What a novel idea really, a piece of paper that has a pre-fabricated adhesive - sticky notes. It's genius. Sticky notes have been saving hard workers for only a mere 28 years if you can believe it. It is hard to imagine a workplace without them, right? And it's likely your home workstation has yellow square pieces of paper stuck all over it, too, serving as reminders or phone messages.

What you may not know, though, is that the world of sticky notes extends beyond the recognizable brightly colored sticky note pad on your desk. You can use this brilliant invention to your benefit. Some out of the box ideas for the use of sticky notes:

1. Personalize sticky note pads and use as promotional material

2. Purchase the mega size sticky notes, easel pads, for use in meetings and conferences for the whole room to see

3. Develop a color-coded labeling system for files and planning with sticky notes

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Use sticky notes to promote your business

Are you looking for a new promotional item? What better then printing pads of sticky notes with your company's name on them? Chances are slim the recipient will toss such a valuable item and will be more likely to notice what the notes actually say with each use.

I recommend: There are several companies that will design and print your sticky note pads. VistaPrint often runs 50% off deals and has a wide variety of pre-loaded designs you can order right off the web. They also give you the option of uploading your own design or logo. If you are looking for just a basic design or logo, iPrint offers discounts on bulk orders.

Consider replacing the chalk board with enormous sticky note pads

Who knew brainstorming could be so much fun? Sticky notes that are larger then life can be plastered up all over the meeting room so you never have to erase and can even save as your meeting notes. Don't worry about writing small, these at least 20' x 23' pieces of paper have plenty of scribble room.

I recommend: There are both lined and unlined pads to choose from. Depending on what size and how many you want to order, Discount Office Supplies and Tiger Advertising have several options to choose from to best suit you.

Utilize sticky notes to get organized

Sticky notes come in every shape and size. Square pads, note card shaped pads, heart shaped pads, you name it, they can make it. The portable size comes with multiple colors on one jacket. The perfect size to flag files by color or use in a calendar for planning ahead.

I recommend: Assess how you can use the notes to peek through folders or pages of a planner. You can organize by color or size of the sticky note. If you're looking for something portable and promotional all in one, Extra Mile offers sticky note flags inside of your personalized business card holder. And for the environmentally friendly office, Green Home offers none other then recycled sticky notes.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Sticky notes are not a new concept, but you can revise the way you use them. Keep in mind the Go Green efforts and consider how you can reuse or keep these pieces of paper. For example, if you use a sticky note to write a phone number down, write small and save room for the next time you need to jot down another number or small note. Eventually you'll end up with a list of important notes that you'll likely want to keep in a safe place.