Penelope Loves Lists » Organization Supplies

I love a tool that does it all

Meredith — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 16:00:33 +0000

I happened upon the Post-It Flag Pen/Highlighters during one of my “shopping for the kids’ school supplies” trips to Office Depot. (Any excuse to fawn over office supplies, right?)

I love these little guys! As the name so aptly suggests, they are a pen, that’s also a highlighter that also includes Post-It flags on the cap.

And the cheerful, slightly 80’s design makes me giggle.

Post-It Flag Pen/Highlighters

My favorite uses for these All-in-One Wonders:

1) My day job is in publishing, so when we’re in “proofing mode” these pens are life-savers. Being able to quickly jot a note, highlight a line of text and flag that page for our editor is such an efficient, time-saving way to work.

2) For Penelope Loves Lists, I’m often reading books that I want to review later for the blog. I can make sure not to miss any unmissable nuggets with this tool.

No question that we ALL can find uses for this kind of pen, right?

Three cheers for the 3M company! They’ve brought us so many useful things – Post-Its, Scotch Tape, I could go on. Don’t you just bet 90% of their workforce is full-fledged Penelope?

Assignment: purse de-clutter, or do this now, you’ll be glad you did later

Meredith — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 17:42:47 +0000

This a re-post from an item originally published in January. Several people (like, a lot of people) emailed me at the time asking that I post this assignment a couple times a year as they found it useful. So, here goes…

Today’s assignment is super quick but makes a huge difference as you go through your week.

Take just 5 minutes right now and go through your purse or bag.

throw away trash and old receipts, etc. that have accumulated
make a pile of things that need to go elsewhere and put them in their places
make sure that every single item you carry around with you is something you really need. Ask yourself, have I needed this in the last year? If not, put it elsewhere.

See? Don’t you feel better? Lighter, more organized? Yes, you do.

Penelope Tip: get a brightly colored wallet. I know we’ve heard this before, but it really does help. Mine’s red and I can always find it in the dark center pocket of my purse.

I think the secret to this is really keeping your purse filled with just what you need, which really isn’t a lot. But, if you find you just can’t be minimal, consider using a Purseket, which can keep your purse’s contents more organized.

: Purseket Tool for Organizing your Purse

Now, for some fun. If you love purses and bags, and need some help keeping the ones you’re not using in check, Jeri over at Jeri’s Organizing & De-cluttering News has written a great post. She includes several products that will help keep your bags organized in your home.

: Closet Rod Hanging Handbag Organizer

Penelope Loves the FeelGood List

Meredith — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 16:00:12 +0000

Isn’t the best part of your To Do list the checking off of the completed items? It is mine. I’ve been known to add things to my To Do list that are already done just for the satisfaction of being able to check them off. Scratches some itch I’ve got.

So, when fellow Penelope Tammy emailed me about the FeelGood List, I was in love! It’s a customized life check list. It’s made just for you! And there are so many things to check off each day. Love.

Here’s what its creator, Up Up Creative, says about it:

“You buy, I email you a form to fill out and send back to me, I make your list, you get the final PDF file to print as many times as you’d like. Forever.”

Read her list closely by clicking on the image. It’s so cool. And it’s so cute.

The FeelGood List from Up Up Creative

I’d love to hear what items you add to your Custom FeelGood List.

Focus on: Bob’s Your Uncle

Meredith — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 16:00:40 +0000

Today in our “Focus On” series (wherein I get to put together fun collages with Polyvore and pretend that their useful), we’re taking a look at Bob’s Your Uncle, a “think outside the box” maker of smart office supplies. I’m a huge fan.

I think what I love most about Bob’s Your Uncle products is their mix of clever, tongue-in-cheek styling with rock solid performance. They aren’t just silly for silly’s sake and I appreciate that.

Here are four of my (many) favorite products:

I get asked all the time what notebook I use to keep my To Do Lists – this is it! The Off The Grid Notebook. (The perfect grid paper spiral notebook!)
Punctuation Page Markers. Add a little bit of zotch to your boring ol’ documents.
The Multi-Task Planner Journal: chock full of all kinds of useful items, including grid paper, check box pages for lists and a planner journal.
The 8 Days a Week Mousepad Notepad: keep your weekly schedule right on your desk with this tear-off mousepad notepad. Eight days = Monday – Sunday + Someday. Perfect.

You can check out their online store or buy many of their items at See Jane Work or 8 Days A-Week Planner Pad by Bob's Your Uncle" target="_blank">Amazon.

Penelope Product Review: two simply smart office products

Meredith — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 16:00:43 +0000

Here’s a product that had me wondering “why didn’t someone think of this sooner?” I love the Smead 70211, 12-pocket Tiered Stadium File " target="_blank">Smead Tiered Stadium File for its simple genius. They took a page out of good sports venue design and created an expandable file that is tiered, rather than flat. It’s thinner than most like products, so it uses a smaller footprint on my desk. And i feel like I can see what’s in the file folders much more easily.

Smead 70211, 12-pocket Tiered Stadium File ">

Even with its more streamlined size, there’s still plenty of organizing oomph here: 12 expandable pockets, large enough to hold up to 800-900 sheets of paper. It’s made of a tough Tyvek material, so it’s got staying power, and it’s navy blue color works with most color schemes.

While it can be used with or without folders, I like the ease and look of using their SuperTab folders with it so I can just grab the paperwork on a particular project and head out for a meeting. I used just 2 colors of the folders (Penelope’s khaki green and glass blue, of course!) for a more restful feel for my eyes.

Speaking of those SuperTab Folders, they’re pretty smart, too. They have extra large space for labels, which means I can either do labels in a nice, large font, or, more likely for me, include more info about what’s inside. {I like to do two lines of information: a header and then sub-title with details like the meeting date or the specifics of the topic.}

One last bonus here: I have to admit that I like Smead’s website, too: It asks you a few questions about your needs and your work style (I love that part) and then recommends solutions. Would it be embarrassing to tell you that sometimes I just make up various “organizational needs” just to see what the Smead folks are going to suggest to me? Probably.

Important note regarding this review: as with all product reviews I do on Penelope Loves Lists, the product featured here was sent to me for testing but I did not receive any further compensation for the review (though, in this case, that was offered). Also as a matter of policy, what I say in my review is absolutely true. I will never recommend a product that I don’t honestly think is useful to you. That would just be dumb, wouldn’t it?

For more info on my overall review and advertising policy, click here.

Penelope Project: The Most Organized Dog Bones You’ve Ever Seen

Meredith — Wed, 05 May 2010 16:00:53 +0000

For me, the absolute best thing about working on this site is the emails I get from fellow Penelopes. It’s so nice to know we all have a tribe and we understand each other so well.

I’m going to be sharing some of these emails with you from time to time, starting with this fantastic one from Angela, a true Penelope.

Here’s what she says:

Dear Meredith,

I thought of all the Penelopes out there as I mulled over something I did that made me feel so accomplished (yet embarrassed to admit) this weekend.

As I proceeded through the normal, weekly cleaning tasks around the house, I noticed the big cardboard box under the laundry room sink. It holds all of my English Bull Dog’s milk bones. The site (and smell) were enough to send me into my organizational mode.

I quickly grabbed the car keys, headed up to the nearest store where I could purchase a large Tupperware bin with a secure seal (to hinder the stench of doggie treats), and then proceed to line the treats up in rows within the bin.

Angela's organized dog bones make my heart happy

I looked at it and felt great to have made the most of the space, but then wondered, who organizes dog bones? Then I realized, Penelopes do! It’s so comforting to know that I’m not alone in my pursuits of peace in organizational tasks.

Just wanted to share,

Angela

Thanks, Angela. You’re so right. It IS comforting to know that organizing your dog’s bones is not crazy. It’s absolutely, perfectly sensible!

Do you have a Penelope Project you’d like to share? Send me an email, including a photo or two, and I may share your sweet, compulsive story with the rest of the Penelope world.

Olive Manna from Heaven: a GIVEAWAY of listmaking goodies

Meredith — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:00:06 +0000

There is nothing better than a company doing gorgeous work, run by a smart woman. A great example of one such company is Olive Manna, which is owned and operated by designer genius, Natalie Jost.

I could spend all day cruising around the Olive Manna site, which is filled with cute officey/journaley things you won’t find anywhere else. I adore her patterned canisters (which come in several amazing designs and are perfect for holding pens, etc.) clips and bookmarks.

But what really gets my Penelope heart singing is her whole section on Lists and Logs. My favorite item in that section is her List Lover’s Pack, which brings together five (5!!!) of her best listy products.

The pack includes these items:

The List Lovers Pack from Olive Manna

Gift Log detail shots

I am incredibly excited that Natalie has agreed to giveaway her List Lovers Pack to one lucky Penelope. Even better, the winner will get to choose which of Natalie’s “collections” she wants the pack to appear in.

THERE ARE A FEW WAYS TO ENTER:

1) go to the Olive Manna Shop and look around. Then, come back here and tell us which of her product caught your eye. You’ll then be entered in the contest.

2) Tweet or blog about this post and then leave another comment (or comments – if you did more than one) telling me what you’ve done.

I’ll use a random number generator to select one winner from the qualifying comments on this post.

DEADLINE to enter is Wednesday, March 24th at 9am Pacific Time. The winner will be announced that day.

A Tool for the Penelope on the Go: Cascading File Tote

Meredith — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:15:28 +0000

One of the great things about my job is that I get to work both from my office (where I get to catch up with my sassy co-workers – who happen to be some of my best friends) and from home, where I can get some time to concentrate.

The challenge that results, however, is the carrying of my paperwork back and forth. I always want to have my active files with me. I’m not really a briefcase kind of girl, so I was super excited to stumble across this tool from The Container Store: the Cascading Letter File Tote.

Cascading Letter File Tote from The Container Store

Look at that! At the office, you hang it from a convenient spot and all your files are handy. The clear pocket at the top can hold any thing you want. I’ll have it contain my Monthly Overview list, which keeps me on track for that month’s work. (It’s color coded and gorgeous, might I add.)

When you’re ready to go, you just fold up the tote and you’re off! And (you knew this was coming, didn’t you?) this tool gives you the perfect excuse to buy some cute new file folders, given that it offers a spiffy place to display them.

Might I suggest these?

Letter-Sized File Folders from The Container Store

Because my “active files” change often, I like to be able to quickly change with them without wasting folders. The Erasable File Folder Labels are a the perfect solution.

Erasable File Folder Labels from The Container Store

This system would also work well for someone who works from home all the time and has a small space in which to do that work. While the work is progress, you can have the tote open and be in “action mode” and when the day’s done, you fold it up and tuck it away. Out of sight, out of mind.

Ah, Container Store. Have I told you lately that I love you?

Organizing in a pretty pink place: girly office supplies

Meredith — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 19:15:52 +0000

I’m not so much a pink girl, but lately, mostly because I’ve been reading Making It Lovely, I’ve been drawn to pink more and more.

Today, some cotton candy loveliness for my beloved Penelopes..

Letter-Size Interior File Folders in “Bloom” $4.99 – containerstore.com
Poppy Magnetic Board $7.99 – containerstore.com
Pink Floral Storage Boxes $20 – containerstore.com
Stripe Weekly Planner $25 – sortingwithstyle.com
Self-adhesive Note To-Do www.russellandhazel.com
Casauri Carry All Weekender - seejanework.com
Poppy Mouse and mousepad $35 – sortingwithstyle.com
Choco Dot Pink Pen $15 – sortingwithstyle.com
Small Pink Paris Notebook $13 – sortingwithstyle.com
Webster’s Fashion Color Thesaurus – seejanework.com
Pink Clipboard $22 – sortingwithstyle.com
Jane’s Stapler -seejanework.com

Inspired by: a Pretty way to organize your gift ideas

Meredith — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 01:15:30 +0000

I just ran across this pretty little book from Russell and Hazel (one of my favorite places to score lovely office supplies) and it inspired me.

They suggest you use their Gift List Book for keeping track of ideas you have during the year for a great gift for someone.

Sure, this makes sense. That’s happened to me a million times. I run across something and think “oh, that would be just the right thing for (fill in the blank)” but I don’t immediately capture the thought and -poof- it’s gone. This book, carried in your purse with you, would help.

But, I think a further use for this kind of list-keeping would be to keep track of what you actually gave to people.

Go with me on this: I love to give books as presents. (Maybe this is because I love to receive books more than almost anything.) I’ll take time and great care to choose the right book for my giftee. But later, most often, a whole year later, I can’t remember specifically what book I gave. This happens LOTS with my nieces and nephews. (“Did I get Knuffle Bunny for Nephew A or Nephew B?”) And then I’ll stand in Barnes and Noble and panic thinking I might duplicate.

I wish they would add another 20 pages of plain grid paper to this book for just this kind of list keeping. I think I’ll email the good folks at R&H and suggest it, in fact. That might be obnoxious, but I’ll do it anyway.

If I just took 10 minutes each holiday to make a quick list in my handy Gift List Book (or, really, any notebook), this problem would be solved. And peace would reign in the land.