You know, I love all the sets of things like Sharpie and Expo, or the beautiful Prismacolor art products. But I have to say that I'm a practical person when it comes to my own comfort. I used to teach at a college that was just under an hour's drive from my home. Worse, it was situated so that I had to go right, smack, dab through Dallas--at 5 o'clock! Have you ever been in traffic (on major roadways) at that hour? It's, well, pick your favorite expletive. (vocabulary.com suggests fudge, sugar, heck and walrus). I used them. I made up more. 

The college had wonderful, huge white boards, but I had to bring my own eraser, markers and other supplies. Since I was also bringing things like print outs of things to help the class members, pens and pencils for an exercise, books for readings, and various other teaching aids, having to carry large boxes of dry erase accessories was difficult. I had a brief case, a purse, an electronic device case, and box of supplies...and on it went. I wasn't happy, although I was getting in shape with all the lifting.

Certainly there are advantages to having a laptop. It eliminates the need for many of those things--except if you want everyone to have notes you made for a project, they all have to have laptops or tablets, and they must access email, and it means I have to be able to get copies of things I want into the system and transferred. And what if I don't want to transcribe pages from a book that's ON SALE NOW, so I can't copy from it without either buying the electronic version or scanning it? You see the dilemma. Beyond that, I make my students actually write--with a pen or pencil--on paper--there in the classroom. Some things are a necessity.

What to do? Well, dry erase kits are great, but the big fancy ones don't tuck into anything well, except an SUV. I liked the box of multi colored dry erase markers, which slips into a corner of the brief case easily. So does one of those soft gray erasers. Ditto some wipes inside a zip lock bag instead of a nice 8 oz spray. So if you are in a place like a board room or a classroom--one that you are always presenting data in--get the nice big sets and tuck them away in the credenza. But if you travel from place to place, or room to room, get the open stock pieces that will do the job for that day.

Maybe you are one of those people who is sent to organize--anything. I was one of those once. Whether it's organizing a move from house to house, and you need to mark boxes efficiently, or someone who needs to get office space ready for business, Sharpie can help with marking both instructions and documents, or charts that identify where things should be placed. They also fit neatly in either a zip lock bag or one of those smaller cosmetic or pencil cases with a zipper.

If you like to do drawings of space, or if you actually plan space in the architectural sense, our Turquoise sets do the job admirably. Different textures and grades of hardness help identify all kinds of things, from electrical boxes to entryways. And the technical aspects of space planning are aided by having the correct leads. These come in nice, compact trays, and you can use a 10C lead holder, which can take quite a beating. Outside it shines as well, delivering its messages with no hassle, and it fits in your pocket.

If you need to go multi purpose, a couple of InkJoy Quatros will give you writing ability in eight colors,-four in each pen- and it's just a click to change the color. This works great for files of any kind, storage sorting (Sharpe is great here also), calendar marking, or even sticky note missives. 

I love having stuff around. I am inspired by all things 'marker'. But when I have a job to do, and the job is not near my office-home or business-then I try to choose implements that will be easy to transport and still get the job done. If you still have trouble organizing, let us know, and we'll try to help. Use the Contact Us button on the Home Page bar. You can use my name!