Office Stationery Items That You Should Have In Your Collection
‘Where are the paper clips?!'
'We’re out of staple pins!'
'Oh no, I forgot about the meeting in the morning!’
Stop and think for a while. How frequently have you heard these kinds of complaints?
The answer is most likely to be 'very frequent'.
These very typical mishaps can be solved with a little beforehand preparation of office stationery items.
This very avoidable incidents sometimes become costly. For example, submitting a report after the deadline because you didn't have a file to put it in are very common scenarios nowadays. And for this, maybe a deal didn't go through, maybe someone's promotion fell behind.
What's a little disappointing is many people think that the management of these such small items isn't worth the time or the effort. Whereas, they clearly are.
Today, we'll learn about items which, if possessed and kept at close proximity, can help you to avoid these inconveniences easily.
Table of Contents
Top 10 Stationery Item for Office Uses
1. Calendars
The most important stationery item that I believe should be on everyone's list is a calendar. For setting meetings, or paying bills, or simply underlining the deadlines for any particular task; calendars are a must.
Sure, our smartphones contain calendars, but a physical copy of them would be really helpful. A marked calendar hanging on the wall or sitting on the table is more noticeable and memorable than a simple notification on the phone.
Nowadays, people are being drawn more and more into desktop calendars as they are easier to mark and doesn't require getting up from one's seat.
Calendars do have other usages than the aforementioned ones. For example, if a person needs to take a vacation, he or she can simply look to the calendar for a proper timeline that is the most suited.
There are many types of calendars, like purely lunar, purely solar, lunisolar, solilunar, etc. But as for office usages, a simple calendar comprising of the English months is enough.
2. Pens, Pen Holders
One of the most important stationery items is pens. From signing a document or to simply write down something, pens are the go-to item for almost anyone now. Another item that complements pens and doesn't let your desk be disorganized is a pen holder.
These two items are almost quintessential for any office. There are a variety of pens available to select from. Ballpoint (commonly used), gel, and fountain are some of the examples. All these pens have different purposes but for office usages, the preferred ones are ballpoint or gel pens.
Pen holders, be it plastic or wooden, have also gained popularity in recent times. Besides pens, one can also keep other stationery items like erasers, sharpeners, pencils as well. Pen holders are almost an all-utility item for any office which makes it even more popular amongst everyone.
3. Erasers, Pencils, And Sharpeners
Even though there are erasers that can remove pen writings on paper, many people prefer pencil over pen while, say, writing something that might be needed to be edited and changed.
Usage of a pencil also requires it to be sharpened and therefore these three should be in anyone's must-have office stationery items.
There are different kinds of pencils used around the world. The most common ones are graphite (normal ones), solid graphite, crayon, charcoal (for drawing), and carpenter (for carpenters specifically), etc.
Like pencils; there are also quite a few types of erasers; like rubber (the most commonly used), gum (graphite absorbers), vinyl (for removing ink), pencil (the ones at the end of pencils) and kneaded (for artists).
As of Sharpeners, the commonly used varieties are manual ones (for everyday usage), electric, carpenter’s, and all-purpose (works for almost any pencil).
For office stationery, commonly used pencil, sharpeners, and erasers are more than enough to serve the purpose. They can help people to correct their ideas for as many times as they want without needing or wasting papers every time.
4. Sticky Notes
Organizing and being organized has been two serious challenges for a lot of people around the world. Sometimes, they do one thing while forgetting another which was maybe even more important than the one they chose or remembered to do.
Memory lapse is the main reason behind such mismanagement. To avoid such mishaps, sticky notes were invented back in 1968.
The unique selling proposition (USP) of these little 3x3 sized notes are the adhesive at the back. The 'glue', if you may, is pressure sensitive and can easily be removed for any place it was stuck upon.
And the best part is, it does not leave any kind of mark on the surface it was attached to, requiring any cleaning issues.
Sticky notes are best suited for people who have a hard time organizing themselves or their works. One can write things he or she has to remind themselves of and simply stick it to a place that is hard to miss by their eyes.
Sticky notes also come in a wide range of colors which can help in organizing the task according to importance. You can choose from different colors like red, blue, orange, yellow, white, etc.
For example, one can assign the set of yellow sticky notes to the tasks bearing the most importance, like packing the laptop, charger and what not in the backpack before leaving.
Even in the office, they can be assigned to vital tasks like 'Report to Boss about the project in hand'. This way, one will be able to organize himself and ensure improved efficiency.
Get An Spiral Notebook For Your Office That Helps You To Make Your Idea Safe.
5. White Boards, Markers, And Erasers
As one can probably derive from the aforementioned usages of sticky notes, they are small in size. And sometimes even if they are put in a visible place, one might miss to notice them as smaller objects are more likely to be overlooked in a hurry.
For such people, White Boards are the solution. White Boards come in various sizes. For instance, the three most popular sizes of whiteboards are 120 x 90 cm, 120 x 150 cm, and 120 x 180 cm. One can buy the boards according to his/her preferred size.
The supporting whiteboard stationery items are markers and dusters. Markers, like sticky notes, also come in a variety of colors, like black, yellow, red, blue, etc. Assign the marker colors by the degree of importance of the reminders (i.e. 'Red' is most important, 'Blue' is optional).
Also you need to store few marker pens for especially uses like write on fabric or hardboard.
White Boards can be wall-mounted or leaned against a wall. No matter how you use them, they are most likely to serve their purposes properly.
Brainstorming in a group is one aspect where whiteboards come to the best of uses. Using the markers to point out the key factors, or even the problems that need to be addressed, go a long way to serving the purpose of the discussion.
6. Stapler And Staples
For sticking a fold of papers together to submit or to simply make sure one doesn't lose track of them, staplers are the stationery item used the most around the world.
Preparing a handwritten report sometimes requires a lot of papers and putting them in a file isn't always the most effective way. That’s because the unattached pages may be lost without proper maintenance. Therefore, staplers can be an effective way to keep the stack important papers together.
There are 7 types of staplers; Desktop (for everyday usage), Electric (for legal documents), Heavy Duty (for big amount of papers), Plier (for shipping and packaging), Long reach (for places of a paper normal staplers can't reach), Specialty Hand (for fastening documents) and reduced effort (for ergonomic efficiency).
There are also multiple types of staples; like normal, heavy-duty, mini staples, etc. Understanding which stapler is best suited for certain usages is also a very important aspect of using them. For instance, assigning an electric stapler for legal documents will ultimately damage the papers.
7. Paper Clips
Now, staplers are not necessarily totally harmless. Many people have fallen victim to staple cuts or getting pins stuck in fingers. A relatively safer option is paper clips which are made of plastic.
Like sticky notes, paper clips also come in various colors. And they don't require to puncture the papers to attach them together.
The most commonly used paper clips are those known as 'Gem clips'. But you’ll be amazed hearing that there are almost 60 different types of paper clips. Besides Gem clips; the others frequently used are Eureka Clip, Clipper Clip, Owl clip, Niagra Clip, and Weis clip.
The best part about paper clips is that they’re lightweight, easy to carry, and they also attach papers and other stuff really effectively. It's like having a lighter and more vibrant (in terms of colors) type of staplers, without the fear of getting cut.
Paper or gem clips as they are commonly known nowadays, are really cheap and are available in almost every stationery shop across the block. This small but effective tool is an essential and helpful stationery item for the office.
8. Transparent Files
One of the most common mishaps in workplaces is when someone brings out some other file instead of the one they were supposed to bring.
This usually happens when the papers are kept in a file where you can't see those (papers) from the outside. And in most cases, the brown envelopes or the files aren't marked. This problem can be easily solved by using transparent files.
Transparent files are the ones which enable oneself to see through the papers that are kept inside it. The file's front and the back part are comprised of plastic which can be seen easily.
They also come in a lot of colors; like blue, green, white, etc. A proper replacement of the old school envelopes, transparent files ensure avoiding unwanted incidents as mentioned before.
9. Highlighters
Another real handful office stationery item is the highlighter. Used to mark important excerpts of a book or a file, highlighter helps understand the bullet points or the summary of any particular content easily.
One can also use it on sticky notes to underline the importance of the given task of his/her schedule. Highlighters are also a great use for marking the certain aspects of, say, a file or paper to point out the mistakes.
Highlighters help people to take a quick glance at the topics of a certain presentation or a study that they might need to talk or present on. By assigning importance to its various colors, one can easily get a job in hand done quickly.
Highlighters also come in a wide range of colors; like light green, deep green, orange, red, etc. Compatible on almost any surface, highlighters are a great help nowadays.
10. First Aid Kit And Fire Extinguisher
These might not sound like your typical office stationeries, but trust me, they are an integral part of it. While you and your co-workers hustle all day in the office, they are the items that’ll help you stay safe if something goes wrong.
Accidents, staples puncturing the thumb, work-stress related complexities are something more or less every office goes through. A fast aid box can keep you covered until professional help arrives.
Fire extinguishers help control fire incidents. More often than not, it’s obligatory rather than optional. It should be placed in a location that is easily accessible by anyone.
Offices comprise people, and with people comes accidents. It’s unavoidable. The best thing we can do is take the necessary precautions to stay safe.
Conclusion
As we told before, proper management of office stationery items can go a long way to helping people increase their efficiency and save valuable time. There are also other office items that do deserve an honorable mention if you may.
For example, paper tray, laser pointer, self-inking stamp, glue, tape, laminator, binding machine. These items are usually easy to find but when they aren’t, you’re in for trouble.
These items ensure one stays stress-free, and doesn't miss out on their deadlines, important meetings. They also help in doing a certain aspect of the jobs more effectively.
People should understand the value these items add and not discard them just because they seem insignificant. To many, these may not seem to be worth keeping around. But trust me, they are the items that’ll save the day, and probably your job too.
