The 2011 Standard Diary® is now available at ataglance.com and, while it's true that these aren't new products, we did come up with a new list of ideas for their use.  One of the great things about a daily diary is being able to catalog moments and events in life.  Here are just some of the things that you may want to record in your daily diary:

Expenses

Many people have goals to get out of debt completely, or to learn to save. In today's economy especially, it's becoming increasingly important to keep an eye open in this area. A successful budget begins with understanding where your money goes.

• Make a section on your daily page for expenses (many of the Standard Diaries have an expense summary section already). Record all outgoes in this section throughout the day
• If you don't have time to write them down, place receipts between the pages so that you can reconcile your checkbook or budget spreadsheet at the end of the day
• Try to document all of your expenses and income into categories so that it will be easier to lump similar expenses together (i.e. gas, groceries, utilities, rent, etc.).
• At the end of the week, look at total expenses in each category and determine if there are any things that you'd do differently
• Set goals for daily spending and write these down in your diary so that you can remind yourself and keep better track of spending before it gets out of control

Important moments to remember

Life goes by way too quickly and we all get caught up in the mundane, sometimes failing to make time for the most important things that we say we'll get to eventually. Use a daily diary to help you get to the wonderful moments that make life so special.

• Carry your diary with you and write down things as they happen
• Make time at the start of your day to write down thoughts and feelings while drinking your first cup of coffee or take the time at the end of the day to write down the top 5 things that happened during the day
• Begin each week with writing down goals for the week - Make sure that you incorporate some of your wants along with the musts. Think both in the short-term and the long-term (i.e. document 3 things that you must do, 3 things that you'd like to do this week and 3 things that you'd like to accomplish during the month or year).
• As goals are accomplished, check them off the list and document them on the day that you completed the task.

Diet & Exercise

Keeping track of your daily intake and calorie burning activities will ensure that you meet your nutritional goals. A daily diary is the perfect place to record some of the following:

• Write down your calorie consumption and exercise goals for the day
• Document what you eat throughout the day including snacks and drinks
• Make sure you make note of all the activities you complete
• Track how you feel each day so that you can easily identify any trends or situational factors in your eating and exercise habits

Capture ideas, goals and lists

Best of all, your diary can be used to record anything that is important to you.

• Got vacationing on the brain? Write down all the places that you'd like to travel to and rank them from best to worst places to visit
• An important project coming up? Document all the minor and major steps to completing it - helping you to clear your mind for other things without losing momentum
• Moving, camping or traveling? Make a list of items to take, people and places to notify, or things to accomplish before it happens
• Always forgetting important dates like birthdays, anniversaries and meetings? Take time at the beginning of the month to write them down in the appropriate day's sheet so that you don't forget.

Whether you use your diary for business or personal reasons, it can be a record of your life, helping you to keep important things foremost in mind.  And, a dated diary can be an archive of these moments, making it easy for you to go back in time, learn from the past and reflect on these events.

There are many more uses for a daily diary that we haven't listed here.  What are some of the things you use your diary for?  Please let us know, we'd love to hear from you!

April 22^nd marks the 40^th Anniversary of Earth Day, a day to recognize the importance of conservationism and sustainability. For MWV, the manufacturer of AT-A-GLANCE® Office Products, sustainability is both a business strategy and an ethical imperative. It is the motivating force behind our innovative products and environmentally responsible manufacturing processes.

For 2010 AT-A-GLANCE began producing planners, wall calendars and desk calendars with 100% Post-Consumer paper. The planner covers contain 50% Post-Consumer Waste, while the wires include 90% Post-Consumer Waste. These recycled planning products also feature tips for “Green Living”, which can help with your conservation efforts throughout the year. Here are some of the great tips that can be found in these “Green” planning products.

• Go gas! A gas oven with an electric ignition is 50% more efficient than an electric oven.
• Every year we throw away 24 million tons of leaves and grass that could be composted.
• Tune up. Regularly service your car.
• Say "no" to plastic. Bring a canvas bag to the grocery store.
• Program you temperature. Programmable thermostats can save up to 1800 pounds of CO2 emissions every year.
• Buy locally grown produce, and skip the frozen stuff. Frozen food uses 10 times more energy to produce.

If you would like to learn more about our commitment to sustainability, visit our corporate website.

Take a look at your calendar, where ever it may be. On the fridge next to the pictures of the kids (cute kids, by the way). Next to your phone with the unceasing pile of bills and junkmail (Hey, look Publisher's Clearing House says you may be a winner! Again). In the garage, because your wife doesn't want those ‘tool' calendars in the house. Hanging next to the back door, with the worn-out post-it reminding what day trash pick-up is. The family bulletin board, in the bathroom, in your pocket, on the cell wall... or any other of the hundreds of places calendars can be used. Now look a little closer.

Under or near a nice photo of a lush landscape, infectiously cute puppies or kittens, colorful floras, gleaming muscle cars, the latest kid craze, or scantily clad cheesecake or beefcake, is the month. A grid of squares with dates in them, others with weekdays in them, and most prominently displayed above or below all of this - the name of the month.

Ever stop and wonder where that name came from? For that matter, ever wonder why the whole thing is called a calendar? Me neither, but once I learned the following trivial tidbits, (at the cost of remembering something important) I couldn't wait to share some interesting factoids about an everyday commonplace thing we take for granted.

Like the fact that the word calendar comes from the roman word Kalenderium, the name for the ledger that ancient roman record keepers used to track the phases of the moon. They would start each month on a new moon. 

Or that the original roman calendar had 304 days and only ten months, beginning with March and ending in December. January and February were set aside for festivals. Now with the ten hour day, four day work week catching on, maybe we should re-look at this two months off thing....

Why the months are called what they're called:

• January comes from Janus- the roman god of beginnings and endings. Appropriate.
• February, named after the roman god Februs, (Now for those of us who commonly misspell this month, we know who to blame for the extra ‘r'). Romans celebrated this month with purification festivals called ‘februa'.
• March. After the roman god of war, Mars, Son of Jupiter.
• April comes from the word Aperire, which means to open. This is the month when trees and flowers open. Not to mention a few rain clouds.
• May is named after the roman goddess of honor and reverence - Maiesta (Maia).
• June, after Juno, the roman queen of the gods.
• July is named after Julius Caesar, who was born during this month.
• August, named for Augustus the roman emperor. Originally called Sextilis, for the sixth month of the roman calendar.
• September comes from Septum, meaning seven
• October, from Octo, meaning eight
• November, from Novem, meaning nine.
• December, from Decem, meaning ten.

So, the next time your in front of the calendar display at an office supply store, you can do your best Cliff, the mailman from Cheers, imitation for the complete stranger standing next you and spout some of this fascinating trivial info. Just watch as their eyes widen in amazement, right before they suddenly run off to share it with their friends...

It's getting to be that time of year again; time to get your paper planner, but which planner is right for you? Navigating through the many types of planners to find the perfect match is a lot harder than you would think. You need to choose a format, a size, a color, special features, etc. Lucky for you I'm here to help! I will help guide you to your ideal paper planner.

1) First you must decide which planner format you need:

• Daily Format: This is 1 page per day format, with hourly appointment times. It's best used if you have a busy daily schedule or need to log your daily activities in detail.
• Weekly Format: 1 week over 2 pages, with a planning section for each day. Perfect for managing a busy work or school week.
• Monthly Format: 1 month over 1 page or 1 month over 2 pages. Ideal for quickly tracking appointments, vacations and special occasions.

2) Next you need to decide the size of your planner. Do you want something that fits into your pocket? Or would you prefer something larger that would sit on your desk? Or something in-between?

3) What kind of binding do you want? Do you prefer a wire-bound, book-bound or a ring-bound binder?

• Wire-bound and book-bound are better options if:

• Ring-bound is better for:

• Loose leaf pages that you would remove and replace at the end of the year.
• Adding additional pages
• Adding additional features like holding business cards, photos, a calculator, etc.

4) Now that you have a format, size and binding in mind, what additional features do you desire? Do you want a durable hard cover or a flexible cover? What color or design do you want for your cover? Do you need sections for taking notes, tracking spending, keeping address information, etc?

Don't go through the year with a planner that you're not satisfied with. There are many options available, and if you're still struggling with choosing the perfect planner, one of our qualified customer service representatives will be happy to help - 800-365-9327. After reading my planner guide let me know which planner you have chosen.

About two months ago, my home computer decided to experience a fatal error, do a system dump and not reload again. It had been acting up for some time, being slow, disagreeable and just cranky in general; popping up with all kinds of sarcastic and cryptic error messages. I thought it was just old and uncooperative. I had been more than understanding; I made sure that I started it up early, giving it plenty of time to load, relax and think about working before I would actually put it through its paces.

So, I found myself facing everyone's worst nightmare... a blank canvas and having to recreate all of my favorites after getting the computer back. Have you ever needed to dig through a pile of papers or sticky notes that were strategically hidden around the office for usernames or passwords? Or have you ever wasted time looking up forgotten web addresses? Fortunately, my system restore issue was less inconvenient because I had just recently started collecting all my website information into one little book. Here are a few things that I found had worked for me:

• Take the time to document your "favorites" and most useful websites that you use. If you don't want to do this on hardcopy, you can also create an account with delicious.com and bookmark your favorite sites online - so that no matter what computer you are using, your favorites and bookmarks will be available to you.

• If you document your username and password, sometimes it's best to write down a hint of what your password is rather than writing both side by side. This way if you ever lose your book, someone won't be able to easily access all of your account information but you will be triggered to remember what your password is.

• Whichever system you document this information in, be sure that it is in as inconspicuous location as possible, but in a place where you won't forget where it is.

• Most important, be sure to backup important files including the "My Pictures" and "My Documents" sections of your computer - just in case your machine decides to act up. I was so happy that I didn't lose my favorite moments as a result of the crash. Even the best computer technicians might not be able to save some of those precious moments if a virus or "fatal error" takes hold of your machine.

One item that is offered by AT-A-GLANCE® is the web address book or password keeper. It has many features that make it handy and useful for this purpose. Check it out and let us know what you think about this idea.

Fall in Upstate New York is bursting with color! The bright yellow, orange and red maple trees blend like a colorful sea along the gentle hills. It's just a great time to live here. Conversation at MWV-Sidney centers on the landscape: "Is this the peak weekend?" "Do you think today's rain will take the leaves off the trees?" "With all the rain this year, the colors won't be as bright, will they?"

So to bring the colors inside, we are sponsoring a photo contest. It's not really a contest, per se, but a chance for amateur photographers to submit their photos to be considered for display in one of the 20 or so poster-sized frames on the building's walls. The posters remind us what makes this area special - not everyone gets to enjoy the symphony of color that surrounds us in October.

For a calendar company, putting beautiful pictures on the wall is what we do. Whether the scenic calendars capture the cleansing spirit of a mountain stream, the vastness of the desert sands, or the escapism of a beach, scenic photos take us to different places, beyond the ordinary of our daily work area. And turning the page each month ... or week... or even every day (as in our desk calendars), allows us to begin the day dream all over again.

World Food Day on October 16th encourages us to reach out to those for whom the most basic right - food - is a daily challenge. The faces of the hungry are not just in Africa, but they are our neighbors as well, right here in America.

At MWV in Sidney, we are looking at our own community's hungry and stepping in to help. In our rural area, there are people with empty cupboards, whose children don't get to make favorite cereal choices in the grocery store. For them, a grocery store visit with money to spend is in itself, a luxury.

For World Food Day, we focused on a particular need just a few miles down the road. An arsonist's fire burned down the Sidney Center Methodist Church and with it, the food pantry that served the needy in our community. While most people immediately thought about the loss of the historic building, organ and stained glass windows, many did not know about the lifeline to the community that was broken. The food bank located in the church made the difference between eating and not eating for the hamlet's very poor. Our employees wanted to help.

And so blue barrels appeared in our cafeteria with signs listing the needs: pasta, peanut butter, jelly, applesauce, spaghetti sauce. Over the next two weeks, we are diligently restocking the basic essentials that formed the core of the food pantry.

In addition to the local food collection efforts by our employees, to raise awareness at a broader level we'll be supporting World Food Day through the online community as well. On Oct 16th, a portion of the proceeds from all orders received on our websites (www.ataglance.com, www.dayrunner.com and www.mead.com/shop) will be donated to the Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse (CHOW) to help feed even more hungry people. And the more people we can feed, the better since this is a growing concern given our current economic situation. 

So what can I do you ask? There are many simple things you can do to make a difference. Give up the $5 you were going to spend on your morning latte and donate it to one of the many food charities. Volunteer at a local food bank or pantry. Buy a bag of groceries and donate to a local food drive. The bottom line is just do something!

With the evening showing this week of the Ken Burns series The National Parks: America's Best Idea, those of us who work making AT-A-GLANCE® products in Upstate New York have had plenty of water cooler talk around the question, "what's your favorite National Park?".

"Yellowstone," said one manager who spent five days backpacking in Yellowstone National Park in August when he took his daughter to college at the University of Wyoming. "Joshua Tree, " said another director with a penchant for California, heading out next week to try Yosemite National Park and enjoy the colors of fall. "Grand Tetons" said another friend who took his family of 5 boys on a whirlwind, 12-day trip to the West visiting Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Mount Rushmore, Badlands and other parks. My choice is the iconic beauty of Rocky Mountain National Park, where wide streams slide through rugged mountains, and I saw my first moose in a meadow.

The PBS series has brought these experiences to light, binding us easterners on our quest for the open spaces of the West, despite the considerable distance.

I am restless, yearning to encounter the sweeping park vistas Ken Burns introduces me to each night. No longer are the parks just names on a map, but they are beautiful icons of the American Spirit, filled with stories of people who sacrificed years to protect these areas so they would remain for all to see. I think it's my turn to visit.

Let me know which National Park is your favorite?

I haven't been to the Grand Canyon, put I am a national parks fan. And though I enjoy the pictures from well-photographed national parks such as Yosemite, Yellowstone and Grand Tetons, I have not been to those, either, no, before last summer, my family's park experience had been at the less rugged eastern locales such as The Great Smokey Mountain Park in Tennessee or the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia.

But last summer we ventured out West and included Arches National Park in Utah on the itinerary. Utah is so proud of the park that it displays the famous Delicate Arch on its license plate. After a brief, very hot hike and short scramble across a rock face, we came to stand next to Delicate Arch and learned that the license plate definitely does not do it justice. Nor do the pictures. You really have to stand next to the arch to appreciate the site, with its surrounding expanse of red rock vistas and glorious deep blue skies. It's memorable.

At Arches, my daughter began her collection of national park patches and enthusiastically talked about her next addition. A few days later we stopped at Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado, where we were guided through the ancient cliff dwellings, climbing rugged ladders, scrambling through holes, gazing near the edge of precipices. What an experience! We had to purchase a beautiful patch to remind us of it.

Back into my ordinary life, I dream I will get the chance to be awed at another national park sometime soon. In fact, I am anxious to watch the Ken Burns PBS special, "The National Parks: Americas Best Idea" starting Sept 29 and see which park piques my interest for planning our next trip. In the meantime, my daughter displays her park patches on her backpack, and I have my National Landmarks wall calendar, so we will both be inspired to create another national park memory.

I'm a "Get to the Point" type of person. My time is precious to me. I have a hard time dealing with what I consider ‘wasted time'. Some people may tell me to stop and smell the roses; well I have smelled the roses and I much prefer completing a project on time or working in my yard or going to the park with my family.

I know I'm not the only person to prefer spending time on a task or hobby, then accomplishing nothing. So I thought I would take you through a typical day and provide a list of "Time Management Tips".

• Plan Your Day: Everyday you should have a "game-plan" of what you are going to accomplish. Your game-plan should be realistic and created at the start of your day or in the evening for the following day. This way, if you accomplish everything in your game-plan, you won't feel like you're wasting time when you smell the roses.

• Prepare The Night Before: Avoid a frantic start to your day by getting things ready the night before. Pick out clothes, pack your lunch, setup the coffee maker, etc. There is no worse way to start your morning than finding out all your pants are dirty or you've made coffee only to find out that you are out of sugar. Start the morning off efficiently.

• Adjust Your Work Hours: If you commute in a heavy traffic region consider adjusting your work hours. By going in early and leaving early or vice-versa you could free up time wasted in congested rush hour traffic. Talk with your boss or HR, many companies are flexible on when you can start and end work.

• Create An Agenda For Meetings: When setting up a meeting, create an agenda of topics to discuss then send it to everyone invited. This way everyone will be prepared for the topics and less likely to forget something, which can cause another meeting. Make sure you stick to the agenda, a "time waster" can quickly derail a meeting by going off on something that is not on the agenda.
• Watch TV On Your Own Time: Don't adjust you're schedule around TV shows. Get a DVR and record your favorite shows, this way you can watch them when you're ready and can fast forward through commercials. You can also watch your TV shows online. Most of the major TV Networks stream their shows soon after the show airs with few or no commercials.

Hopefully these tips help you avoid "wasted time". If you have any additional time saving tips, I'd love to hear them.

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