The humble sticky note is as ubiquitous as pens and paper in any office setting and long recognized as a way of keeping track of ideas, tagging pages in books and magazines, reminding yourself of an appointment and even labeling your lunch in the office fridge. And now, you can even use sticky notes online.
The Sticky Note Goes Digital
Unlike many office supply products, the digital age hasn't reduced the sticky note's usefulness. As workers stopped relying on traditional notepads, sticky notes found a natural home on the edges of computer screens. Here they could be stuck easily and removed without damaging the equipment. Then they evolved again — to sticky notes on your computer desktop. Here are some of the creative things you can do:
Digital sticky note applications.
A digital version of the sticky note became a built-in program on Microsoft Windows. The yellow digital note looks like the physical version and can be moved around your computer screen and "stuck" anywhere. Apple followed suit with its Stickies program, and the digitization of this analog office tool was complete.
Color-coded brainstorming sessions.
Your team can use online collaborative sticky notes to generate ideas and create presentations. Use colored sticky notes to separate ideas for different themes, by department, or by individual.
Transfer Excel notes to sticky notes.
Cut and paste Excel spreadsheet data into digital sticky notes. You can then color code them and rearrange as you like on the online sticky note wall.
Online Sticky Notes Tools
Today, the digital sticky note can travel with you thanks to online sticky note boards like note.ly, where you can share your note-worthy ideas and use online collaborative sticky notes with colleagues, wherever they are.
Access from anywhere.
Your notes can be retrieved online from a variety of devices at work, home or on the road.
Reduce clutter.
Forget those days of sticking hastily written notes all over your computer monitor, desk or fridge. Now you can keep all your notes neat, organized and in one place online.
Customize your sticky notes.
You can change colors, fonts, sizes and wall backgrounds to suit your individual taste. You can even add images and to-do lists.
As cutting-edge as a digital sticky note is, there's something satisfying about physical sticky notes that make them ideal for ideation. Jot down your thoughts and stick them up on the office bulletin board to inspire your coworkers. Consider instituting your own version of Positive Post-It Day at your workplace as a team-building activity.
