Pendaflex File Folders with Erasable Tabs

The Reason
After I bought my File Sorters, I needed some file folders. My initial thought was the plain old manila folders that I was used to using at my old job. However once I started flipping through the OfficeMax book, I had so many choices! I ended up getting these file folders because they were unique without being too expensive. Yes manila folders would have been cheaper, but these are much more user-friendly!

The Design
First of all, they are multi-colored coming in bright red, yellow, blue, purple and green. They colors are very distinct making it easy to see the different folders as they are stacked neatly in my file sorter. This really helps so that i don't grab too many files when I'm only trying to pull out one. I remember with the old manila folders, and the lots of papers that I had in each folder, that it was hard to tell where one folder ended and another began! Multi-color is the way to go.

Now your next thought is probably "I've seen multi-colored folders cheaper then this" and you probably have. Over 15$ for a stack of 30 folders means 50cents a folder. So what are you paying for? Well the erasable tabs of course! Each tab has a shiny plastic like film on it that allows you to write with any regular ball point pen AND erase it later! I use a ball point/gel pen and it works great but there are some steps you have to follow for the best results.

1) Write slowly - if you write too fast the ink will not flow correctly. It isn't like writing on a sheet of paper so you do have to write slowly.
2) Don't touch the ink! - After you write, the ink will still be wet for awhile. If you touch it right after writing, it will just wipe off. If you wait a day and then touch it, it will only wipe off if you put effort into it. All in all, I would avoid touching the tabs at all cost. Most the time you have no reason to!
3) Don't use markers! - It doesn't say this on the package, but if you use anything other than a regular ball point pen or Gel pen, it will not wipe off - at least not easily.
4) If you do erase, wait a minute before writing again. You don't really have to wait too long, but I do just to be safe and make sure the tab is dry.

When you are ready to erase, just take any regular pencil eraser and say bye bye to the ink. This is why you pay the 50cents a folder! Once a project is completed, instead of tossing the folder I just erase the tab and put the folder back into my pile.

Finally, the folders seem sturdy as compared to regular manila folders. Best of all you don't get that manila "dust" that I used to get whenever we opened a new box of manila folders. As for size and shape, they are the same as manila folders with 3 staggered tab locations.

The Look
Besides being practical, the colors also look much nicer when you organize. I've mentioned before I like things to look pretty and these have accomplished that task! Sometimes having a lot of manila folders can make your file sorter look cluttered and full of files... but when you mix up the colors it looks at least somewhat more organized.

The potential
I personally took all the folders and put them in order Red, Yellow, Blue, Purple Green, Red, Yellow, Blue, etc. So every time I have a new project I grab whatever color folder is on top. This allows me to constantly mix up the colors I use and makes it so eventually I can associate a specify project with a color. Instead of flipping through 100 folders to find a project, I just have to flip through the Red ones.

The second idea I had but did not follow through with was to start using one color per project category, like Red = Web Stuff, Blue = Research Stuff, etc. This would make it much more organized as one color would always represent one type of work. I mention this as something you could potentially do! but I have decided not to do this only because I couldn't decide what 5 categories I would have, or what projects would go in which category. However, if you already know you have 5 clear categories that your projects fall into - I suggest that because it sounds like a good idea.

Final Thoughts
There's not much more to say! Keep your desk organized, and projects easy to find by buying these multi-colored folders today. Best of all, you can change the title of your folders anytime you like, so if you change your mind about what to call a project as often as I do, no worries - just erase and rewrite. These folders are also available in single-color packs so you can by a whole ton of your favorite color! Enjoy.