Where to Put Office Supplies?

[JJSOmaha]

So I'm following GTD, and am excited about moving forward---but what does David, or the readers, recommend for all of my office supplies...

The CD's, tape, pens, labeler, stapler, calculator, ruler, rolodex and on and on...

I want to clear my desk of the clutter---would you recommend putting it all in one large box under my desk or what?

Thanks!

From

GTD Newbie

[TesTeq]

In the upper left drawer of your desk.

You don't have one?

OK. I think you should put them in a place where they can be easily accessible but will not clutter your work space. The exact place depends on your office setup.

[GTDWorks]

If you don't have a desk drawer to use, or it is too small for all your supplies, you can do what I've done: go to your local office supply center and purchase a clear plastic 4-drawer paper holder on wheels and put all your supplies in the drawers. I slid mine under my printer stand behind my desk and just swival around, look for what I need, and pull it out of the see-through drawer for my use. Simple, cheap, but an elegant fix for housing all those supplies.

[kewms]

Pens, letter opener, and scissors are in a pencil jar on my desk. Scratch pads are in a mesh file holder, along with my (paper) planning calendar and a few pages of commonly used reference information.

I don't have a rolodex, as I file all contacts electronically and then throw the physical cards away.

Tape, stapler, post-it notes, paper clips, etc. are in my desk drawer. There's also a small supply of file folders, mailing envelopes, and so forth on a shelf to the right of the desk.

All other office supplies are in a storage closet. The basic idea is that the more often I use something, the closer it should be.

Katherine

[GTDWorks]

Katherine:

Do you use a paper planner only or do you use a combination of paper and digital?

[JJSOmaha]

Thanks for your help so far---I want to clean my desk as much as I can...really going for that Home Office 2.0 look, but it's hard as I don't want to spend my time digging through boxes for my Ipod charger, or wireless mouse case when I travel.

[rachel134]

Take a tip from kitchen planners, and store items where they will be used. So I keep my stapler, tape, and paper clips in the desk drawer, and travel chargers with my suitcases. Since foreign travel is mostly to one country, I keep the electric outlet adapter in the bottom of the electric appliance's travel case.

Rachel

[kewms]

Do you use a paper planner only or do you use a combination of paper and digital?

I use a digital calendar (Outlook) for scheduling appointments. I use a paper calendar for planning -- from working out project schedules covering several months to planning my week -- because it seems to work better. Probably something to do with being able to visually block out time, circle key dates, draw arrows, etc.

Katherine

[kewms]

I store travel adapters for all my electronics in a mesh bag. (From EMS, sold as hiking gear.) The mesh bag in turn lives in my carry-on bag. I have duplicates of important ones like my cell phone and laptop chargers, having forgotten to pack those one too many times.

Katherine

[ActionGirl]

I use a digital calendar (Outlook) for scheduling appointments. I use a paper calendar for planning -- from working out project schedules covering several months to planning my week -- because it seems to work better. Probably something to do with being able to visually block out time, circle key dates, draw arrows, etc.

Katherine

Thanks for that distinction!

I like an electronic calendar because it's easy to put in recurring appointments, but I find myself missing the ease of writing on a paper calendar on a regular basis. As I think about it though, things I want to write on the paper calendar are generally not appts, but in some way planning related, from time-blocking the coming week to deadlines for major projects to minor things like keeping track of my period or happenings of interest to me but for which I have no responsibility.

I hereby give myself permission to try using a paper calendar in addition to the electronic one, with the hard edge of putting all appts on the electronic calendar. And since I won't carry the paper calendar around regularly, I don't have to limit myself to a pocket sixed one. Hmm, what size calendar do you like for planning?