How to correctly apply sticky notes as bookmarks in notebooks

Question

The problem(s) that I face :

1. The edges get deformed, due to which text written on it is not visible.

2. Most of the sticky notes lose their gum.

Any suggestions to prevent this are welcome.

Answer 1

From what you've said I think post it notes are probably not the right tool for the job. You have a softback book seemingly with no protection, in something like a bag (or even just carried in a stack with your hands wrapped around the edge; the post it's are being folded and ruined

If you want to carry on using post its you'll need to create some kind of hardback cover that extends out past the edges of the book, like a real hardback does. This will provide some protection for protruding notes against being folded. You could even fashion the cover so that it folds up with a gap and covers the notes. Crude sketch time:

Blue is the book, red is the notes, green is a lifehacked strong cardboard cover that is tied or glued (orange) to the book, and made so that it folds and fastens (black) closed with a gap to protect the notes

If you want to get a drill out then a box file with a lever arch might help: you can drill through the book in the right place that it can be mounted on the lever arch, ensuring there is a gap

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Alternatively if you practise writing your notes really, really small than you can stick the note so that it doesn't protrude from the book at all and you can reveal a few millimeters of note by rolling the book up, starting at the spine - by the time you reach the page edges the rolling action causes them to separate slightly. If the separation isn't enough for writing, it may be enough for a bit of morse code or a dot system, and you can have 26 tabs with an index inside the front cover

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I did mention I don't think paper notes are the right tool for this job; it's probably one for something a bit more resistant to being ragged around. Plastic tabs are available and may be more resistant to being folded

Answer 2

Scrum Master here - aka wielding sticky notes for a living.

The first tip I always give to my coachees is to not pull them off the stack upwards, towards the sticky edge, because that causes them to invariably curl and leads to them sticking up instead of laying flat on whatever surface you place them on.
Instead, remove them in a sideways motion perpendicular to the sticky edge.

Second, if you are using them as bookmarks, try to minimize the area sticking out, especially if you are going to transport your books. Simplified, what isn’t sticking out can’t be crushed or bent. It may help to write the text along the vertical edge instead of horizontally. You may want to use slightly wider stickies if you need more space, and remember that color can carry information as well - both stickies and pens come in different colors.

And finally, if you have to carry your books around, protect the edge with the markers as good as you can - placing larger folders around them or simply placing them into your backpack spine side down.

If your stickies don’t stick well, sorry to say that investing into another brand may be the best solution. And of course store them in an environment protected from excessive heat, sun or dust.

Answer 3

An alternative suggestion that is related to something mentioned in my other answer, would be to not use paper tabs at all; if these page markers are to be a permanent thing you could consider to use something like a hole punch to take a semicircular notch out of the edge of the page and write your note on the first page of the book so it aligns with the notch. By spacing the notches out appropriately you should be able to get quite a few marks down the length of the page edge (and even the tops and bottoms of pages). You then have an index list that is easy to look down and can follow over the book edge to see the relevant notch. By rolling the book up you will spread the page leaves out and make the notches easier to see.

This technique is similar to one that does have a known name - thumb indexes but those notches are much larger (literally you can fit a thumb in, pinch the pages and flip the book to open it at the right page. I'm proposing a smaller notch that you'd identify visually rather than physically and flick the pages til you reached it. Similar idea though