Peace of Mind Organizing

I'm digging the desktop writeboard

3 March 2010

At the Container Store the other day, I discovered the Cocoa Desktop Writeboard a rewritable surface that sits on your desk, allowing you to jot notes. I was intrigued. I balked at the $24.99 price tag, but went ahead and purchased it. (It helped that I used the 10 percent discount I’m offered as a NAPO member.) I’ve since discovered it’s available via Amazon for $17.99.

The writeboard has a clear plastic top beneath which is a paper template. You write on the clear plastic with a dry erase marker (included), using the lines of the template beneath.

Here’s a little diagram of how it works with the templates.

It comes with three pre-printed templates and two blank ones, as well as a CD with over 500 templates (most of which are geared to educational games for children—I imagine it would be great for keeping them busy). There are a dozen or productivity-related templates. You can print out one of these templates and insert it under the clear plastic, or you can create your own.

I keep my to-do list in my Quo Vadis Notor, a page-per-day diary in the form of a little book. I usually create a daily to-do list after perusing my master list. This writeboard is perfect for creating that list. (I use the template that has sections for each day of the week and lots of lines for notes.) Here are a few of the things I love about it:

• It stands up a little from the desk, so I don’t lose it.
• I can erase things when I finish them.
• I’m not wasting paper.
• It’s easy to update and carry over from day to day, if need be.

One thing that initially bugged me is that the top comes off the base when you try to move it. That seemed like a flaw to me. But then I read that that’s actually a design feature—it allows you to take the top with you and use as a hand-held whiteboard. I don’t see myself doing that (and in fact, Cocoa now makes a truly portable whiteboard, which they call Slate) but it makes me feel better about the designers.

Since I purchased it several weeks ago, I’ve used the writeboard on a daily basis. So I’d say it was a good investment!

Tagged with: container store, organizing products, productivity, time management, to-do list

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