Archive for ‘Office Supplies’ Category
Paper Doll Refreshes Your Paper Organizing Solutions
Springtime gives us an opportunity to refresh how we do what we do. Today, we’re going to give some new thought to our obstacles and strategies for keeping our papers organized, and then take a peek at opposite ends of the spectrum for paper storage solutions: one fun and one seriously sturdy.
REFRESHING YOUR PAPER PROCESSES
My friend and professional organizing colleague Yve Irish in Rochester, New York recently asked me if I’d like to write a guest post for her blog.
We’re in the same Mastermind group, and we’re often talking about how we can help support one another’s businesses, and this seemed like a fun opportunity. It made sense for me to talk about my favorite topic — paper!
How To Make Paper Less Overwhelming
In that post (which is much shorter than the typical Paper Doll post, so you might not need a sandwich to sustain you as you read it), I cover:
- Why it’s so difficult and frustrating to keep paper organized
- The difference between action papers and reference papers
- How to break your files down into clear categories so that you can quickly file them and easily access them again when you need a specific document
- Secrets for success when trying to get — and keep — your papers in order.
I invite you to read the post and visit the rest of Yve’s blog at your convenience. Tell Yve I said “Hi!”
MAKE YOUR SPACE HAPPY WITH MAGAZINE FILES
Most of the time, when we talk about keeping paper organized, we focus on using files folders. (In the guest post above, I even explain why file folders are usually preferable to three-ring binders.) But there are definitely other paper storage solutions, depending on the types of paper we’re talking about.
For example, if the paper is teeny-tiny, like an index card, there are a variety of appropriate storage options, such as I discussed in The Humble Index Card: Organize Your Life, Then Organize Your Cards.
Similarly, although we don’t discuss them often, there are a variety of uses for magazine files. For example, you can use them to store:
- Magazines — Duh! But don’t keep all of your magazines forever, or the foundation of your house will buckle. Instead, magazine files are great for maintaining the most recent month of your subscriptions. When the new ones arrive, you can sub them in for last month’s issue. Magazine files are also useful for keeping oft-referenced magazine issues on a particular topic, such as holiday issues for recipes (though I’d still suggest creating your own recipe file system, as I suggested in Calm Cooking Chaos (Part 1): Organize Your Paper Recipes).
- Store Catalogs — If you like ordering from catalogs, or just have fun flipping through them and dreaming about what you might buy, neatly stashing catalogs in a magazine file keeps them tidy and accessible. Do note, however, that almost all catalogs have the same items in them month and after month, just with different layouts and updated pricing, so there’s no need to keep old catalogs once the new ones arrive.
- Travel Brochures, Maps, and City Guides — Although I’m not ready to get back on airplanes (which felt like germy tin cans even before COVID), I had so much fun on my Smithsonian tours of Italy (2018) and the UK (2019) that I keep the most recent Smithsonian Journeys catalog of trip options so that I can refresh my inner aspirational traveler. You might like to keep a magazine file of local city guides on a side table in your guest room to help overnight visitors consider where they might like to dine or travel.
- Instruction Manuals — For simple manuals, a file folder works fine, but depending on how many manuals you keep, and the sizes of them, or if you’re short on filing space, you might want to maintain a bookshelf of matching magazine files. Consider separate magazines files for different categories, such as:
- Major household appliances (water heater, refrigerator, washer/dryer, electric garage door)
- Kitchen appliances (air fryer, food processor, bread maker, microwave)
- Home theater electronics (televisions, stereos, DVRs)
- Computer hardware and software (including peripherals like printers and scanners)
- Communication devices (phones, digital assistants like Home Pod or Alexa)
- Personal electronics (smart watches, ebook readers, pedometers, heart rate monitors)
- Specialty manuals (exercise equipment, home medical equipment)
- College Catalogs — Once your kids start taking the PSATs and other pre-college tests, they will receive a shocking number of catalogs for colleges and universities in far-flung places. (A few years ago, I went back to my childhood home and found that my teenage closet was still filled with multiple paper grocery sacks of college catalogs circa 1984-1985, and I would not be hyperbolic in stating that at least 20% were, mystifyingly, from Valparaiso University in Indiana.) Try to keep only the catalogs for schools to which they’re likely to apply (and not your dream schools).
- Phone/Address Directories — We rarely see old-style phonebooks, the ones suitable as booster seats for toddlers. Many communities no longer have “white pages,” at all, and where “yellow pages” exist, they’re often about the thickness of a magazine. Church and school directories are often only available online. But if you do have bound directories, keeping them all together in a magazine file makes it handy when you need to make a call.
- Takeout/Delivery Menus — You probably use your phone to order delivery or get takeout. But new restaurants will still stick their menus under your windshield or between your screen door and front door, so whether you want them or not, you’ve probably got a pile of them. Don’t just stack them on the microwave or stick them in a kitchen drawer — but do keep them if the food appeals to you. When Paper Mommy, my sister, and I are together in my sister’s city, we often have to juggle phones to plan food delivery. My sister has an Android, so she can’t Airdrop a menu to the two of us (Apple users); instead, she tells me the name/URL of the restaurant, and I look it up and then Airdrop it from my phone to my mother’s iPad. It’s a whole process even before we start figuring out what we want to order. Having a takeout menu collection might make it much easier. Just plop the ones from which you’re likely to order in a magazine file.
I recently found a few intriguing magazine files.
First, Ikea’s TJABBA (a variation on their only-slightly pricier but less adorable TJENA magazine file) is currently on sale for only 99 cents/2 pack, so I suspect it won’t be around long, but it’s so cute!
The smiley face design is made by adding two tiny punch-out circles above the open space used to pull the file off of the shelf. You get a sneak peek of the contents but still get to keep the “messy” side of the magazine file toward the wall.
The TJABBA files are easy to assemble and can collapse and fold up to save space if you don’t need them for a while. They measure 9 3/4″ deep, 11 3/4″ high, and 4″ wide.
If you prefer to support independent small businesses and don’t mind waiting a little extra time for shipping, the Bluble shop on Etsy has magazine files designed to look like townhouses. They’re handmade of “woodlike” (or solid color) laminated high density fibreboard.
There are three styles of these magazine files:
# 1 measures 34.7 cm high, 11.0 cm wide, and 23 cm deep
# 2 measures 34.3 cm high, 9.3 cm wide, and 23 cm deep
# 3 measures 34.5 cm high, 8.0 cm wide, and 23 cm deep
You can select any of the three styles in a variety of colors, depending on what kind of cityscape you’d like to create on your shelf. The options are maple, oak, pine, cherry, apple, nut, “wenge” (sort of darker brown), black, grey, and white.
These Bluble storage solutions are $5.70/each, which seems incredibly reasonable for a hand-made townhouse-style magazine file, but Etsy calculated that shipping from Germany to my own zip code would be $28, so this might be better if you are planning on buying many of them for practical décor and not just to hide in a cabinet.
If you order, be prepared to state the number for the type you prefer along with the letter for the finish you want. (I’m fond of the wider townhouse #1 in pine or white, but you could mix-and-match to create your own cityscape).
Bluble also makes a version of these townhouse magazine files with different window and door stylings and colored rooftops. The color options are navy blue, blue, light blue, mint, green, light green, black, violet, red, orange, and yellow. These magazine files run $6.23/each.
SOLVE STORAGE FOR A TON OF PAPER
It can be really annoying when you have a lot of paper that you need to store, but there are a variety of solutions depending on whether you have a little bit of a lot of paper or a whole lot of a lot paper.
Traditional (manilla) file folders are scored on the bottom (near the crease), so with a little bit of effort, the bottom of the folder can go from a sharp fold to a boxy-bottom, but that can only help add contents for so long. Plus, if you increase the bottom surface area of your file folder by folding it at the creases, fewer folders will fit in a traditional hanging folder, and eventually, that’s going to present a challenge.
Box-bottom hanging folders and expandable files are the traditional solution, and you can generally find them in sizes that providing expanding room for one-to-four inches of paper storage space, but they’re not particularly attractive.
Recently, I came across a product from our friends at Smead, a 3.5″ Hanging File Pocket with an interesting design.
Smead 3.5″ Letter-Sized Hanging File Pockets
Suitable for collections of lots of bulky documents that you need to both hang and transport, the 3.5″ Hanging File Pocket is strong enough to expand to 3 1/2″ and has oval die-cut handles to make it easier to lift and transport a large collection of papers.
These 3.5″ Hanging File Pockets have full-height gussets (reinforced accordion-like sides rather than the typical open-sides you find with hanging folders). The gussets ensure that the paper contents of the pockets will stay secure and won’t get stuck on the file rails when the pocket is removed from a file drawer.
While the accordion style sides will expand to up to 3 1/2 inches, they take up minimal space until/unless the expansion for extra capacity is needed. For example, if you’re putting in documents for one fiscal quarter, no expansion is necessary, but as you add more paper for additional fiscal quarters, more expansion can occur.
The Hanging File Pockets come in two sizes:
- Letter-sized are 11-3/4″ wide by 9-1/4″ high, not counting the hanging rods, which add an additional inch (total) of width
- Legal-sized are 14-3/4″ wide by 9-1/4″ high, not counting the hanging rods, which add an additional inch (total) of width
Smead 3.5″ Legal-Sized Hanging File Pockets
The letter-sized file pockets come in standard green or multi-color (red, green, yellow, and blue); the legal-sized version are only available in standard green.
(Boo! I wish someone at Smead or any of the other file supply companies could tell us whether green hanging folders and jackets are somehow less expensive to produce. Like, is Army Green a less expensive coloring agent? Why are filing solutions in pretty colors almost always more expensive?)
I should note, these Hanging File Pockets are priced for corporate use for lawyers, accountants, and people who wear serious suits each day. The pockets, and specifically the die-cut ovals that make these heavy-duty hanging file pockets so appealing, aren’t really designed for residential or home office use, the assumption being that the average person or small business isn’t going to need to keep an entire ream of paper in one folder or pocket.
The pricing is:
- $38.50 for four of the letter sized, multi-color (red, green, yellow, and blue) 3.5″ hanging file pockets (Yes. Almost $40 for four hanging pockets!)
- $75.33 for ten of the letter-sized, standard green 3.5″ hanging file pockets
- $83.61 for ten of the legal-sized, standard green 3.5″ hanging file pockets
- There is no option for the multi-color hanging file pockets in a legal size
These 3.5″ Hanging Pocket are only available directly from Smead.
Happy Spring from Paper Doll HQ, and please let me know if you spot any fanciful or fun paper storage solutions in the wild and I’ll be happy to credit you in a future post.
Paper Doll Post:
Cool and Colorful Desktop Solutions to Organize Your Workspace
June is odd. In much of the county, school has let out (or soon will) and both kids and teachers have been set free. New graduates are gearing up to start their first jobs, while some workplaces have started to shift to summer hours or half-day Fridays. It’s already in the 90°s for many of us, and mojo is in short supply, but the bulk of us aren’t getting summer vacation.
I have a short series coming up soon about lack of motivation, burnout, toxic productivity, productivity dysmorphia, and ways to beat the psychological obstacles to getting organized and staying inspired. But today, we’re going to look at something a little more lighthearted. Sometimes, a little retail therapy (even just via window shopping) can improve our moods and make us a bit more motivated to tackle our stuff, tasks, and spaces.
So, here are a few of the products I’ve seen lately that made me pause and go, “Hmmm.” Be sure to jump into the comments and let me know what you think!
MOFT INVISIBLE LAPTOP STAND
Sometimes, minimalist products can maximize results.
Whether you’re working at your desk at HQ, from your home office or kitchen table, on an airplane, at a picnic table in the sunshine, or in the corner coffee shop, the ergonomics of your workspace setup is important. When you have a permanent desk, it’s easy to arrange for a monitor riser so that your screen is at the right height, but portable risers can be heavy and inconvenient, and working while mobile can bring unexpected miseries. Wouldn’t it be nice to have something lightweight and easy to maneuver?
Enter Moft, maker of device accessories. They state, “Most productivity accessories are rigid, bulky and heavy-eeping you tied to a specific location. We wanted to create something flexible, functional, and non-intrusive that goes everywhere we go, allowing us to be productive anywhere life’s adventures take us.”
MOFT’s Invisible Laptop Stand is hard to describe but quick to impress. When flat and not in use, it’s ridiculously thin at only 0.1″ thick. It’s constructed out of “vegan” leather (didn’t we used to call that vinyl?) and heavy-duty fiberglass.
When flat, you’d barely notice it, but once attached to the bottom of your laptop (with residue-free adhesive) and adjusted to either of the two possible angles, the 3-ounce stand supports up to 18 pounds of laptop weight.
With built-in magnets, you can easily raise your laptop to the right height in a snap. There are two elevation angles to maximize your comfort. Use the “high-lifting” mode when you are sitting, and raise your laptop 3 inches (at a 25° angle); if you’re using a standing desk or working at a counter, consider the “low-lifting” mode of 2 inches to raise your laptop to a 15° angle.
Since it’s lightweight, portable, and (usually) attached to your laptop, there’s no need to create other space in your bag to accommodate it and you won’t have to worry you’ll forget or misplace it.
The Invisible Laptop Stand comes in Silver, Space Grey, Jean Grey (like the character from X-Men), Wanderlust Blue, Sunset Orange, Cool Grey, and Jet Black. (And yes, if you click through the photos at the site, you can see that all those greys really are different.) There are also limited-edition versions, sold two-for-the-price-of-one, in Pink (shown below) and Gold, sold only in the US.
The adhesive is residue-free and can be removed and reapplied (or attached to different computers) up to half a dozen times.
The MOFT Invisible Laptop Stand can be used with laptops measuring between 11.6″ and 15.6″. However, they don’t recommend using it with laptops that have vents on the bottom surface, as the stand would block airflow. For users with laptops with bottom vents, they recommend their non-adhesive version (available only in Silver and Space Grey). Because it doesn’t stick to the back (bottom) of your computer, setup in a twinge slower, but still easy, and works with computers measuring 11.6″ to 16″ (with the exception of 14″ MacBooks, which have little rubber feet).
The adhesive versions of the MOFT Invisible Laptop Stand are $24.99; the non-adhesive versions are $29.99. They are sold directly at the MOFT site; Amazon sells them at the same price, but has a very limited availability of colors.
For those using a multiple-device workspace, note that MOFT also makes stands for tablets and phones.
SPECTRUM WALL HANGER
Are you at the point in your year where you really wish you’d invested in a full-sized wall calendar for planning big-picture projects, but you can’t justify the expense of wasting half a year of calendar pages? Or, if you know there are undated wall calendars, you may be uninspired by them.
Poketo’s Spectrum Wall Planner may be just what you need to brighten your office and your mood.
Each of the twelve pages in this poster-sized wall planner looks like it has made friends with the color schemes at Pantone. (Need a refresher? Read Ask Paper Doll: Should I Organize My Space and Time With Color?) The pages are undated, so you can start planning with your summer months and continue on through to next spring.
While I’d be inclined to post two months simultaneously (this month and next month), Poketo encourages users to decorate your walls with anywhere from 4-12 planner pages to make this a more powerful long-term planning tool. You can use any poster hangers or adhesives you have available, though they do sell an Acrylic Poster Hanger for $32. (At that price, obviously, hanging only one or two pages concurrently would make more sense that a 12-month set.)
The 12 monthly pages each measure 30.0″ x 20.6″ and are made of FSC-Certified tree-free paper to be gentler to the environment. (Unfortunately, the site does not reference whether the paper is made from stone or other materials.)
The Spectrum Wall Hanger is $48. (To be clear, this is not a reusable or dry-erase product; it’s one-and-done, so only invest if you’re craving bright colors to brighten your space.)
Poketo also carries a line of tree-free Geometric Sticky Notes in “Warm” and “Cool” tones for $8 per set to help theme or code your wall planner. The 5″ x 5″ notes sets come with 15 notes per shape and 60 notes per pad.
CABLE WRANGLER
Longtime readers of the Paper Doll blog know that I love magnetic things. Way back in 2014, I sang the praises of the MOS system in Paper Doll’s Cable Conundrums & the MOS: Magnetic Organization System.
I still use two, a silver aluminum version at my desk to match my Mac products (now silver and purple) and a white plastic version at my bedside, to ensure that when I unplug a lightning (or other) cable from a device, I don’t have to go searching for where it’s squiggled itself away. I loved that it worked horizontally or vertically, and that the price was reasonable.
Sadly, the MOS is no more. Sewell, the company that originally manufactured it no longer lists it, and Amazon, Apple, and all of the other stores that offered it as a solution to cables and cords running amok show it to be unavailable. Sigh. However, while I preferred the triangular, space-age version, I have found a potential replacement in a more parallelogramatic, domed form (3.24″ along each side of the square base).
Smartish offers four colorful versions of the Cable Wrangler magnetic cord organizer, and it operates pretty much in the same way as MOS, but more colorfully.
The squat magnetic base is stable and sits neatly on a desk, kitchen counter, bedside table, or gaming station. It comes in one of four cloth-covered designer versions: No. 2 Pencil Grey, Lightly Toasted Beige, Teal Me More, and I’m Blushing. The grey is perfect for that back-to-school collegiate look, while the beige says, “Nancy Meyer-directed movie starring Diane Keaton or Meryl Streep, set on a California or New England beach,” or what GenZ and the Millennials are calling the “Coastal Grandmother” aesthetic. Of course, the pink-toned I’m Blushing was designed specifically for Paper Doll.
Cables stay put due to magnets, but if your particular cable isn’t feeling very “attractive” (that’s Smartish’s joke, if you don’t like it), you can use one of the three (included) magnetic “collars” (similar to the ones MOS had) to help improve the magnetic attraction and keep the cable stuck to the Wrangler. See it in action, below.
The Smartish Cable Wrangler is available at the Smartish site for $19.99, or with a 6-foot lightning cable and two-port wall charger for $39.99. For those who prefer to shop via Amazon Prime, all versions are $24.99. (Amazon also sells the Cable Wrangler with a cable and wall charger for $39.99.)
MUTESYNC: A MUTE BUTTON FOR YOUR VIDEO CALLS
“Hey, whoever’s dog is barking, can you mute yourself?”
“You’re on mute!”
“You’re still muted!”
Thanks to the pandemic, we’ve been in a Brady Bunch-boxed video conferencing mode since 2020, but doesn’t seem like any of us are getting much better at remembering to mute and un-mute. What we all need is the equivalent of that old Staples’ “Easy Button.”
Well, the folks at MuteSync came up with exactly that, an Easy Button for muting/un-muting yourself and for prompting you to pay attention when you aren’t quick to do the right thing.
Instead of rushing your hand to the mouse or touch-screen to wake up the display, make your command icons visible, and click them to change your status, just tap the big, old button on your desk. BAM! MuteSync took their idea to Kickstarter, and it was a huge success! (I mean, of course it was. Seriously, how often do you say/hear “You’re on mute!” in a week?)
When you push the mute button (or even when you mute and unmute from your video meeting platform), the MuteSync mute button light changes! (And, duh, it mutes you.)
MuteSync buttons sync with Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Whereby and (with some hiccups) Discord; as of yet, there’s no love for Butter (my favorite under-appreciated video conferencing app).
Both Mac (from MacOS 10.10 (Yosemite) upward) and Windows (7.7 and above) are supported. Note that if you are using one of the conferencing platforms in the browser, MuteSync only supports Chrome and Brave, not Safari. Also, it does not work with phones or tablets, at least not yet. (But, honestly, finding the mute button on a phone or tablet is even harder, so they need to get on that!)
MuteSync requires the installation of a free, downloadable app, and the button connects to your computer (or hub) via an included USB-C cable.
Tapping the button toggles your mute on and off, and changes color to alert you (and anyone in your workspace) that you are muted (or, yikes!, not muted).
MuteSync users get the “Easy Button,” but also get an extra bonus, a free virtual mute button that lives in the menu bar at the top of the Mac or in the Windows system tray. The virtual button stays in sync with whatever’s going on with your conferencing platform, so if you’ve hit the mute button in Zoom, or tapped the MuteSync mute button, or even if the host has muted you (don’t worry, I’m sure she muted everyone but the speaker, so don’t take it personally!), the virtual button will work in lockstep.
The durable plastic MuteSync mute button is 2.4″ square and 0.4″ high, taking up minimal desk space. The bottom has a rubber pad to ensure that it grips the desk tightly and doesn’t go sliding around.
Because different people have different ideas of which colors mean on and off, you can customize the colors and brightness levels of the button’s eight LED light options.
You’ll still have to train your kids, your spouse who acts like a kid, and your exuberant pets so they understand which colors mean they should “shush”. And, if you’re like my peeps on my Friday night professional organizers call (you know who you are!), you may have to train your kitties to avoid stepping on the buttons when they think they’re the stars of the show.
Take a peek at the MuteSync video, and surf around the website, which has a variety of support videos and is written by folks with a fun, goofy sense of humor.
The MuteSync button is $49 at their website, as well as at Amazon.
While this is great for conferencing, I periodically have to record videos on Zoom, and I’ve got a horrible habit of narrating to myself (not-quite under my breath) when I have to switch from video to screen sharing, and when I have to pause in between steps. Yes, editing would allow me to deal with all of that, but I’m not always so technologically savvy (or inclined) with video editing; being able to quickly hit “mute” before before doing any fancy clicks would save me quite a bit of frustration.
What do you think? Could you use a portable, practically invisible, laptop stand? An attention-getting calendar? A fashion-forward cable organizer? An Easy Button to mute and un-mute your video calls?
Please share in the comments and let me know what you think, and what features or colors you wish had been included?
Paper Doll Post:
Paper Doll Adds a Pop of Color with Bright & Sunny Office Supplies
It’s May!
“April showers bring May flowers,” or so goes the children’s nursery rhyme. (“And what do May flowers bring?” the riddle asks? Pilgrims, of course!) But seriously, folks…
After a long, dark winter, we can all use some springtime sunshine, not just outside our windows, but in our workspaces, as well. For the theory behind the power of color to improve our moods, I direct you to my January post, Ask Paper Doll: Should I Organize My Space and Time with Color?
In that post, I talked about the difference between organizing by color and organizing with color. As a refresher, the wisdom of organizing by color depends on whether categorizing by color makes sense, both in general and for you.
Clothes? Yes. Types of activities on your calendar? Sure, if that adds to your ability to perceive and think about tasks. Spices? Foods? Maybe not. Books? Paper Doll gave that a big, old h-e-double-hockey-sticks NO!
But organizing with color is different. If color improves your mood, lifts your spirits, helps your cognition so that you can differentiate between categories, or otherwise makes you feel like you can take on the world, then bring on the kaleidoscope. Taste the rainbow! (With apologies to our friends at Skittles.) Pull out the Crayolas.
Today is less about theory than practice. (That means fewer words, and more photos!) We’re going to look at some new and noteworthy ways to add color to your office supplies and make your May less “maybe” and your workdays more “heck, yeah!”
CAPTURE WITH COLOR: 3M MEETS PANTONE
3M Post-it® Notes Color Collections
I’m sure you’re thinking that Post-its are not new, and indeed, you’re right. They were invented in 1964 and found the full embrace of office-dwellers everywhere by the 1980s, but they are constantly coming out with new color schemes. For several decades, it was all about that original canary yellow. For the past decade, city-themes (like Cape Town, Rio de Janiero, Miami, Marrakesh, etc.) got their due.
Recently 3M partnered with the Pantone Color Institute (whose Very Peri we discussed in the aforementioned Ask Paper Doll post) to come up with nine updated color collections and two new color schemes. Collections include a panorama, from bright and bold colors to muted and neutral tones, all in the hopes of making your workspace more of a delight. Or more serene. Or otherwise make you feel a certain way other than, “Oh, man, I wish I didn’t have to work.”
Recognizing that these beloved sticky notes were no longer just filling a role in drab office cubicles where any pop of color would do, Post-it® and Pantone realized that with more and more people working from home, there was a hunger for colors that fit with home decor.
First, let’s look at the bright collections of notes. (Unless otherwise stated, this refers to the 5- or 6-packs of unlined 3″ x 3″ pads.)
SuperNova Neons — You’ll definite stay awake to finish your work with a color palette of Super Sticky notes featuring Acid Lime, Aqua Splash, Guava, Iris Infusion, and Tropical Pink. This collection comes with 6 pads per back (doubling up on one color), with 65 notes per pad.
Energy Boost (a reworking of the original Rio collection) — These Super Sticky notes include Blue Paradise, Limeade, Sunnyside, Tropical Pink, and Vital Orange. They come 5 pads per pack, with 90 notes per pad.
Poptimistic — This peppy collection mixes Acid Lime, Aqua Splash, Guava, Power Pink, and Vital Orange in 5 pack per pad, 100 note pads.
Floral Fantasy — The collection combines pads with Blue Paradise, Citron, Iris Infusion, Limeade, and Positively Pink for slightly softer brights. These are standard, not-Super Sticky, notes and come 5 pads per pack, 100 notes per pad.
Playful Primaries — Note, this Super Sticky collection has six colors: Blue Paradise, Candy Apple Red, Iris Infusion, Lucky Green, Sunnyside, and Vital Orange. It comes 6 pads per pack, 65 notes per pad.
Summer Joy — This Super Sticky collection includes Citron, Fresh Mint, Papaya Fizz, Power Pink, and Washed Denim. Expect 5 pads per pack, 90 notes per pad. Aren’t these hues just Popsicle-level refreshing?
All of the above brights are 3″ x 3″ Post-it® Notes. Most collections also come in 4″ x 4″ lined versions, with 200 sheets per pad, 4″ x 6″ lined versions with 100 sheets per pad, and 12-packs of 1 3/8″ x 1 7/8″ notes; some (but not all) of these collections come in other sizes of multi-packs.
Perhaps the above brights aren’t your jam. If you’re back in the cacophony of an open floor plan office, or if vivid colors just don’t fit your carefully curated home office aesthetic, 3M and Pantone have kept you in mind. Check out their lovely, softly muted color schemes:
Beachside Café — This summery collection (a refresh of the former Marseille palette), includes Fresh Mint, Aqua Splash, Sunnyside, Papaya Fizz, and Pink Salt, so even if you can’t be on the beach, you can write on boat drink-themed notes. There are 6 pads per pack, with 100 notes per pad.
Oasis — This watery haven color palette includes Fresh Mint, Limeade, Lucky Green, Sea Glass, and Washed Denim. Each set includes 6 colored pads per pack, with 65 sheets per pad.
Sweet Sprinkles — This updated scheme includes Positively Pink, Pink Salt, Canary Yellow (the Post-It® that started them all!), Fresh Mint, and Moonstone. This collection is a greener version of the classic, made with 67% plant-based adhesive and 100% recycled material, so no new trees were used to make these sweet notes. Each set includes 6 colored pads per pack, with 75 sheets per pad.
Wanderlust Pastels — When you combine Pink Salt, Positively Pink, Orchid Frost, Soft Denim, Fresh Mint, and Pebble Grey, you get a soft, cozy color scheme that’s perfect for soothing frayed nerves (perhaps after too many Zoom calls?). This collection has 90 sheets per pad and 5 pads per pack, so one 5–pack will not get get you all of the colors; perhaps opt for a larger multi-pack.
Simply Serene — If you’re looking for something really Zen to take you out of the hubbub of working, this collection may be ideal for you. The colors are Onyx, Pink Salt, First Snow, Pebble Grey, and Washed Denim. (Picture the set of a Nancy Myers-directed movie with Meryl Streep and Diane Keaton.) Although the marketing shows a traditional 5-pad pack, it seems Simply Serene is only available in a smaller set. I’ve only been able to find this collection listed with 4 pads with 45 sheets per pad, and one pad with 35 sheets per pad. So, FYI, you’re getting more ambiance than value with this collection.
As with the brights, the softer collections all come in 3″ x 3″ notes, and all but the Simply Serene are available in 4″ x 4″ lined and 4″ x 6″ lined. Some also come in a variety of multi-packs. I have no explanation as to why pads-per-pack vary from 65 to 100, except that 3M knows it’s the belle of the sticky note ball.
All of the above Post-it® Notes are recyclable and 3M states that the paper is sourced from certified, renewable and responsibly managed forests. You should be able to find Post-It® products in all office supply stores, both brick & mortar and online. However, these eleven collections are new, so not all versions have made it to the shelves. I was able to find a pack of Supernova Neons at Amazon for $5.39 and a 12-pack of the Wanderlust collection for $18.54. (To aid your online searches, select the Post-It® brand checkbox on the left to keep generic versions from filling your search results.)
SMEAD POLY HANGING FOLDERS
The problem with traditional, Army-green hanging folders is that they are that depressing shade of green. Bleah. They aren’t bright enough to seem like they belong in nature (unless it’s nature buried under a winter’s worth of dead leaves and dirty snow).
As for quality, as long as you go with one of the trusted brands of hanging folders (generally Smead, Pendaflex, or Big Box-store branded versions), the paper quality is usually quite good. After years (OK, decades) of suffering wimpy hanging files that bent, broke, or bowed, I think we’re all delighted with modern hanging files, with stiffer plastic (vs. bendy metal) hanging rods.
And certainly, there’s no shortage of colorful hanging files out there. But I have to admit, I got a little excited when Smead launched its line of poly filing products.
The acid-free and PVC-free Smead Poly Hanging Folders are letter-sized, measuring 11-3/4″ wide (not counting the hanging rods) by 10″ high. They come two color schemes: Bright Colors (fuchsia, yellow, purple, green, orange, and blue) or Primary Colors (red, yellow, green, and blue).
The durable poly hanging folders are tear-proof and water-resistant, both big plusses, especially if you tend to spill your coffee or overload your hanging files. If you’re a germaphobe (as I am) or a bit of a klutz (no comment), you may appreciate the fact that you can easily clean these hanging folders by wiping them with a damp towel or disinfecting wipe.
The coated rod tips are sturdy and slide smoothly across hanging rails in file drawers, crates, or desktop file boxes. Each set comes with clear tabs and the standard, replaceable white inserts, and can be re-positioned at the front or rear panels of the folders, depending on your preferences.
Whether you pick the Bright or Primary versions, a pack of twelve is $24.49 per pack from Smead or $21.05 from Amazon.
If I had my “druthers,” as they used to say, I’d love it if Smead would package these for purchase by individual colors; I’d rather be able to buy a dozen pink and a dozen purple poly hanging folders and none, ever, in orange.
SMEAD SUPERTAB® POLY FILE FOLDERS
Smead didn’t stop the poly train at the hanging file station; they’ve also expanded their popular (traditional-style) SuperTab® File Folders in a Smead SuperTab® Poly File Folder version.
Like the hanging files above, the durable poly material is tear-resistant, water-resistant, and super-easy to clean with a damp cloth or disinfecting wipe. Like the hanging folders, these are acid-free and PVC-free.
Compatible with any vertical or lateral filing system, in a filing drawer/cabinet, crate, or desktop file box, the 1/3-cut SuperTab® Poly File Folders measure 11.88″ wide by 10.5″ high.
The oversized SuperTab® has a 90% larger labeling area than traditional file folders, so you can use larger labels (whether labelmaker-printed or hand-written) and/or more text. (Disclaimer: I have never been huge fan of the SuperTab; I just don’t find it aesthetically pleasing, but I also don’t need my label text to be large, and (notwithstanding the length of my blog posts), I tend to label files with brevity. Your mileage may vary.)
The SuperTab® Poly Folders come in two assorted color sets, Primary Colors (red, blue, yellow, and green) and Bright Colors (pink, yellow, purple, green, orange, and blue).
Smead sells the Bright version on their site for $19.03 for a set of 18) or the Primary set of 24 for $20.09; however, Amazon has a 24-box of the Brights for $18.49, but does not sell the Primary set at all.
In addition, Smead sells 24-packs of individual color packs for $20.09. Amazon sells 24-packs of all-red, all-yellow, and all-green SuperTab® Poly File Folders for $18.49, and mysteriously, a 24-pack of all-blue for only $12.59. I’m not sure if Smead thinks consumers find the bright blue boring, but it’s still better than Army-green!
There’s yet one more version of the SuperTab® Poly File Folders — a 25-pack (yes, 25, not 24) box of 1/3-cut, letter-sized, translucent folders with only the label portion colored (in red, orange, yellow, green, and blue).
I prefer opaque folders so the contents remain unknown to casual passersby, but if you like this version, a 25-pack is $25.39 at Smead or $21.70 at Amazon.
A STICKIER DIVIDE AND CONQUER: REDI-TAG DIVDER STICKY NOTES
In general, I try to recommend actual name-brand Post-it® Notes because the 3M adhesives (regular, Super Sticky, or Extreme) offer a super adhesive, but sometimes, they just don’t make the product a client wants or needs.
Obviously, they make sticky notes, and they make all sorts of tabs, but I’ve had no luck finding the right kind of tabbed sticky note. (Their Noted by Post-it® brand does make a tabbed note that’s more like a cutesie to-do list, but it only has three tabbed positions and is not available in a multi-color set.)
So, with that in mind, I offer up the Redi-Tag Divider Sticky Notes. These six-position, tabbed, 4″ x 6″ ruled notes come in assorted neon colors. The notes are bound by color to allow the user to flip to the preferred hue to more easily maintain color-coded organizing system.
As you can see from the photo above, the notes are ideal for students, or anyone taking notes on a contract or book; the tabs let you find your notes easily, and you can color-code your categories. You can easily imagine a home chef writing notes on personalized variations and using the tabs to mark favorite recipes.
The product notes say that the Redi-Tag Diver Sticky Notes use “water-based, as opposed to chemical-based, adhesive,” but I don’t feel qualified to state how that might impact your use. However, at only $5.79 for a pack, this is a tabbed pop of color worth trying.
(And hey, 3M? I’d love to see you come out with a line of these!)
From Paper Doll HQ to your homes and offices, I hope you have a colorful, uplifting, organized, and healthy month of May!
Paper Doll Post:
Organize Your Thoughts & Your Desk with Desktop Whiteboards
Over the last two years, we’ve understandably seen a vast increase in people working from home. As they’ve done so, they’ve transitioned from those early ad hoc set-ups at the dining room table using chairs better suited for celebrating Thanksgiving than spending eight hours in front of a computer. Little by little, we’ve all added the items that made office work, if not outright enjoyable, at least little more efficient and comfortable.
However, a number of my clients who’ve fully embraced working from home have commented that they miss whiteboards. For some, it’s the collaborative nature; for others, it’s the ease of grabbing a chunky pen and writing on something fixed-in-place.
The impermanence of the words — let’s face it, a whiteboard is just a dry-erase board with a 21st century title — doesn’t seem to bother most people because of the sense of the fixed-in-place aspect of the whiteboards themselves. A loose piece of paper may get buried; a sticky note might flutter into the trash. But a note on a whiteboard stays until you wish it to depart.
However, even if you’ve made your dining room, spare bedroom, or other space in the house into an office, complete with desk and chair, lighting and filing space, you may not have invested in a whiteboard like you had in your olden-days office. But have you considered a desktop whiteboard?
BENEFITS OF DESKTOP WHITEBOARDS
While a desktop whiteboard isn’t always a perfect solution, it can have appealing advantages. A desktop whiteboard is (or can be):
Installation-free — Maybe you’re handy, but Paper Doll is not. My walls are embarrassingly bare, as even though I can find a stud (no jokes, please), the sheetrock in my apartment is pretty “meh.” I’d rather not hang or install anything too heavy. Plus, if your office is in a highly visible area of your home, you may not want a massive whiteboard clashing with your decor. Instead of installing a whiteboard on the wall, opting for a smaller profile item might be appealing.
Portable — Do you need to be mobile? Depending on your work style, you may move around your home or sometimes set yourself up in coffee houses or co-working spaces. If you’re a student, you may split your time between your home or dorm desk and your carrel at the university library.
And even if you do go into the office, more and more companies are going hybrid and eliminating assigned desks, opting for hot-desking where you work at a different desk each time you come in. With all of these situations, wouldn’t having a portable whiteboard you can use on your desk be a nice option?
Analog — To be sure, I’m a big fan of digital note-taking. Have I mentioned that I just completed re-certification as an Evernote Certified Expert?
However, for a lot of us, tiny bits of information need to stay in front of us for almost-immediate use. There are many times where we just want to quickly capture a phone number, name, turn of phrase, or concept, and the fastest way to do this is by grabbing a pen and writing it down.
I’m a pacer — when I’m on the telephone and really in sync with the person with whom I’m conversing, I can get most of my 10,000 Fitbit steps a day logged while chatting and pacing the room. While I could definitely go back to my desk, sit down, open a task app or Evernote screen, it’s going to be more convenient for me to scribble on a small whiteboard.
Sure, I could write on a sticky note, but on a busy day, that might lead to a snowstorm of stickies across my desk, which isn’t particularly eco-friendly.
And yes, I could take advantage of the newest Evernote feature, Evernote Helper to make a quick note. If you’ve got Evernote running in the background, just click Control + Command + H on a Mac or Control + Alt + H on a Windows PC, then type (or copy & paste) information into the resulting mini-note; clicking anywhere else on the screen takes you back to what you were doing and the note hides until you want or need it. I could explain further, but my buddy Dr. Frank Buck created a whole video post on this very topic.)
My point, and I do have one, is that there are times when an analog approach to capturing small pieces of information works best, and a whiteboard can be the way to do it.
Motivational — Again, yes, a digital approach can be motivational. On my iPhone, a reminder to be mindful pops up on my screen (with an associated ding) every time I get out of the car. It asks me, “What are you tolerating?” to help me align with the concepts I discussed in Organize Away Frustration: Practice The Only Good Kind of “Intolerance.”
On my Mac, when I hit F3 to get to my little dictionary app, I also get a screen of inspirational digital sticky notes I’ve created, like these:
But back in ye olden days when I worked in television, I had a whiteboard on one wall and a bulletin board on another. As with most people, I let my bulletin board get cluttered, but my whiteboard served as an ideal spot to write the message of the day, whether it was one word, like RESILIENCE, or an entire message, like, “I have radical trust in the perfect unfolding of my life,” as we talked about in The Perfect Unfolding As We Work From Home.
Environmentally-appealing — Last week was Earth Day, so sustainable products have been on my mind. We should note that not all whiteboards are equally Earth-friendly. Most whiteboards are made of one of three types of materials: glass, porcelain, or melamine. Glass, obviously, is recyclable. Porcelain whiteboards (often made of ceramics with steel or aluminum backing to make them magnetic) are not easily recycled; melamine is not recyclable at all.
If sustainability is important to you, consider these factors when you pick any whiteboard option. (And check out the nifty steel options discussed later in this post!)
PREVIOUSLY ON PAPER DOLL
Last year, in Paper Doll Models the Spring 2021 Organizing Products, while looking at the the Quartet Portable Glass Dry-Erase Pad, I found something nifty on a grander scale. At the time, I wrote the following.
Quartet Desktop Glass Whiteboard Computer Pads
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 branded ones 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 $31-$40 on the Quartet website, and $29-$44 on Amazon.
Since the time I published that post, there’s been an explosion in the popularity and availability of desktop whiteboards. There hasn’t been this much excitement in the world of whiteboards since Tim Russert’s “Florida, Florida, Florida” in 2000!
A BUFFET OF OPTIONS FROM FLUIDSTANCE
You might recognize Fluidstance from their ubiquitous balance board ads on Facebook, but I’ve become fascinated by their ever-increasing desktop products.
Fluidstance Slope Personal Desktop Whiteboard
First up is their Slope Personal Desktop Whiteboard, which takes an upscale twist on the usual whiteboard product. It’s not glass, porcelain, or melamine: it’s 100% heavy-duty steel (so it’s magnetic), and powder-coated using a low-emissions process.
Manufactured in California, Fluidstance says Slope’s design is inspired by “an open, groomed ski run.” The angle is gentle for ease of writing and the top dry-erase surface is described as “premium.” Unlike the Quartet version, it doesn’t have a cubby for supplies, but it does have a channel at the top to nestle dry-erase markers and any other writing implements.
Slope’s raised surface lets you slide your keyboard underneath for storage, so you can free up space on you desk for when you’re having lunch (but seriously, don’t have lunch at your desk — get some fresh air!) or doing some other analog writing.
There are felt bumpers to protect your desk from scratches or other marks, and it (and all of the Fluidstance products mentioned below) comes with a microfiber eraser pouch in which the dry-erase pen is packed.
And, as of last month, Slope comes with a free silicone phone holder crafted to fit within the pen channel and keep your desk tidy.
Slope measures 20″ long (18 3/4″ underneath) by 8″ wide by 3 1/2″ high (at the highest point, and 1 1/4″ as the lower, near, end); it weighs about three pounds. Slope comes in five color schemes: White, Blue Steel, Slate (grey), Honeycomb (yellow) and, in a limited edition Sequoia (green); Slope costs $69 at the Fluidstance online store (and at Amazon, where only the white version is available).
Slope (as all their products) comes with a lifetime warranty; they will repair or replace items for free.
Fluidstance also has a Slope+ for $99 with all of the features of the Slope, plus a phone charger.
Fluidstance Edge
Do you write a lot? I mean, not necessarily as much as Paper Doll, but perhaps twice as much as you’d need to write to cover a Slope? I guess some of the folks at Fluidstance have the same issue, as they’ve developed the Edge, which is similar to the Slope, but with a reversible, double-sided writing surface in the same 100% heavy-duty steel.
Of course, because it’s double-sided, there’s no marker channel (because, duh, the markers would fall out), and no phone holder. However, the metal base extends up through the writing surface to make a small “fence” where you can rest your markers temporarily.
The Edge comes in white or black-and-white (with a white writing surface and a black metal base); it’s also $69. The measurements are slightly different from the Slope, as shown above.
Fluidstance Lift
The above options are ideal if you’re using a desktop (as I am) or a laptop with an external keyboard. Your little whiteboard fits right in that space between your fingers flying over the keyboard and your computer. But what if you’re using a laptop at a standing desk? What if you should be looking at a monitor that’s up a little higher? Fluidstance has you covered!
The Fluidstance Lift™ is a two-in-one personal whiteboard and laptop riser. It’s designed to improve your ergonomic set-up by “raising your laptop to the ideal height for viewing a primary or secondary monitor” while still giving you a great dry-erase space on a durable, 100% steel, powder-coated platform. Take a look at the video:
There are silicone grommets on the base to hold Lift in place while keeping the desk protected, and there’s a felt pad (made out of 100%-recycled plastic bottles) to nestle your laptop.
The Lift is $79 at the Fluidstance store.
Fluidstance Wall and Flow Cards
If the 100%-steel, magnetic whiteboard appeals to you but you want more elbow room, without having your whiteboard so close to the keyboard or computer, there are yet more options in store. The Fluidstance Wall is a freestanding, double-sided whiteboard wall suitable for sitting on your desk. Consider it a privacy screen combined with a whiteboard, eminently portable for when you’re working in a school library or coffee house or just in a distracting office space.
(For more on privacy screens, whether for safety or productivity, check out last year’s Paper Doll post, Divide and Conquer: Improve Productivity With Privacy Screens.)
Use Wall on its own as a whiteboard or with Flow Cards (see below), or as a pin-up board with magnets. (Use your own, or get Fluidstance’s pushpin-like versions for $9.)
The base and wall are 24″ wide; the entire set-up measures 20″ high, though the vertical writing surface is just 15″. The base measures 5.6″ front-to-back.
The Wall’s base comes in Blue Matte, Orange, or Grey, and has a 19″ x 2.5″ slot (accessible from all sides) for storing markers, pens, and other desk accessories.
The Wall is $99.
At the risk of sounding like a commercial from the 1980s, but wait, there’s more!
If you want a smaller profile for writing your notes when you’re on the go, or want to combine multiple surfaces with the Wall, you can go either way. Fluidstance’s Flow Cards are four round-edged square, magnetic, dry-erase cards. (You get two grey, one green, and one blue one to a set.)
Purchase just the Flow Cards if you want to use them with the Wall, Edge, or Slope, or get a set combined with their 100% steel, white card holder (below).
The front of the holder is also a magnetic whiteboard surface, and you can store up to eight Flow Cards in the rear of the holder. So organized!
A set of Flow Cards is $35; a set sold with the holder is $59.
SIMILAR OPTIONS FROM DIFFERENT SOURCES
Did you like Fluidstance’s mixture of a privacy screen and a whiteboard, but you prefer to use your Amazon Prime account for everything?
VIVO Desktop Whiteboard is a freestanding 23″ x 19″ double-sided dry-erase board that also serves as a privacy divider.
The VIVO has a dual-sided, opaque glass surface with a sturdy aluminum 23″ x 5 1/2″ support base, which holds dual accessory slots to store markers, pens, and other supplies. See it in action:
It’s a heavier option than Fluidstance’s Wall; it’s 18 pounds (vs. the Wall’s 11 pounds, 9 ounces) making it quite a bit less comfy to make portable. It runs $79.99 at Amazon.
If you like the original Quartet Desktop Glass Whiteboard Computer Pads, but prefer more options when you shop, Wayfair has black and white versions of Inbox Zero’s Computer Notepad Desk Organizer for a similar price of about $32.
The white Computer Notepad Desk Organizer comes with a black dry erase marker, red eraser, and a set of sticky notes, while the black version includes a white neon wet-erase marker as well as the the red eraser and sticky notes!
The glass notepad portion flips up to reveal a divided inner storage compartment for office supplies.
Finally, in case you’d like something that feels less modern and perhaps a little earthier, there’s the Nøk and Cranny Desktop Glass Dry Erase Whiteboard Computer Pad with a bamboo storage drawer.
The writing surface is white glass, and the bamboo storage drawer runs the complete length and width at 12″ x 6″ x 2.5″ and can slide in either direction. There are non-slip pads affixed to the bottom of the bamboo housing, and the whiteboard computer pad comes with a fine-point dry-erase marker.
It’s $33 at Amazon.
Readers, what do you think? Would you make use of a desktop whiteboard? Which one? While I liked the Quartet version when I wrote about it last year (and still do), I’m intrigued by the variety of Fluidstance options and would love to try the Slope as well as the Flow Cards with the holder (though I’d prefer some snazzier colors, as the grey, green, and blue really aren’t Paper Doll‘s style).
Paper Doll Post:
On the Road Again: Organize Your Mobile Office
Road Warrior Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
During the last two years, the watchword has been “work from home.” In this recent WFH era, we’ve eschewed office buildings and turned snuggly corners of our bedrooms and dining rooms into home offices. Many companies have closed their local operations altogether, finally trusting that there’s no need to micromanage their knowledge-worker staffs. More and more, companies are OK with letting people work where and how they operate best.
Of course, this isn’t the case with everyone. Some employers are rushing at breakneck speed to return the North American workplace experience to “normal,” despite the distinct rise in European and Asian COVID cases of the Omicron BA.2 subvariant. Count me as one of those who is curmudgeonly aghast at the state-by-state dropping of precautions, as I noted in the following reply to a friend, which got a lot of Twitter love.
I am so tired of people saying it’s over because they want it to be over. It’s not a relationship, it’s a virus.
— Julie Bestry, CPO® (@ProfOrganizer) March 23, 2022
Obviously, though, there are some people who can’t work from home. Your favorite restaurant can’t let the sous-chef work from his back deck. An OB-GYN is the perfect example of how you can’t phone in every kind of delivery!
And people who travel about for work, whose very career depends on them physically arriving at different locations, whether locally, regionally, nationally, or internationally, need to get on the road (or the tarmac), however ambivalent they might feel about the prospect. And, of course, they need to be organized.
HOW TO ORGANIZE YOUR MOBILE OFFICE
From smart phones to Zoom to cloud computing, modern technology has made road warriors a little less embattled, but keeping your mobile office from looking like an outtake from Game of Thrones battle requires some special equipment and finesse.
Over twenty years as a professional organizer, I have worked with a wide variety of clients who work, at least some of the time, from the road.
There have been numerous pharmaceutical sales representatives who needed to organize medical literature, promotional materials, medication samples, durable medical goods, and anatomical models and schlep them from medical offices and hospitals in their assigned local or regional areas. I’ve worked with a few mobile pharmacists serving as pharmacy supervisors, traveling each week to different outlets, and working both as members of their profession and in consultant/supervisory capacities on behalf of their companies.
I had one client who traveled her “territories” in various parts of the country for a restaurant chain, training franchisees and their staff on everything from computer systems to how to prepare and garnish certain delicious foodstuffs. And one client shared memorable tales of his experiences as a high-level insurance executive assigned to travel and review high profile claims.
What all of these hearty folks had in common is that they needed to have all of their necessary office supplies, documents, and resources available to them with the same ease of accessibility as when they were comfortably seated in actual offices. While each had unique needs, their were a wide number of commonalities.
In the Car
Let’s focus on documents. Back at a decidedly stationary office, you’d have filing cabinets, hanging file drawers in a desk, and a variety of other options with the distinct advantage that you never need worry about jostling.
Cars, however, jostle. They are buffeted by the wind on the highway and hit unanticipated bumps from potholes and running over detritus that has fallen off of other vehicles.
If your mobile office requires bringing lots of glossy literature, forms, or other pre-printed material, you’ll want to approximate a standard filing system as much as possible.
Personally, I’m a fan of sturdy file crates. These crates, fashioned after old-school milk crates but with file rails on all four sides (to accommodate letter-sized or legal-sized files) take a licking and keep on ticking when you’ve got a heavy load of hanging files filled with file folders and lots of paper.
My favorite version is made by Sterilite and, like the very best versions of the TARDIS’s control room, has lots of “round things.” I own them in four different shades of pink/plum/mauve, plus blues and blacks. Another client swears by teal.
In most “big box” stores like Target or Walmart or office supply stores, you can usually fine single crates for $5-10. (Storex makes a very similar version, with weirder displays of “round things,” but usually only in packs of three or more for somewhat higher prices.)
A good alternative to file creates is to pick a few sturdy lidded totes equipped with hanging file rails. In this case, I’m not referencing portable file boxes (we’ll get to those), but larger file tubs requiring a two-handed grip. Bankers Box (yes, famous for their fold-into-place cardboard paper storage) has hearty one:
Office Depot and Staples have their own lines of dependable tubs. They key is that you want a heavy-duty file tote or tub with hanging rails, one that will withstand the test of time and changes in temperature and humidity. A warped tote is not a happy tote.
These crates or totes should generally stay in your trunk or the rear of your hatchback/SUV, removed rarely just for cleaning of the vehicle. In general, if you keep the contents organized and maintained, updating which folders (and which file contents) are stored within, they shouldn’t require much upkeep.
Aesthetics are less important than durability. However, if you’re eager to move your resources from your trunk to your a hotel room or event venue, there are other options, with functional and aesthetic appeal.
Last year, I guest-blogged for the great folks at meori, and wrote From Dad’s Study to the Modern Home Office, performing a deep dive into the essentials of a home office. One of my favorite products I got to know was meori’s Hanging Office Box.
It’s available in a few different colors, accommodates hanging files, and is collapsible.
Whichever you choose, use these kinds of file storage for stockpiling multiple copies of leave-behind resources: glossy one-sheets, brochures, catalogs, blank forms, and templates. To ensure that you’re always prepared for a surprise trip, restock your mobile file space weekly if you stay local, or upon each return from out of town.
On Client Calls
When you head into a client meeting while on the road, you’re not going to want to keep zipping back to your car for the documents you want to share or disburse. If you think of the trunk storage totes and crates as the big deep-freezer in your basement, these next options are more like your lunch box or picnic basket. You’ll use them for your laptop or tablet, essential files, and office supplies and related resources, like chargers. It’s the stuff you carry with you.
Recently, I shared with you my beloved ZÜCA Business Backpack.
For an even more refined look, the Samsonite Business Slim Backpack (in Cognac or Black) is a sleek option.
A full analysis of business backpacks is probably better left for a post on travel, but I can tell you that there’s enough of a variety of business backpacks that you can be assured they’ve come a long way from the backpacks of the days of pep rallies and bus rides. To find a professional backpack to your liking, consider these expert round-ups:
Specialist Satchels: The 19 Best Men’s Backpacks for Work from The Coolist
19 Best Laptop Backpacks the Provide Both Fashion and Function from Marie Claire
The 10 Best Business Travel Backpacks from the blog The Broke Backpacker
The Best Laptop Backpacks for Work (and Life) from Wired
If you’re looking for something with a little more accent on fashion, primarily for hanging files, there are alternatives to the standard backpack or briefcase. Sadly, the long-beloved (by clients and professional organizers alike) leatherette file totes from Jamie Raquel exist no more, but Levenger’s LevTex Portable File Totes scratch a similar itch.
Available in Black, French Blue, Purple, Red, or Hickory, with a tan twill interior lining, the LevTex line runs $99.50 each (though I’m spotting it on sale for $69 at the time of publication of this post).
At a lower price point, Lakeside Collection has a similar faux leather Chic File Folder Organizer Tote in Red, Brown, and Black for just $39.99 via Amazon:
If image is less important to your line of work than durability, and you’ve got a lot of paperwork to share in meetings or at events, consider a portable file box with hinged lids, sturdy handles, and hanging file rails. Search for “portable hanging file box” and you’ll come up with a wide variety of brand-name and generic versions like this:
These are practical for bringing in just what you need for a specific client call: notes, blank contracts, and a subset of literature from the mobile file space in the trunk.
If you carry blueprints or other large-format documents, carry both a standard portable file box for business papers and an art portfolio case. If you will be leaving designs behind, use inexpensive red rope portfolios; invest in a durable leather or nylon case if you will be using it long-term.
When you’re on the road, is your need to schlep a more heavy-duty experience? Expanding rolling crates are suitable when your display materials include heavy catalogs and sample products. They offer a robust upgrade from portable file boxes and won’t break the bank — or your back.
For a more elegant or refined look, try a rolling catalog case or a leather litigation briefcase like you see lawyers (or, more likely, their paralegals) using on TV.
And while you’re gathering all the resources to show off to your clientele or supervisees, make sure you don’t lose sight of all the chargers, cables, gadgets, tools, and small personal items that keep you efficient.
One favorite line of professional organizers everywhere is the Grid-It! from Cocoon Innovations. I am constantly amazed at how much I can pack into a small space with just a Grid-It! board covered in elasticized bands, but Grid-It! never fails to secure possessions, prevent tangles, and ensure that nothing falls into a black hole.
Cocoon also has an impressive array of slimline backpacks with Grid-It! stylings built in, for the road warrior who is living on the road, or in the air. Speaking of which…
On the Road…and On the Tarmac
Are you spending time in hotels, dropping in at co-working spaces, or hot-desking at divisions of your company as you jaunt around the country or around the world? When space is at a minimum but you want to feel like can keep your eye on all of your documents and resources, it can be helpful to adjust the vertical control. Look upward instead of outward!
For my clients who are always on the road, I suggest the Smead Cascading Wall Organizer. This snazzy revamp of the original can hang on the wall or anywhere from a nail, hook, or even a hotel hanger to reduce clutter in your workspace.
Made of durable, bright, and easy-to-clean polypropylene, the six colorful (yellow, orange, fuscia, green, blue, and purple) letter-size pockets can be removed to take to individual meetings. (Each folder holds up to 50 sheets.)
Use the clear front pocket to show the current month’s calendar, a project timeline or GANTT chart. (Fuzzy on that? Check out Checklists, Gantt Charts, and Kanban Boards – Organize Your Tasks from last year.) There’s a 3-part hanger (use one loop or all three), and an elastic cord closure for putting it all together and stowing it away.
The whole thing is PVC-free and acid-free, and measures 14 1/4″ wide by 24″ high (when fully expanded). Available directly from Smead for $19.03, or you can find it on Amazon for $29.88.
There are two variations on the theme. If the above brights are too vibrant for your super-stuffy colleagues, the clear version (with pastel pockets) of the Cascading Wall Organizer is also $19.03 at Smead or $11.10 at Amazon:
Conversely, there’s one with sumptuous jewel tones for $10.94.
The Container Store has a similar product, the Multi-Color Cascading 6-Pocket Letter File Wall Organizer Tote, for $16.99.
It measures 13 3/8″ wide by 10 1/2″ high, and when it’s not fully extended, it folds and collapses into a 1 1/2″ thick tote. Two snap closures open to reveal six cascading pockets (red, orange, yellow, green, teal, and dark blue) that hold letter-sized interior file folders (sold separately). You can label the tabbed pockets, and there’s both a handle for carrying the closed tote and a ring for hanging it for display.
At a similar price point of $25.29, the Pendaflex Hanging Organizer looks and works much like the others, with color-coded file pockets in an indestructible, poly carrying case.
Expand it like an accordion file, collapse it to store in a briefcase, or hang it with the files neatly cascading from a hotel doorknob or coffeehouse chair when you set up a temporary workspace.
And sometimes, you just need a space of your own when you’re away from your own space. For such occasions, the Plan Station Pro is kind of interesting. It reminds me of the graduate student study carrels in college libraries, but set up on an ad hoc basis.
This nifty workstation measures 24″D x 48″W x 24″H and lets you create a sitting or standing desk wherever you land, whether that’s a hotel or a job site, for just $40. You carry it like a large portfolio, then hang or use the included dowels so it will free-stand to create a mini office.
Finally, even if you have to work in a public space, avoid the temptation to invest in a wheel-mounted desk. If you must work from your car, it is roomier and more comfy (though admittedly more awkward-looking to ouotsiders) to sit in the center of the rear seat and balance your laptop on your knees.
There’s also a narrower version, the Plan Station Mini Portable Work Station, measuring 24″D x 32″W x 24″H. It’s currently $26.47.
Be Tactical With Your Tech
As Paper Doll, I’m always going to focus on your tangible, paper resources, but that doesn’t mean we’ll forget about the tech and other essentials. Your digital resources may live in the cloud, but you still need to reach them from down here on earth (and, OK, sometimes when you’re up in the clouds, too).
Generate a packing list to use with your backpack or satchel so that every night before you get on the road, you can make sure you’ve packed what’s necessary. Consider the following
- Phone (or a note to remind you to pack it in the morning once it’s charged)
- Laptop or tablet
- Mobile hot spot (you can tether your phone’s internet access, but you may want to buy a more powerful mobile router to make sure your computer, tablet, and any other Wi-Fi-able device gets the connection it needs)
- Bluetooth keyboard
- Bluetooth mouse (if you, like me, never got the hang of a trackpad)
- Bluetooth or wired number keypad (if you crunch a lot of numbers when working)
- Chargers and charging cables
- Adapters (because, between USB and USB-C, not to mention Lighting connections, nothing attaches to anything else these days without some fiddling)
- Headphones or ear buds (so that you can dial in to conference calls or Zooms with minimal distraction for yourself or other attendees)
- Flash drives (because you can never count on your laptop communicating nicely with the presentation set-up at any conference venue or work location)
- A legal pad or notebook (because sometimes, the internet or WiFi isn’t your friend)
- Post-It® Notes — always have a stack in your favorite color. Combine a sticky note and a Sharpie for everything from leaving a note on the bathroom mirror for hotel housekeeping to capturing an idea when the data on your phone peters out
- Your favorite pen, a colorful Sharpie (or several), highlighters (for calling someone’s attention to something in the analog/paper world)
- Headrest hangers, so you can keep your jacket or suit neatly hanging and wrinkle-free
Making Time for Putting it All Back Together
Block time every evening to review the list of people you will be seeing the next day. This is also a good time to check tomorrow’s slot in your tickler file. C’mon, you didn’t think I’d miss a chance to remind you about the value of tickler files, right? I’m always going to prompt you to tickle yourself organized, even when you’re on the road! (Especially when you’re on the road!)
Clarify the end goal of the meeting, so you know what you need to display or distribute. Verify that you have (or can acquire) enough copies of each. Make sure all essential items are in tomorrow’s tickler file slot.
After each appointment, before belting yourself into your car, ensure that any papers you acquired in the meeting are either filed for reference or added to your tickler file for prompt follow-up.
Laminate a checklist or create one in Evernote or your favorite digital system so that you can follow the same procedure every time you return from a client visit or sales trip.
Finally, taking a few moments to remove the pop cans, meal wrappers, and other schmutz of the day ensures that you will enter a fresh-smelling, chaos-free mobile office tomorrow.
Happy travels, and stay safe…and organized!
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