In most people's desks you'll find them.

On most monitors, you'll find them.

Sticky notes. Ah, sweet sticky notes. Yellow versions, pink versions, pale blue models and even neon. If you like 'em, you can get them in just about any configuration you like.

I once saw someone's desk with three sticky notes on the PC. The problem was each was just the top of several other sticky notes. That was apparently a black belt version of some primal productivity system. Or not.

Let's use them a bit smarter. I suggest the following:

Only use sticky notes for actual notes. These should be commentaries or questions about a report or memo. In other words, you may not want to write directly on a document but a sticky with a question (i.e. "Correct data for column four?")
Avoid using sticky notes for reminders or to-dos. This is what your system is for. As an example, I use Nozbe to keep myself organized because it's cross platform, fast and affordable.

Why are sticky note dangerous if you use them all over the blessed geography of your desk and computer? Simply put, the more you use sticky notes, the less you're using a more serious system of keeping organized.

Hey, it's not that sticky notes are bad. We just want to encourage you to keep them in their place as commentary placeholders on the top of reports, etc.

How are you using sticky notes to get more done?

*photo courtesy of fdp