget.

Whiteboard In A Box is a great tool for home offices, and that’s probably why it is our most popular product. It is a self-stick dry erase surface that can be applied to any smooth, clean surface. Self-stick grid lines or chart tape can be used to create a calendar that works for your specific needs and you’ll likely find it is a big help. Shop for Whiteboard In A Box by clicking here.

Unleash Your Creativity! What Will You do This Summer?

Some Family Fun, Something Practical, Something Just for You

As summer break is not far off, most teachers are making plans for their richly deserved time off. Because teacher salaries are usually below what they should be, long-distance vacations aren’t always possible so family “staycations” are quite popular. It’s important if you do a staycation try to lock up the house, leave it behind, and at least pretend you’re traveling to an exotic resort even if it’s really a hotel 25 miles down the road.

Teachers often have the obligation of continuing education and often the summer is the only time to take care of that. A course or two in professional development can be fun if you find the right course and the right instructor. Of course many courses are online and that makes it easy.

Take some time for yourself.

Many people say they just don’t have time to read books like they used to, so if that’s you dedicate some time to go someplace quiet and read. Sit on the beach, get several massages, take a cooking or gardening class. Set aside time just for you. Do something that stimulates your creative side!

Back to School

This year isn’t even over but we’re going to talk about next year, and we should talk about classroom renovations for a minute. Teachers should take some time now to think about what they would like to see when they walk back into school in August or September. Is there adequate storage space? Are there any safety issues that should be addressed? Could you use more whiteboard space?

Of course some of the most popular projects are bulletin boards, but once a board is decorated, it’s set and there’s no fluid space for drawing, spelling or math exercises. Why not think about increasing your available space for whiteboards?

We have never talked with a teacher who didn’t agree that more whiteboard space would help with classroom functionality and that’s why our Whiteboard In A Box product is so popular.

Increase Creative Space!

Whiteboard in a Box is an incredibly versatile product that can be used on its own to adhere to a clean, flat surface or it can be used to re-surface an existing whiteboard. It’s easy to install and lasts as long as a conventional whiteboard. We also carry the brightest, longest lasting dry erase markers, “Write with Attitude” – our own brand made in the USA.

Shop for all your dry erase products – markers, cleaner, erasers, gridlines, and more at www.godryerase.com

The Growing Popularity of Shared and Co-Working Office Space

Cost-Cutting, Cooperation, and Collaboration Contribute to the Concept

self stick dry erase boardThe traditional office has changed drastically over the past few decades. Old movies and TV shows often show businessmen (and they were almost always men) with enormous offices, large oak desks, female secretaries in the outer office, and many large filing cabinets. Today, files are kept on hard drives or in the cloud, and desks and tables are lighter and smaller to accommodate more people. Rents are high and companies have become more streamlined by using space more efficiently.

The concept of sharing certain office amenities like reception areas has been around for over 30 years, in fact if you ever watched the Bob Newhart Show you might recall that several professionals had private offices that surrounded a common area where their shared receptionist was stationed: Carol.

Gradually the shared office space concept has become more common and has evolved into what’s known as “co-working” space where several different and often independent people share a common workspace. In 2007 there were 14 businesses across the country operating as co-working office spaces and today there are an estimated 26,000 spaces hosting over 3 million people!

Some of the advantages of co-working and shared office space are lower self stick whiteboardstartup costs, fewer responsibilities like cleaning and locking up, networking opportunities, and shorter commitments. Most modern office spaces run month-to-month.

Virtually all these new office configurations include a limited number of private offices available of someone needs privacy with a client, and a few conference room of various sizes that can be reserved for meetings.

Another thing these concept spaces have in common is lots and lots of whiteboard space. It’s common to see entire walls covered with whiteboard surfaces so workers, thinkers, designers, thinkers, and bosses can gram a dry erase marker and put plans, diagrams, computer code, or other thoughts in written form in order to share with others.

We are pleased to offer a product, Whiteboard In A Box, that is perfectly suited for co-working and shared office spaces. It’s a self-stick whiteboard surface that rolls out and will adhere to any flat, clean surface. It’s bright and shiny white surface creates a crisp and modern feel to any room or hallway and dry erase markers can be easily erased. It comes in several different sizes and can cover virtually any wall surface, and can also be used to re-surface existing whiteboards that are old and worn out.

Designing an Effective, Attractive, and Practical Conference Room

It’s More Than a Table, Chairs, and Whiteboard

If you’ve ever worked for a company that has a lot of meetings, you might not be surprised to learn that a recent study shows most people don’t like meetings and feel they’re unnecessary. When a group of people were asked to use one word to describe meetings, the most popular answers were “boring, unproductive, pointless, and annoying.”

There are books and videos about how to make meetings more interesting and effective, but what about the rooms where meetings are held? Can anything be done to at least make the environment more acceptable? Perhaps more energizing and invigorating? Maybe even conducive to creativity? Many educational studies have shown that students are more alert and creative in bright, colorful classrooms.

Office space designers are changing the way they plan new conference rooms, and we’re sharing some of them here, as well as some of the ideas we have seen help our customers.

The first thing designers recommend is to determine the purpose of the room. Will it hold large meetings with everyone working together? Or will the room function better if it has the ability to be split into sections so small groups can work as teams?

Will the room be used to make presentations to clients, with an audience on one side and a team of presenter on the other?

Furniture and Equipment

  • Is one large table appropriate or several smaller tables that can be pushed together?
  • Are meetings likely to long, which necessitate large, comfortable chairs? Short meetings can usually get by with smaller, less expensive chairs.
  • If meetings will likely involve participants with laptop computers, make sure there are adequate power supplies.
  • Lighting, colors, carpet, window treatments all combine to give a room balance and a feel. It’s a good idea to get professional help from an experienced decorator if it’s not your forte.
  • One of the issues many people reported about meetings is that participants can’t see the speaker or the board, (or monitor) and they don’t have the ability to participate or respond as effectively as they wish they could. This is where one of our most popular products, Whiteboard in a Box, works very well in conference rooms. Office space planners are laying out more offices and conference rooms with large dry-erase surfaces so people aren’t searching for an available whiteboard.
  • Almost everyone can relate to the experience of going into a conference room for a meeting and finding a single black marker. And it’s out of ink. Argh! Always make sure you have an ample supply of bright, colorful markers on hand. If you buy in bulk, you’ll save money.

Finally, get input from employees before you plan a new conference room or a renovation. Two heads are better than one, and lots of opinions will help put together a room that will hopefully make meetings more enjoyable for everyone!

Overcome Your Presentation Fears with Preparation and Practice

Everyone has at least one fear, some people have many, and that’s ok. Doctors say if you understand your fears and work to overcome them, they’re not harmful.

Some of the most common fears are:

  • Acrophobia: fear of heights.
  • Pteromerhanophobia: fear of flying.
  • Claustrophobia: fear of encloseed spaces.
  • Ophidiophobia: fear of snakes.

And we think every child has this one: Trypanophobia, the fear of needles.

But the most common fear in people is Glossophobia, the fear of public speaking.

If you’re not accustomed to giving presentations on front of people it is not strange at all for you to have some apprehension about doing it. But there is hope!

Just prepare, and practice. Like everything else in life, repetition breeds success.

Here are some tips for building your confidence as you get ready to deliver a presentation.

  1. Successful presenters have a clear sense of the purpose of their presentation. They know what their goal is and they explain that goal to the audience right at the start. Making a concise outline of the presentation and having it in front of you at all times is essential.
  2. Successful presenters do a thorough homework about their audience. Understanding who you will be speaking to is a good step to feeling comfortable with them. If they have common interests, learn about that subject and use it as an ice-breaker so they feel comfortable with you.
  3. Successful presenters appear comfortable with their sense of being. Practice and use smooth gestures with your arms and hands. And move around. You don’t want to trap yourself, hands gripping a podium. You’ll likely be using a PowerPoint on a screen or a whiteboard, so practice pointing to each portion as you calmly explain what each point means.
  4. Successful presenters rehearse many times and are prepared. Arrive at the presentation site at least one hour prior to the start. Set everything and do a few run-throughs in front of empty chairs. Once again, repetition breeds success.

Whiteboard Dry Erase SuppliesFinally, remember it’s normal to be nervous. It’s how you handle it. Tell your audience you feel a little nervous because they’ll understand. They’ll probably laugh if you make a little joke about it. “I practiced this presentation in front of my 2 year old daughter 25 times so I wouldn’t be nervous, but I don’t think she got it.” You’ll laugh, the audience will laugh, and the presentation will go very well.

“I think it’s healthy for a person to be nervous. It means you care – that you work hard and want to give a great performance. You just have to channel that nervous energy into the show.” Beyonce Knowles

Everything you need for a whiteboard presentation is available at www.godryerase.com including our most popular product, Whiteboard In A Box.

Stay Organized with Dry Erase Tape

Staying organized is tough for everyone. “Where did I put this? Where is that?” There are dozens of systems for trying to put things in order, calendars for dates and times, storage bins, filing cabinets, and organizers galore on computers and smart phones.

Because most people are visual in the way they learn, we believe our products are perfect for helping people stay on time and stay organized. We feel if a system is buried inside a machine that has to be turned on, we’ll probably forget to look at it. We like big, bold, colorful numbers and letters where we can’t help but see them, like on a dry erase board or dry erase labels.


Visual learning is a style in which a learner utilizes graphs, charts, maps and diagrams. It is one of the three basic types of learning styles that also includes kinesthetic learning and auditory learning.

Kinesthetic learning (American English), kinaesthetic learning (British English), or tactile learning is a learning style in which learning takes place by the students carrying out physical activities, rather than listening to a lecture or watching demonstrations.

The vast majority of people are visual learners.

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The beauty of dry erase labels (cut from dry erase tape) is that when you need to change what’s written on it you don’t have to peel and scrape the old label off. You just erase it and write again. You can even color code your labels for categorization purposes.

We have seen this system work for countless customers and friends so if you’re running around every day trying to remember who, what, when, and where, try this:

Order a roll of Whiteboard In A Box, our very popular self-adhesive dry erase film that can be cut to the size you need and placed on a wall or table. Use it as a reminder board, calendar, or “to-do” list. Buy some storage bins and organize your belongings into categories, then label them by cutting sections of our dry erase tape and mark each one. Stay faithful to using the bins, or containers, jars, whatever works best.

We think that for a very reasonable expenditure you will make progress in your struggle to get and stay organized.

Our “Write with Attitude” dry erase markers are bold, bright, and long-lasting so you’ll have fun while you work on your new system.

Visit www.godryerase.com to shop and order, we thank you for your attention, and wish you success on reaching your goals whatever they may be!

What’s Your Favorite Pi? Pi Day (March 14th) is Coming!

Pi Day is celebrated on March 14th (3/14) around the world. Pi (Greek letter “π”) is the symbol used in mathematics to represent a constant — the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter — which is approximately 3.14159.

Pi has been calculated to over one trillion digits beyond its decimal point. As an irrational and transcendental number, it will continue infinitely without repetition or pattern. While only a handful of digits are needed for typical calculations, Pi’s infinite nature makes it a fun challenge to memorize, and to computationally calculate more and more digits.

You may remember the formula from high school geometry:

The area of a circle.

A = πr2

Where ‘r’ is the radius (distance from the center to the edge of the circle).

Mathematicians and math teachers love to celebrate pi Day by having parties, eating pie, and sometimes having pie fights according to some stories.

Mathematicians and math teachers also love our dry erase products because they help them do their jobs better. Solving math problems for students using the visual aid of a dry erase board makes it easier to comprehend for the whole class. Our Whiteboard In A Box product is perfect for expanding available space to teach. Our markers are also the best available, bold, bright, and long-lasting. And made in the U.S.A.

Click here to shop now!

Whiteboards as Art Mediums

We are pleased to serve people involved in many different industries and pursuits, including businesses and educational institutions. Our customers use Whiteboard In A Box, our markers, erasers, and other supplies to teach, organize, display presentations, and sometimes just to express themselves!

Our motto since the beginning in 2003 has been “Unleash Your Creativity” and we were thrilled to learn about an artist, Brandon Doak, at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington. He is creating masterpieces on dry erase boards!

From the News Tribune: For more than a year, the 20-year-old from Vancouver, Washington, has been painstakingly mastering his craft on whiteboards around campus. Using the tip of dry erase markers, he creates patterns of dots to form his interpretations of landscapes, movie posters, album covers and superheroes.

You may not believe some of his work could actually be created on a dry erase board, but they were:

Read more about Brandon by clicking here.

So, please continue using our products to build lists, create schedules, deliver presentations, and teach children how to solve math problems.

But every now and then take a few moments to unleash your creativity. Create some art, you might become famous!

 

Organize Your Small Business

If you own a small business, you know that going to work is much more than clocking in for an eight hour shift. You should be so lucky!

GoDryErase.com is a small business, and we know that if we ever want to have time to sleep and have some semblance of a personal life , we need to get a full day’s work done in half that time. The key is staying organized.

If your business is doing well with a cluttered desk, messy files, no daily schedule or plan, then keep doing what you’re doing! But if you’re struggling to stay profitable please consider trying some of these tips:

Purge Your Office:

• Recycle the broken electronics you may have stashed in a closet.
• Delete all those old voice messages.
• Donate anything you don’t need or use.
• Keep the basics and anything you’ve used in the past year; all else can go.

Use the Cloud for Storage

• Storing valuable data on a hard disk or flash drive is great until your computer gets a virus or you lose the flash drive. Take advantage of backing everything up on some type of cloud storage service.

Clean Up Your Inbox

• Set up folders for the top 10 people who email you and use them. Searching and searching for an important email can take 10-15 minutes but if it’s in the right folder you’ll find it fast. A few seconds will save a lot more time.

Let an Accountant Handle the Books

• You might think you’re doing a great job doing your own payroll and taxes, but a professional bookkeeper will do it faster and probably save you money in the long run.

We sell products to businesses and schools that help them stay organized and facilitate teaching. A large dry-erase surface with schedules and bullet points makes sure everyone is “on the same page” and that means less confusion.

 

 

 

 

How to Safely Store Your Passwords

“Treat your password like your toothbrush. Don’t let anybody else use it, and get a new one every six months.”  – Clifford Stoll

How many passwords do you have? Do you keep them in your head? Do you write them down? Everyone has a different way to make up passwords and store them, but you better think about your methods because hacking is getting worse as cyber criminals devise new ways every day to get into your private accounts.

The key is organization, one of the main themes running through our product line, many of which are great for helping people stay organized. But no, you don’t want to write your passwords on a dry erase board!

Storing Passwords on Your Computer or a Flash Drive

Many people have a list on their computer with all their passwords. If that is your decision you obviously don’t want to give access to your actual computer to anyone else, but there is also the danger of hackers getting in to your computer remotely. Always make sure your virus software is running because it will usually detect any threat from out side.

Also remember that when you delete a file it goes to the recycle bin, and that should be cleared out on a regular basis.

If you store passwords on a flash drive and you plug that drive into another computer there is the possibility the passwords will wind up stored on that computer!

Online Password Storage

Many people store their passwords “in the cloud” with one of many services that promise to keep passwords secure with encrypted data systems that are very reliable, including:

1Password covers Mac, Windows, Android, and iOS, and it will set you back $5 a month or a one-time fee of $64.99.

Dashlane can remember your passwords, fill out online forms, and act as a digital wallet as well. What’s more, it’s free, though you can sign up for a premium account ($39.99/year) to get web access to your password vault and sync your login info across multiple devices. Dashlane works across Mac, Windows, all the main browsers, Android, and iOS.

Many people rely on their browser (Chrome, Firefox, etc.) to securely store their passwords and they do a nice job of that but remember, if someone has access to your computer or other device they may be able to access all your passwords.

Finally, if you’re going to write you passwords on a piece of paper, make sure that paper is safe. A fireproof lock box is not going too far. We have heard the harrowing stories of people who have lost passwords and been locked out of accounts permanently.

Finally, change your passwords at least every six months. Many people do it every time they change their clocks and that’s not a bad idea. But once again, stay organized. Changing your password and then losing it does no good. Choose a reliable platform for your private information and stick with it.

Organizing other aspects of your life is important, and we recommend our Whiteboard In A Box product because it’s so versatile. Click here to shop!