If it’s a mess The desk is a sign of genius and I am probably one of the smartest people out there.
Whether I’m in the office or in my own house, I start everywhere with the purest intention to keep my desk clean and cluttered, just to weigh the time and energy costs of constantly giving up things, just pulling them out again the next day. Spoiler Alert: Most of the time, it’s not worth it. The biggest, most shocking point in my sorting process was the number of sticky notes I used. Classic Post-It brand notes, flower-shaped sticky notes, novel mats, tape flags – there is a place in my office supply library.
I write everything by hand with a pen. I mean everything. Not only in my paper planners, but also in sticky notes that are available in almost every room in my house. I put them in the kitchen, bedside tables, in the car. And, I’m always scientifically proven because writing with my hands activates a wider connection in the brain, which is scientifically proven, which enhances learning and memory.
I like my notes app like anyone else, but if I need to do something in the future, I not only want to remember that I did this, but also wish I could name it as a title with something I could search for. If I write it down, I will not only remember it, but I can pin it where I know it. When I was in another room, did the doctor’s office call accidentally? Sticky notes. Remind my husband that he was still asleep and remained silent without his phone so I couldn’t text him? Sticky notes. Stick the pen for my kids. A sticker for my friends. In my car, the sticky notes in the garage…it’s a perfect system.
But the worst dangerous criminal is my workstation to date. If I receive any kind of actionable instructions, whether it’s during a meeting, email, slack message, or via phone, it immediately writes down the pasted notes and slaps my planner, or, if the longer range is fixed to the wall above the table, lined with Amazon’s Felt Bulletin Board Board Tiles, it currently looks like a disappointing Piñataa.
But until I saw the Poppin’Sticky Memo Ball (4.5-inch DodeCahedron) looks like a girl’s soccer ball but is actually a decor on the table you can use, I didn’t really think about what these notepads do for my space. This is a sticky chimney in the decoration.
Back to school
Photo: Kat Merck
The sticky memo is not on the board of 3m, nor in Romy and Michelle’s brains, but at the Rochester Polytechnic. Every year, STEM-centric schools have a design program called Metaproject that pairs companies with RIT students to create products targeting the theme “Design Is One,” the official philosophy of the school’s Vignelli Design Research Center. (Name for the honor of Italian designers Lella and Massimo Vignelli, who is known for their modernist design.)
