Are you sitting at your workstation right now, perhaps taking five during a busy workday or browsing just for fun at home? Stop right now and look down at your desk. What do you see? If you’re like most of us, you’ve got a pile of papers here and a smattering of notes there. Maybe in one corner you’ve stacked the mail. You might have an in-box, an out-box, an I-have-no-idea-what-to-do-with-this-box. Couple of receipts? Sticky notes with reminders? Kids’ soccer schedule? Sales reports? Takeout menus? Phone lists?
Just thinking about it is enough to make you dizzy, let alone the wild array of “stuff” actually strewn across your desk. Well, stop stacking, shuffling, taping and tacking and make your way to an organized desk and a sane working environment.
Sound good but seem impossible? Not if you have the right tools. There are lots of ways to organize your workspace but today we want to tell you about one that we love and use every day. It’s a reference organizer, and we promise you, your desk will never be the same again… in a good way.
Do you have lists and schedules taped to the wall or hidden beneath a stack of paperwork where you can’t find them?
| Do This | Not That |
|---|---|
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| Store papers in the clear, color-coded pockets of a reference organizer where you can find them as soon as you need them. Like magic, you will not only know exactly where your documents are, but your desk and surrounding space will be free of clutter. | Tape or tack papers haphazardly to walls and other surfaces just so you can keep them “on-hand”. Even if you can find what you need, you’re creating visual mayhem that may make your therapist happy but will drive you crazy. |
Are you constantly searching for instructions, price lists or other reference materials?
| Do This | Not That |
|---|---|
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| Keep documents in sturdy pockets that are easy to flip through and have index tabs for easy reference, so frequently-used documents are always at your fingertips. This one has a bonus… drawers and a paper tray beneath it so you can really organize yourself silly. | File documents away neatly just to get them off your desk, then waste time searching for them every time you need something because the files aren’t immediately accessible. Unless you really want the exercise every time you have to get up and trek across the room for that one darn pie chart. |
Is every surface adorned with sticky notes tacked with reminders, phone numbers and to-dos?
| Do This | Not That |
|---|---|
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| Clean them up with a special pocket that holds T-cards, index-style cards that you can use to write all of your to-dos and notes and keep them neatly sorted. They’re color coded, too, so you can organize by project, task or whatever makes most sense to you. | Create sticky-note art on your walls, book covers, desk edges, computer monitor or whatever other free surface you can find, and hope a strong breeze doesn’t blow through. |
Is your coffee mug sitting on your desk, precariously perched on a stack of yesterday’s notes?
| Do This | Not That |
|---|---|
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| Keep documents clean, protected and off your desk in pockets that can mount on a desktop base, arm or even on your wall if space is limited. | Pray to the coffee gods that nobody will notice that one little ring on your report. |
You know how easy it is to make a mess out of your desk… now discover how easy it is to clean it up, and save time by keeping the things you need at hand.
Have you used a reference organizer before? We’d love to hear your story. Tell us what you use it for and whether it’s helped you create a more organized and manageable workspace.
No reference organizer in your life? Use your imagination and tell us what you COULD put in it to make your life easier and your space cleaner.
Shop desktop, wall and arm mounted organizers in sturdy polypropylene, warm wood tones or stylish and contemporary steel.
For more information or to buy these products:
DocuMate desktop reference organizer
WoodWorx desktop reference organizer with paper tray and supply drawer
Reference organizer specialty pocket: T-card panel
Reference organizer add-on pockets
About Ultimate Office
Ultimate Office provides innovative organization and storage solutions for your business and home office. Our passion is for taking the ordinary and making it not just extraordinary, but Ultimate.
