{"id":1141,"date":"2010-07-15T08:39:25","date_gmt":"2010-07-15T13:39:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/parentingzoo.com\/members\/?p=1141"},"modified":"2010-07-09T20:41:31","modified_gmt":"2010-07-10T01:41:31","slug":"the-clipboard-many-uses-for-this-overlooked-tool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/parentingzoo.com\/members\/?p=1141","title":{"rendered":"The Clipboard: Many Uses for This Overlooked Tool"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\"clipboards\"<\/a><\/dt>\n
Image by hownowdesign<\/a> via Flickr<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

A couple of years ago, I \u201crediscovered\u201d the clipboard. I found it in my old box of college junk. I don\u2019t think I ever really used it in college, but I thought I would give it a second chance. I put it in my computer desk, and it just sat there unnoticed for another year. All of a sudden I found myself working a part-time job (in addition to my day-job of raising three young children), starting a MOMS Club, and creating a business from scratch. One day, I just picked it up when I needed to carry something around to make notes. That was the day my clipboard became my most indispensable tool.<\/p>\n

Currently my clipboard contains the stuff of my life: my Menu Planner for October, my Menu Planner for September (for reference), my Weekly Planner for this week, my Weekly Planner for next week, my Halloween Party Planner for the get-together we are having at the end of the month, my notes on what I want to include on the agenda for my MOMS Club board meeting, a list of recommended books for the book club, an itinerary for last week\u2019s houseguests, my Monthly Cleaning Schedule, a list of articles I\u2019m planning to write, articles I\u2019m editing for submission, and this article which I prefer to write freehand and then type into the computer later.<\/p>\n

A clipboard doesn\u2019t require holes to be punched in the paper it holds. Pages and notes can quickly and easily be added or removed. It is portable, sturdy, comes in a variety of colors, and has a handy spot for my pen when it is time to get to sleep. A clipboard allows my inner preschooler to manipulate pen and paper. I may go where electricity may not be found and give my eyes a rest from the bright lights of a computer screen. Surely a woman who needed to prepare her daughter\u2019s birthday party between doing several loads of laundry and bathing her children was the original creator of the clipboard. Maybe she had a letter to her Kindergartener\u2019s teacher to write while her 3-year-old played on the playground. It is highly likely that she had grocery lists, to-do lists, and Christmas card lists to compile while waiting in the Dentist\u2019s office. That woman knew she needed a firm, dry (non-sticky) place to write that she could carry with her as she went from one task to the next. Mrs. Clipboard, I thank you from the bottom of my heart!<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

Jennifer Tankersley is the creator of ListPlanIt<\/strong><\/a> where you can find more than 500 printable lists, checklists, and planning pages to tote around on your clipboard and put your world in order.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Enhanced<\/a>