Growing up I used to love to go to my dad’s office. Actually I loved it so much that I went into the same job as he had - accounting. His office had such fun things (yes, I was odd even as a child) - rubber stamps and pads, pens, pencils - even in colors, stickers, paper, envelopes, staplers, clips, and so on. So much fun to play with.
I still love office supplies - the last time my husband went out to try to find a gift for me for some occasion or other was at an office supply store (before he finally gave in and realized there was nothing that I wanted and he should give up). Office supplies can be used for so many things that they are not intended for as well as those they are intended for. (We were at an event and the flag being carried in a color guard was too long for the height of the room and it touched the floor. I asked at the desk of the venue - no pins - then I asked if they had any sort of paper clip or such - bingo, fixed the problem.)
So how do office supplies help one get organized?
Labels - you do use them don’t you. You can write info on things or make nice labels which make things look more organized. There are computer labels which can be printed. There are labeling machines - mine is a Brother TZ type - to make labels. Some are permanent labels - be sure you want them as they won’t come off easily if at all. Others are temporary.
When I have a file folder which I will be keeping for awhile it gets a permanent label printed by computer. I use different color edge labels printed with the computer in some drawers I use red edge labels for folder to go through at the new year and blue for permanent folders, in other drawers I use yellow and green for same (so they get used up more or less evenly) this cuts down on time clearing out folders for the new year (well, actually I do this around May, so I have info for taxes). In my desktop file holder I have folders which are permanent for folders subjects which are needed on an ongoing basis which also get computer printed labels with color edges - in this case they color signifies what the folder is for - blue is personal, red for our business, green for one club, yellow for the other - no color on the end means it is for my accounting business and each color/type of file goes into a different section in the holder and some which are temporary - something which needs to be done and then the folder will no longer be needed - I use small removable labels - I write on it, put it on the folder and it remains there until it is no longer needed and then is removed from the folder which can be used again and the label is tossed out - I use markers on them to color code them to match the permanent folders in the desktop holder sections. These removable labels can also be folder in half vertically and stuck on a page it becomes a tab to find the place again and it can then be removed when no longer needed. I use larger removable labels on the boxes that I store prior years financial records and write the year on the label. When I am ready to reuse the box - 10 years later - I pull off the old label and put on the new one.
I have marked the magazine holders we have with labels printed with the Brother machine this way we know which magazines and which years are in the holder. (There are other similar label machines from other companies, this happens to be the one I have and use not an ad for the company.) We have a number of zipper vinyl bags, which one cannot see through, in our RV and we label them with labels from the Brother so we know what is in them. I put labels on my USB flash drives which I make on the Brother - so I know what is on the drives. The blank ones get the removable labels from above with a label which reads “Blank”. It goes across the drive and its cap - when the cap comes off to use it, the label has to be removed so I never forget and leave a “blank” label on a drive in use. So wonderful to know which is which. I also use the temporary labels on the drives I take to the vault for offsite storage - they are labeled with the Brother tape as to what they are - “Offsite A” and “Offsite B” and then when I update them I put the date on a removable label and put it, again, across the drive and it’s cap so I know what date it is, when I again update it, the removable label has to come off and be tossed.
Folders - can not only hold papers in filing cabinets, but can be used to keep papers together in general. A paper alone can get lost - in a labeled folder (even a temporary label) will be harder to lose and easier to see. I have a pocket file holder for tax info for clients and another for my paid bills. Folders do not fit in them as it is the same size as the folders - I cut about a quarter of an inch off one end and they fit! I can use this to make what is in the pocket of the file holder easy to take everything out of the pocket at once without losing anything or I can use it to make sections in a pocket of the of the holder so it can hold more than one type of bill.
I have 2 sizes of paperclips. I use the small ones for smaller groups of papers and the larger ones for larger groups - obvious. What else can one use them for? Well, as I mentioned above, shortening a flag that will otherwise drag on the floor. Christmas ornament hangers - I learned this in elementary school when the teacher did it - unfold the paperclip into an S shape and it is an ornament hanger. In a related idea the large ones can be used to hang decorations around the rooms. I hang my “roping” (plastic) on the curtain rod by turning large paperclips into the same S shape and putting one at each end of the curtain rod - one in the center on longer ones - and then hanging the roping over it - I also hang an embroidered piece in a hoop from the center of a curtain rod in the same way. Also good when opened for getting stuck staples out of a stapler. Oh, and they can be put together in a chain to decorate an office Christmas tree.
Staples are also great for what they are intended for - stapling stacks of papers together - If you have papers which belong together -STAPLE THEM! Stapling is more definite than the paper clips mentioned above and won’t get caught and pulled off the papers. What else can you use them for? A hem that comes down - staple it together until you can fix it - this is an old trick.
Pencils great for writing what might need to be erased and pens for what needs to stay written. A pencil, a piece of paper and a window can let you copy something by hand. (I do this with fabric when I want to copy something to the fabric to stitch.) Put what you want to copy on the window with removable tape (another wonderful thing) and then do the same with the piece of paper or fabric. On a sunny day you will see the picture and be able to copy it to the paper - or fabric with a pencil.
Yes, tape. I am talking about clear plastic tape - often called “Scotch tape” whether it is that brand or not. There are several types. (I don’t bother with the gift wrap version.) I use the permanent one for what it is intended for - taping paper together - but it can also, again, be used for fixing clothing. But removable tape of this type is great. I tape my paper todo list to my computer desk with removable tape - when I am done I pull it off the desk, pull the tape off the paper, write a new list and put it back with the same piece of tape (there is a limit to how long one piece of tape will last). I can stick a note to something with it. (Yes, I know about the papers which stick to things on their own - last time I used one it left glue on the sales receipt it was attached to and others have not stayed in place.) If you want to tape a check or cash into a card, removable tape lets it be removed undamaged and intact.
Envelopes - of course they are used for mailing things, but they can also be used to hold papers and other things - and the larger manila ones with clips can be reused. If I have to take papers some place I put them in a manila envelope and close the clip. I then can take the papers out where I am going and then clip the envelope closed again and then when back at home remove the papers and file away and reuse the envelope.
I have several envelopes which are just larger than regular # 10 envelopes each marked on the end edge with one of our regular trips. I put anything related to the trip in the envelope as it comes along - a reservation made a year in advance sits in the envelope and then as the year goes along - discount tickets to an event? - add them into the envelope. Coupon for a restaurant? - add it in. A store looks interesting? - add it in. When it is time for the trip, I just pull the envelope and all is there. I keep these envelopes in date order in the middle section of the 3 section wall pocket - just under the bills to pay section - next to my desk.
Oh, and in the bills to pay section above is another large than # 10 envelope - it is for what I need to do on Friday - the day we go out for banking and such. I put the items needed in the envelope for Friday - checks to deposit, receipts to return items, etc. I then use a small piece of paper (at one time when I carried a small memo book, which had been cut in half, in my pocket, I used the other half of the pages which my husband had cut off on an electric saw, now I am using up old business cards - always shredding them after, but any small pieces of paper can be used) with the errands listed for example PO (remember we go there daily); Bank - transfer $X savings to checking (actually I just write S-C $X), 2 deposits, withdraw $Y; Club bank - deposit, Return to store and so on. I use a large paperclip to attach this to the outside of the envelope to follow as I go along.
Paper can of course be used for all sorts of notes. When we have paper which is printed on and not used - especially those annoying pages when one prints something and it runs 2 pages, but the second page just had the titles from the end of the page or such on it and is wasted - I put it aside. Part pages are in one section and full pages in another on top of my desk file holder. If I am going to print something which is just going to be used by me I use the back of these pages to print on or I can use them to write notes on - especially when one is calling a company and needs to make notes of the conversation due to promises made, information provided, or responses to what you said by the company employee for your records (always put date, time and employees name on the page too). Small pieces can be cut into quarter or third of a page either vertically or horizontally to use as memo paper - great for shopping lists.
So as you see ordinary office supplies can be used in a variety of different ways to help you get and stay more organized. Any good ideas you have on using office supplies?
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