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Home and Office Supplies
Have a million pens, pencils, paperclips, erasers, postits and more? Relax,
you can get them organized in no time:
Sort first. Separate pens from pencils from markers from paperclips from
erasers, etc.
Test your pencils and pens and things - are they broken? Do they still write?
If they write - is it dull and the ink's nearly gone or is it a strong pen or marker still?
Keep whatever writes well aside. For pencils and refillable pens, keep those aside separately to
refill the ones you want. Throw away the rest. Also throw out small pieces of crayon and chalk
and tiny whittled-down pencils. When was the last time you used one of those? Throw out or
give away anything you don't use. Return stuff from work back to work if you're at home.
Decide on one place or area to keep office supplies - it can be a desk, a corner of
the counter, a shelf, a drawer, whatever. In that area, keep separate compartments for
each of the items - make sure they're clearly marked and separated so things can't spill
over from one to the other.
Pens and pencils are best kept in cups. Markers, crayons, and other art supplies
can go in boxes. Tools like sharpeners, rulers, protractors, and compasses should be kept together
and away especially if you use them infrequently. If you have a lot of erasers, keep
a box for them. If you never use them, give them away to schoolkids who will.
Sharpen pencils and refill automatic ones with lead. Keep an extra box of lead
with automatic pencils.
Notepads, postits and note paper should be kept together. Envelopes should be
separated from papers. It's a good idea to keep mailing supplies together.
Now you have lots of piles and boxes. They should all fit into one drawer, shelf,
or on 1/3 of a desk - if not, it's time to get rid of extras. Most likely, you won't use
20 pencils, but you may want to keep 5. Extras can be put away for when these give out
or given or thrown away. Sort the area according to how you use the stuff: most frequent-use items
in front, and other stuff in the back. Things you really rarely use can be again put away
or got rid of.
Now you have a small set of useful office items at your fingertips.
promise@geocities.com
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