tactful use of a corkboard

Hanging next to my desk in my room is a cork board, typically covered with notices, assignment breifs, and opportunity fliers.  But the cork board did not alway hang there, in fact it is a fairly recent addition to my scheduling coalition, which includes calendars, day planners, dry-erase boards, and post-its.  I did not always have a cork board because I have long been weary of them, and questioned how productive one could be.

In school cork boards are used to display notices and upcoming events, like a marketing technique.  Often times, however, they become cluttered and over grown with outdated and past due fliers that cover-up the current and pertinent information.  Hence my hesitation in getting one.  In my life things need to be organized, both for my schedule to flow and for my OCD to stay in check.  Since I thought of cork boards as chaotic at best, I put off getting one for a long time.  But with college comes lots of fliers, assignment briefs, syllabi, etc. and so I gave in eventually.

Over the past two years, however, I have experimented with my cork board a lot, making attempts to make it more user-friendly.  In curbing my cork board woes and increasing its productivity, I found that five easy steps are all it takes to stay organized.  For your viewing pleasure, here they are:

1. Be selective.  Do not post every little thing you come across on your cork board.  Mixing all sorts of fliers and papers can give you a headache later on.  Give your cork board a theme or two – on mine I keep only things with deadlines (like assignments and event fliers)  - so that other random things do not get lost.  Keep those things that do not belong on your cork board in another place, like in a folder or desk draw.
2. Set limits.  Overcrowding is the leading cause of frustration when it comes to cork boards.  After all, they are designed to make finding things easier, so do not hide that opportunity flier behind two layers of assignment briefs.  Choose a manageable number of tacks - my cork board is fairly small so I only use seven – and make sure to post only as many papers as you have tacks at any given time.  This way things are easy to find, easy to read, and easy to keep track of.
3. Leave notes.  In posting assignment briefs on my cork board I always attach a post-it with the due date and any other pertinent information.  With fliers about college events and opportunities I leave notes with phone numbers or email addresses of those in charge, who I may need to contact.  This makes it much easier later on, because all the information you need is in one place.
4. Keep it positive.  If your cork board contains nothing but things from your have-to-do list, you will dread looking at it, which defeats its purpose.  By throwing in some positive things, like an invitation to a friend’s party, a list of movies you want to see (this is one I keep on my cork board and always update), or even some cute decorations, looking at your cork board will not seem like such a terrible thing.
5. Lastly, keep it current.  There is no reason to keep old and past-due fliers or assignments on your cork board.  When you have completed something, take it down.  When things you did not get to become overdue, throw them away.  It is this kind of thing that builds up and clutters your cork board.  Check it weekly for papers that can be taken down, and keep up only those papers that are relevant and current.

They seems like a simple concept, but cork boards can grow out of control and gain a mind of their own if not monitored.  Keep your cork board under control so it works for you and helps you stay organized and on schedule.  It is times like these – the last week or two of classes – when cork boards can really come in handy, especially when it comes to final projects and final reviews.  Keep on top of these things, and do not get discouraged – summer is just around the corner.  Study hard, and enjoy your two minutes of procrastination by clicking —> there.

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