SiteFeb3
A Low Tech Writing Tool
One of my favorite organizational tools is a plain old dry-erase board. In fact, I have two: one for my interview schedule, and one to list my assignment due dates and to-dos that are too far in the future to put on my daily to-do list (like conferences that take place months from now). You can find dry erase boards at office supply stores like Staples for as low as $8 and as high as $125, depending on the size and type. You can find magnetic boards, funky black boards, boards with cork strips for hanging papers, calendar boards, and more. Be sure to stock up on dry erase markers — I prefer the finer-point ones for sharper writing. [lf]
11 Responses to “A Low Tech Writing Tool”
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
dawn
Said this on February 3rd, 2008 at 10:55am:I can’t get by w/out my dry erase board either! I do a lot of organizational stuff on my computer but for my daily to-do list and long-term goal list, I have to see it in actual writing. I also use my dry erase board to brainstorm when I’m stuck on a project. (It’s a really big classroom sized one we got from my husband’s office when they laid everyone off. They gave away everything — it’s also where we got our office chairs and several bookshelves!)
Jenn Hollowell
Said this on February 4th, 2008 at 9:31am:I found some cute ones (small and medium sized) at the dollar store, too. The markers didn’t last as long, so I grabbed some from Wal-Mart. I love these boards for both work and family organization.
Kara
Said this on February 4th, 2008 at 12:30pm:I have two - one above my computer for deadlines. One HUGE one on a side wall with dream pubs and notes on when/if I’ve queried them.
wordwych
Said this on February 4th, 2008 at 2:34pm:I, too, use white boards. I lucked out at Home Depot, finding a huge piece of drywall material (it’s used for shower surrounds) that was damaged on one corner. Cost: $2.80. I had it cut to widths that would fit on each of the panels on the bifold door in my home office, spent another $3.00 on a tube of Liquid Nails and, for less than $8.00, ended up with a massive 3ft x 4ft white board that takes up none of the precious wall space in here. I also had a couple pieces left over, one of which I glued to the back of the office door. Since doing that, I have been able to keep much better track of my newspaper assignments, queries, my work schedule for my contract court reporting, miscellaneous To Do items and developments in a fiction piece I’ve been working on.
LindaFormichelli
Said this on February 4th, 2008 at 7:10pm:Wordwych, that sounds cool, but I’m not sure I understand…do you write right on the drywall? (If so, how do you erase it?) Or did you glue whiteboard to it…?
Kayleen
Said this on February 4th, 2008 at 9:49pm:I have found the best way for me to create a workable daily to-do list is not a white board but in Excel.
I create a column for each day of the year, then add a column beside it corresponding to the appropriate days of the week.
Once I create one month’s dates, then I copy it and add it at the end for the next month. This makes the process go quickly.
Once the year’s dates are done I move to the next column and that is my area to note due dates, interview times, when a story will be published, contact information and other information, etc. Since I also use this column to challenge myself to do 10 writing tasks each day, it is helpful that it will expand as necessary.
I use the third column to note mileage for any of the tasks done during the day. At the end of the year I’ll put a formula in the cell at the bottom of the year’s entries to total all of them. That will make the amount of mileage used easily manageable for tax purposes.
Beth
Said this on February 5th, 2008 at 3:00pm:I’ve been using a desk sized, self standing one, that I can move around the house if I get kicked off the computer by my kids! Then they can’t write on it, either! I write the most urgent tasks at the top, and the less important ones on the bottom.
wordwych
Said this on February 6th, 2008 at 11:53am:Hi Linda,
I’m sorry I wasn’t clear in my post. The material I bought is a whiteboard material that is used for shower surrounds. (I mistakenly put “drywall material” and then couldn’t go back and correct it.) It comes in 4-foot x 6-foot sheets, 1/4-inch thick. I removed the closet doors in order to glue the panels on, as the panels needed to be weighted down while the glue dried. This material behaves just like a regular whiteboard - i.e. you can write on it with dry-erase markers and use the standard marker cleaner on it when it starts to get grungy. I have the panels on the closet door arranged so that when the bi-fold doors are closed, I have a huge board the width of my closet. My home office is quite small, so this worked out ideally for me. Lots of books, file cabinets and the office bunny cage in here, so there isn’t much wall space that I can reach comfortably. It’s definitely a permanent arrangement, too. Liquid Nails is sturdy stuff. My brother (a contractor) jokes that after the next world war, only roaches, Keith Richards and my whiteboard doors will remain unscathed.
LindaFormichelli
Said this on February 6th, 2008 at 4:51pm:I get it now, thanks! That sounds really great!
clarence
Said this on March 10th, 2008 at 12:17am:Colleagues, I couldn’t find a topic here that addresses my problem; it’s kinda technical. But, maybe someone can point me in the right direction.
I need (mostly want) a “floating” text box.
I’m looking for an existing floating text box that I can “paste in” at the top of my growing database (DB).
It will extend the width of my DB in progress, and can “grow” horizontally only with the increasing
width of my DB page, as I add columns.
Now here’s the real whiny part: I want something that holds, or “floats” over the section head titles of all columns. It will advance down the page as I fill in info for various columns.
This keeps me from scrolling all the way back up to the top (poor baby) to see where my other columns are in relation to where I’m making an entry at any given time (yeah, I’m old).
I hope this is clear. And, after you get past the “Can you believe this guy!” phase,
I hope someone can help.
Thanks.
Clarence (I don’t want to learn code) Giles
Magnetic Strips
Said this on August 11th, 2008 at 6:51am:I’m looking for an existing floating text box that I can “paste in” at the top of my growing database (DB).I use my dry erase board to brainstorm when I’m stuck on a project. (It’s a really big classroom sized one we got from my husband’s office when they laid everyone off.My home office is quite small, so this worked out ideally for me. Lots of books, file cabinets and the office bunny cage in here, so there isn’t much wall space that I can reach comfortably. Nice job…..thanks it helped me.