This $13 Amazon Find Solves My Worst Work-From-Home Habit
When it comes to stationery, I can’t get enough. I have a weakness for colorful notebooks, planners with calendars, whimsical sticky note pads, and all the gel pens my hands can reach. On the plus side, being such a fan of paper means there’s always a piece nearby when I need to quickly jot down information for work. On the other hand, having a bunch of notes on scraps of paper makes them that much easier to lose and confuse. I can’t count on my hand the number of times I’ve written something down on a scrap of paper that was on my desk, only to end up doing a wild search later to find exactly where it was. So while I was initially skeptical about using it, the Three by Three Desktop To-Do Board has changed my note-taking for the better.
At 8 by 5 inches, the desktop to-do board is about the size of a medium memo pad and comes with a dry-erase marker with a built-in eraser on the cap. (To thoroughly clean the surface of the board, you can use a little water or rubbing alcohol; otherwise, the eraser on the marker does the trick.) I bought a multi-part version with a bamboo finish, but it’s also available in single-piece white and stainless steel versions.
Using the board is as simple as you would imagine: Write your notes, to-do list, important phone numbers, or anything else you please on the board, then when you’re done with that info or have transferred it to a more permanent place for safe-keeping, erase the board and start over.
It can’t be denied that keeping up with an abundance of notebooks and sticky note pads can be overwhelming, especially if you don’t have a trusty organizing system in place. The first surprising shift I noticed when I began using the to-do board was that I use it most frequently in meetings to take notes. My notebook was my old standby, always an arm’s length away so I could note any key takeaways and tasks. These notes would then live in my notebook well past their expiration date — the board helps me sort between actionable tasks and feedback before I wipe info away in preparation for the next meeting.
Using the dry erase board illuminated a fact I didn’t know about myself: I’m not a fan of writing temporary notes in my permanent notebook. Old projects, checklists, and events I may or may not have attended would often get mixed with actually-pertinent information for the work that I do, making it difficult to differentiate between the important things and less-than-necessary info.
Nowadays I reach for my desktop dry erase board before my notebook when I need to make quick notes for work in general. Most of the time, the things I do jot down on the board is information I don’t need for long — meeting times to transfer to my calendar or ideas to add to a spreadsheet on Google Drive — and it’s proved helpful to have a space to put a short-term checklist that doesn’t clutter the pages of my notebook or my desk.
The desktop board also has a place to hold the pen when it’s not in use, created by a smaller piece that slots with the primary board. If I had one criticism of the to-do board, it’s that the two pieces don’t fit securely together. This makes it easier to lay the board flat on the table to write, and creates a smaller footprint if you need to store your board but are tight on space. However, the pieces of my board are so loose that the smaller piece wobbles and can slide out if I simply tilt the board too far to one side. It doesn’t stop me from using it, but I’m tempted to find a way to strengthen the hold.
The Desktop To-Do Board has become one of my desktop essentials, not least of all because I like that it doesn’t stick out like a traditional white board would. The engineered bamboo blends in with the other items on my desk and doesn’t get in the way of other tools I need throughout the day. If I need to store it, however, I can slide it between books on the desk or put it into a cabinet. This might only be a small step towards being more environmentally-conscious in my workspaces, but it’s one I’m happy to carry out.