Office Supplies: Too Many Options.

I am not one who is in to office supplies. Pens, binder clips, Post-It notes, highlighters, special hanging folders, heck - even printer paper...

I have little use for these things. I have a few pens hanging around, along with a random pad of paper... But I only ever use these two things to look like I am "taking notes" in meetings. I never reference the notes afterwards. I rarely print stuff out on the printer, as I don't like keeping hard copies of things. And that leaves me with absolutely no use for folders of any kind, as I don't file anything. I find Post-It notes annoying.

And as karma would have it, my office is across the hall from our team's printer room/supply closet. I watch, out of the corner of my eye, as people filter in and out of the room throughout the day. And lately, people have been asking me (the chick who hates office supplies) about refills on stuff.

"We have nothing in here," I hear. "Do you know who I need to contact about getting a highlighter/pens/stapler/calculator?"

These are all valid supplies. And if someone needs them, they should have access to them. So I sent off an email to my boss that people were asking about this stuff. He then turned around and asked me to make out a list. (Should have kept my mouth shut!)

So I sent out an email asking people if there was anything we needed, other than highlighters and pens. I got responses back for a dozen different things.

• Pens
• Pencils
• Hanging folders
• Regular folders
• Handheld calculators
• Staplers
• Big binder clips
• Post-It notes
• Page marker stickers
• Staples
• Highlighters

"Do people really use all of these things?" I wondered. Because seriously, all I need is a pen and a pad of paper. If that. I file everything electronically from my computer, on the server. I have adapted to technology so well that I have no need for anything paper... Other than fashion magazines and books. (Canada doesn't have the Kindle. Boo!)

So I opened up the office supply catalog and started writing out product SKUs. But I quickly got overwhelmed.

DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY DIFFERENT TYPES OF PENS, CALCULATORS, STAPLERS, HIGHLIGHTERS, POST-IT NOTES THERE ARE OUT THERE?

Ohmigod! It took me an hour to narrow down a list! There were too many options! Sweet Baby Jesus on Christmas Morning!!!

I mean, does anyone really need a set of Post-It notes cut in the shape of a flower?

Don't get me wrong... No one on the team asked for specific brands of products. But I had a hard time trying to decide which versions to buy. I had to weigh, "What would people be happy having?" with "What is cost efficient and practical?"

It made me wish I was back at the Evil Empire. Just for a second.

See, at the Empire, there was a whole Office Management team. It oversaw every little thing in the office... From where everyone was to sit to how clean things needed to be kept. And their domain included office supplies. When you needed something, you sent in an online request. They then issued you what you needed. But they were very specific when it came to office supplies... We were only allowed specific things. From specific pens to the holder of the pens on your desk... And only certain colors were allowed.

• Silver
• Black

That was it. No hot-pink accessories (even if you brought them in yourself)... No wildly colored file folders. I never even saw so much as a personalized mouse pad while I was there. If you didn't follow the rules, you get a nasty email or talked to by office management.

Everything in the office was white. We all sat at long tables that were divided into desks. Our chairs were on rollers and were white with silver accents. We each had a silver locker that we were to use for storing our coats and purses during the day (as you couldn't leave anything lying about).

Basically, you weren't given choices. So I adapted to what we had there. And I eventually learned to live without things. So when I was given the task of putting together the order for supplies, I just didn't know where to begin.

"We get choices here?" I wondered.

Maybe I will start using office supplies again. Though, old habits die hard.