Best Results Organizing

Smead Soft Touch Cloth Expanding Files offer up an attractive way to look professional and keep your documents organized. It’s never too early to make a good impression, and I think these cloth expanding files help you accomplish just that.

One step up from poly or paper expansion folders, the Smead Soft Touch Cloth Expanding File provides 2 inches of expansion capabilities, so you can store your important documents and files, a small laptop or tablet, your phone, and maybe a bullet journal. Closed on three sides, the top flap has one of two styles of closures to secure the fourth side, securely containing everything when you’re on the go.

The Smead Soft Touch Cloth Expanding Files come in two styles, letter-sized (13″ wide x 10″ high) with a snap closure or tabloid ( 12″ wide x 18″ high) with a magnetic closure. The soft cloth design comes in black, grey, and dark blue. All versions feature a cloth exterior with matching sewn stitching and a satiny, purse-like, black cloth interior. (Caveat: Smead calls the exterior “soft,” which is a relative term. Let’s say it’s a bit like a woolen blazer.)

You can find these sharp-dressed portfolios at the Smead links above (about $15 for the letter-sized or $25 for the tabloid sized) or on Amazon (about $13 for letter-sized and $21-$25 for the tabloid version).

So, when the world gets back to “normal,” whether you’re heading into a client meeting or an interview, something snappy and professional may not only help keep you organized, but like a new pencil box on the first day of school, might just give you just the confidence you need to re-enter the working world.

Quartet Portable Glass Dry Erase Pads

Recently, Quartet, one of the ACCO family of brands, reached out to show me their new line of Keep notes handy wherever you are with the Quartet Portable Glass Dry-Erase Pad. The idea is that you can keep notes and reminders on a small glass whiteboard that fits in a bag or purse, and opens and folds like a notebook for easy dry-erase writing.

The dry-erase pad is a non-porous glass board made of 5″ x 8″, 4 mm thick tempered glass; along with the cover, it weighs one pound. The pad opens and closes like a notebook, so you can quickly jot down notes, reminders, or squigglies throughout the day, while the durable, poly cover and its small foam pads protect the glass whiteboard’s surface (so there’s no jostling or unintended erasure of your notes).

Write, close, drop it in your bag, roam around our brave, new world, open it again, and pick up where you left off, without smudges.

There’s a bungee closure to keep it closed and protected, and criss-crossed elastic bands hold dry-erase markers and accessories.

The magnetic kickstand embedded into the cover holds the pad in place and angles it so you can comfortably view your notes while you’re speaking on camera or to a group, or just trying to review your mind-map while eating at an outdoor cafe among other humans (as we’ll all be doing soon, I hope).

The Portable Glass Dry-Erase Pad comes in two cover styles: blue (with orange closures and bands) and black (with red closures and bands), and with one dry-erase marker. (Note: Quartet does make a 9″ x 6″ glass dry-erase desktop “notepad” in two styles, floral and dotted, but these are designed to use at your desk and have no cover (and thus no protection from jostling), so please be careful when ordering.)

The Portable Glass Dry-Erase Pads are priced at $40 on the Quartet website, or a little under $30 at Amazon.

I’ll admit, at first I was puzzled by the appeal of the product. Why would you carry around a piece of glass when you’re already carrying your phone, and maybe your tablet? What’s the appeal of writing something down that’s erasable when you’re mobile if you could type or dictate into your phone? I mean, I’m a paper girl, so I could see the appeal of a notebook or note pad, but to me, dry-erase is for your office space. (Hey, that rhymes!)

What was I missing?!

I shared the product with a few of my colleagues. A few were “meh” about it as I was, finding the sleek design appealing but the utility doubtful. However, others got very excited. For them, the combination of being able to hand-write their notes but have zero impact on the environment (no trees killed, no landfill topped off) got them very jazzed. And, of course, we all noted that information on the pads can be captured and kept permanently via a quick snapshot and upload to Evernote, OneNote, or similar data storage before erasing.

Readers, what are your thoughts? Would you tote around a one-pound dry-erase board? What other uses could you find for this product? Feel free to share in the comments!

Quartet Desktop Glass Whiteboard Computer Pads

While I was scrolling around the Quartet website, I did find something that appealed to me. Although it appears the product isn’t new, it’s new to me.

Quartet’s Desktop Glass Whiteboard Computer Pads are just as environmentally friendly as their portable cousins, but they are designed to be used at the computer, where there’s far less chance of dropping them! (What?! I can’t be the only person who fears being klutzy and having a purse full of shattered glass!)

This two-pound, 18″ wide by 6″ high, angled organizing tool does double-duty. The contemporary-style glass top is made of a sleek, durable, dry-erase surface, designed to fit in with any office or home décor.

The non-porous glass does not absorb ink, so Quartet guarantees (for 15 years!) that it will not stain or ghost, and it’s made to resist dents and scratches in case you have a cat or tiny human (or co-worker who behaves like either one) visiting your desk. So, write your task list or the phone numbers you’re transcribing from voicemail, erase, write something completely new – all to your heart’s content. 

The writing area is only part of what makes the Desktop Glass Whiteboard Computer Pad useful. The item as a whole is designed to sit between your keyboard and your monitor, and the built-in storage drawer slides out to expose space for markers, sticky notes, flash drives, and whatever you want to keep at your desk while maintaining a clutter-free work environment.

There’s also a small trough at the top of the angled surface where your dry-erase markers can nest comfortably until you write your next reminder.

The Quartet Glass Dry-Erase Desktop Computer Pads come in five styles: White, Marble (grey with gold accents), Floral (white with pink accents), Dot (white with blue accents), and Black (with silver accents). 

Reviewers advised that while a variety of dry-erase markers will work, the Quartet brand seem to have the best staying power and erase the most cleanly, so caveat emptor. I should also note that it’s not immediately obvious what color dry-erase ink colors would be visible on a black background. It appears the black version comes with white dry-erase marker.

The different versions range in price from $27-$34 on the Quartet website, and $34-$37 on Amazon.

Organize Your Space

Organize Your Home 10 Minutes at a Time Deck of Cards

Longtime friends of the blog and beloved NAPO-Georgia colleagues Diane Quintana and Jonda Beattie have had their own, separate professional organizing practices for some time; they’ve also been collaborating on projects, including speaking gigs, classes, and their children’s books, Suzie’s Messy Room and Benji’s Messy Room.

Recently, Diane and Jonda joined forces to create a collaborative company, Release * Repurpose * Reorganize, and even wrote a book together, Filled Up and Overflowing: What to Do When Life Events, Chronic Disorganization, or Hoarding Go Overboard. But apparently, even that wasn’t enough excitement for them!

Diane and Jonda have created the Organize Your Home 10 Minutes at a Time Deck of Cards. Fully aware that most people don’t have the desire, motivation, or stamina to conquer organizing an entire room or space all at once, they’ve created a 52-card deck to guide you through organizing your home step-by-step, one 10-minute task at a time.

The deck includes two instruction cards to help you get started, plus 50 categorized task cards for coping with typical areas of a home, including kitchens, closets, bedrooms, bathrooms, family rooms, and similar spaces. The top of each card color-codes to the spaces covered, and tells you the space and task to be handled. The body of each card provides instructions for completing the task.

Whether you could use a little personal motivation to get your home organized or want to get your family (or housemates) in on the organizing action with a little competitive guidance, Diane and Jonda have you covered.

The Organize Your Home 10 Minutes at a Time Deck of Cards is available on their website for $19.95.

Organized Travel

As you know, it’s rare for me to report on organizing products unrelated to paper, information, finances, or office space…except when I’m reporting from the NAPO Expo. Given that this post replaces an actual expo report (and the realization it’s my blog and I can make my own rules!), I’ve got one more product to share.

Hang|Fold

HangFold calls itself a “travel partner,” to prevent wrinkled clothes. As someone who despises ironing and generally owns an entire travel wardrobe of (upscale) polyester and spandex in order to avoid ironing, this pricked up my ears. According to the company, Hang|Fold allows you to pack shirts and delicates — perfectly folded — into your suitcase, and then once you get to your destination, you don’t have to worry if there will be enough hangers. The hangers are built in!

Hang|Fold is a hanger, but it’s also a template for perfectly folding shirts, sweaters, and other clothes to make them both suitcase-ready while traveling and hanging-ready for when you get to your hotel or home-share. (Remember hotels? Remember traveling?)

Everything you fold goes into your suitcase the same size, as if you were using Dr. Sheldon Cooper’s Flip & Fold method, and it all comes out smooth, unwrinkled, and unsquished.

Hang|Fold is less than a quarter of an inch wide and measures 15″ long x 7.5″ high in the hanger position. In template mode, it’s less than 12” x 10”. It is a one-size-fits-all product. Pull up or push down on the hanger to change modes.

Hang|Fold features rounded edges and C-shapes, as well as anti-slip grooves, so no pointy shoulders or unseemly clothing dents!

Hang|Fold weighs about the same as a dress shirt (6.34 oz) but is capable of supporting more than 5 1/2 lbs. on the shoulders and more than 6.6 lbs. on the trouser bar. It’s light weight, but it’s no lightweight, if you know what I mean!

Hang|Fold is a patented product made 100% out of recycled polypropylene (PP), and is produced in the European Union (Spain) by ISO 9001-certified manufacturers, ensuring the quality and sustainability.

While I don’t usually promote products that are in crowdsourcing mode, in case they don’t come to fruition, I liked that the company is thinking about the environment as well as the future of travel:

Juan Flores, CEO at Hang|Fold reports that, “It has not been easy to move ahead with a project created from scratch in the middle of a pandemic, especially with a product aimed for travelers and a business model that defies the status quo in production, financing and materials used. However, despite all the challenges faced, we’ve launched our crowdfunding campaign in Indiegogo and shared this dream with our customers hoping they will join and support us.” 

It’s not available yet, but is going live on April 13, 2021. You can sign up at Hang|Fold’s Indiegogo page to get notified when the campaign goes live and to get a 45% discount. Until then, see Hang|Fold in action:

Usually, my NAPO Expo recap runs for a few posts, and it’s quite possible that in the run-up to the 2021 NAPO Conference, I might get more sneak peaks at new and unusual organizing products. Until then, share what you think of these, and let me know if you have any of the items I’ve profiled.

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