In this day and age, we spend so much time in front of the computer that our arms and hands get a real workout using the mouse, keyboard, or touchpad.

Add to that playing the piano, using a digital camera, game consoles, and even good old fashioned handwriting – and it all adds up to wrist pain, tendinitis and even carpal tunnel syndrome. Left unaddressed, repetitive strain injuries can become debilitating.

I type for a living, and take pictures and play piano for fun. Both have become far less enjoyable the last year, as I’ve noticed some severe stabbing pain in my wrist.

Exercise, targeted massage, creams and essential oils have all helped some, but I’m told by the medical professionals that the thing that’s going to make the most difference is simply using my wrist less. That’s a challenge when, as I mentioned, I type for living.

Enter Dragon dictation.

I am so delighted to have found this fabulous software program no. It allows me to speak what I want to say rather than having to type it. In fact I’m using it right now to dictate this post.

I am loving it!!!

Now I can save my wrists for doing the things I love, like taking photographs, and use Dragon Dictation when I have to work.

It’s available in versions for both Mac and PC – and, in my opinion, worth every penny. And you can save 5% through September 2012

Save 5% on Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11.5 Premium with Coupon Code: mi6qbq39z..

HOWEVER, I do not recommend them. Here’s why:

Low quality, high shipping charges, ineffective customer service, and once you place an order your inbox will be full of Vista Print promotions. Highly irritating.

But the biggest reason is that their business cards are SMALLER than standard size. If you have a stack of business cards in your hand – you can always tell those that came from vista print because they’re too small. It sends an unprofessional message.

Instead – I’m giving high marks to Overnight Prints. The ordering process is really simple and they have no blatant up-selling like VistaPrint. They are fast, too!

They are affordable, great quality, responsive customer service – and the business cards are just the right size. I’ve ordered cards using their templates, and uploaded a custom file as well – both with awesome results.

In addition to business cards, they offer postcards, magnets, greeting cards, posters, marketing materials and more.

Try them today!

Here’s a product demonstration showing how effective an ‘environmentally friendly‘ laundry soap can be. Pretty impressive.

This laundry powder is made with a proprietary blend of four enzymes, special detergents, and oxygen-bleaching technology to attack the toughest dirt and stains you can imagine.  Concentrated NewBrite also contains a soil-suspending agent that works to give you clean clothes with no perfume smells. It gets your clothes amazingly clean without all the questionable ingredients.

If you want to try this concentrated detergent you can purchase online here.  In my experience, both the powder and the liquid work great, but I prefer liquid in general.

I love to read.  And if a book is particularly engrossing I find I simply can’t put it down til I’ve finished – even though it tends to impair my cognitive abilities the next day. Like I said, I love to read.

When it comes to personal development books, I like to buy them on cd and listen on my iPhone while I’m out for a walk or doing gardening.

With all the reading I do, I don’t know the last time I paid full price for a book. Here are ways I save on books – and you can too.

1. Amazon.com

Nearly every book I purchase, I get from Amazon. They have just about every book imaginable (not to mention all the additional products they offer), and you can buy many of them used. Some for as low as .01 (plus shipping). Even the new ones are typically offered at a significant discount from retail. And if you purchase a lot of books and other products from Amazon, I highly recommend taking advantage of their Prime Advantage program for free 2-day shipping on hundreds of thousands of products.

2. Your Local Library

Many libraries have a website that allow to us to browse the library database and request items to be sent to the nearest branch. Once they arrive, you receive an email notification that the item has arrived. Even though I prefer to own the books, this is a great option to have free access to a lot of books.

3. Check out thrift stores and garage sales for used books

If you have the time to wade through all the romance novels, you may find some hidden gems at a thrift store or garage sale. In the past, I’ve picked up reference books, hardback copies of best sellers, and a wonderful atlas… all for about $1 each.

4. Trade your books with others

Swaptree.com is a service that allows you to trade your books, CDs, and DVDs with others online. The service is free, the only expense is the shipping cost of your item.

BookCrossing.com aims to make the whole world a library by encouraging the practice of leaving a book in a public place to be picked up and read by others, who then do likewise. At the website, you can register your book library, indicate where/when you’ve ‘released’ a book and, potentially, track it as it makes its way around the world.

If you have friends and family who have similar taste in books, let them know what books you have – and ask what they have. In addition to sharing costs, you’ll also have someone to discuss the books with.

Here’s another startling fact. The pulp and paper industry is the third largest industrial polluter of air, water and land in both Canada and the United States.

Switch to paperless billing and you may be saving more than trees – you could also save some money. You might be able to get a better interest rate or secure extra reward points. Companies cut costs by sending an e-mail instead of printing paper statements and paying postage – and some of them are willing to pass a bit of that savings on to you.

• Allstate: Customers who sign up for paperless billing (with automatic withdrawal from a bank account) receive a discount of up to 5% on an auto policy, depending on the state.  Discount is not available in California, North Dakota and South Dakota.
• Progressive: In most states, Progressive offers discounts to customers who get electronic statements and sign their policy documents online.
• Sprint: The company gives a one-time $5 credit to customers who sign up for Sprint’s eBill service. (Consumers who get a discount on their plans through an employer are not eligible.)
• Time Warner Cable: Customers in New York can get a $1 credit on their bill each month if they opt for paperless billing.
• Utilities: The city of Nampa, ID offers a one-time $10 discount to customers who opt for paperless billing.

Just be sure to check your e-mail regularly so that you don’t miss the e-mail or let it get buried in your inbox.    And if you know of other companies offering discounts for going paperless, please share them with us!

Allow me paint you a mental picture of my teaching studio, as it was 9 months ago…

A half dozen pink colored sticky notes stuck to the side of my grand piano reminding me of this week’s “To Do’s”.

Random piles of sheet music, binders, and manuscript books. A stack of checks from parents sitting under a pencil-filled coffee mug to deposit for this month’s lessons (and only mental notes to remind me later on which students have and have not paid yet).

And that’s not all. The biggest, baddest sin of all is my forgetfulness to write down changes in lesson scheduling on my monthly calendar. “Why is Suzy here for her lesson today? Her lesson isn’t until Thursday. Oh, that’s right…”

A few months ago, I finally decided that enough was enough and that I needed some help.  I was on a mission!

I hopped my savvy little computer fingers onto on my favorite search engine and started doing some hunting for a better way to track my schedule, the student practice logs, and for some fun music games to play at my upcoming pre-recital party for the students.?

And then it happened:  I found what I was looking for!  It was as if the clouds parted and golden rays of sunlight beamed down onto my computer screen as angels sang Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus.  My eyes danced and my heart leaped in giddy delight.

A program that not only did the things I was looking to accomplish, but much more.

It tracked my teaching income and expenditures, tracked music that I loan to students, allowed me to enter lesson notes, send emails to parents and students (automated if I wished), enter student’s repertoire, schedule lessons, keep a calendar (that both students and parents could view as well), send invoices and receive payments online, and (drum roll please)…I even got my own website that I could tailor for my own studio.

Enter Music Teacher’s Helper.

I have been using this program for 9 months now and am thoroughly tickled with delight to find myself so incredibly organized. And I am having fun doing it!

Imagine, if you will, a new and different picture of my studio these days…

• A clean piano. No sticky notes. All appointments and reminders have been entered onto my website calendar, and I even receive email reminders daily of upcoming events (as are the parents).
• After each lesson, I log into my Music Teachers Helper and type up my lesson notes and thoughts on how the student did.  I can send these notes to the parents if I wish (which I always do) so that they can be aware and involved in their child’s lesson.
• When I receive a check, I immediately enter a payment into my transaction log and generate a “thank you” email to the parent. They also have a unique log in and password so that they can view their transaction history as well.
• I never miss a student’s birthday anymore because they’ve all been entered into the birthday tracker.
• Loaned a book out? No problem. I’ve entered it into my lending library with a due date. Email reminders will be sent to the student about returning the material.
• I no longer have to probe Suzy for her practice report because she logs in and enters it into her personal practice log where I can then view it.
• Needing ideas for recital games, studio advice, or how to be a better teacher? I get a wealth of information from the Music Teacher’s Helper Blog (which is where I found the idea to make piano-shaped cookies and decorate them for our Christmas piano recital party).
• And this is only skimming the surface of what this program can do.

At the end of the day though, I do have to say that in some small way I feel like I’m cheating. I get so many compliments from parents about my organizational skills! If they only knew, right? I guess you could say after all that there is such a thing as a perfect world with perfectly organized and composed teachers.

Or at least now I’ve cracked the code on how they do it. I’m still working on the impeccably shined shoes though.

Now if I could just figure out where to find a program that will cook for me, babysit, clean my house…

By Music Teacher, Jennifer Thomas