I am an organizational freak. That's not to say that my office is always organized. Sometimes it's a total dump, like say right now. But then I go on a cleaning spree and spend days doing nothing but clearing out the junk and organizing the rest. During one of these sprees I went to my local office supply store and purchased three Tenex 100 Class Side Load Self-Stacking Desk Trays to use at home.

The plan was a good one: Have an In box, an Out box and a To Be Filed box. The trays were inexpensive, they cost about $3 each. I had a place to set them and I was good to go.

I brought the trays home, removed them from the bag and stacked them one on top of the other. Each tray has very narrow rectangular slots on the top, two on each side. These hold the "feet" of the tray above it. The trays stack exactly one on top of the other unlike some trays which stack back behind the previous one slightly.

The trays aren't very tall, only about 3" at most. They're letter-sized trays so they hold standard 8.5" x 11" papers. Mine are an opaque black so you can't see through them. The sides are half "vented" so you can see through them, presumably to tell how thick that pile of papers you're ignoring is getting.

The front of the tray curves inward toward the middle, which makes it easy to reach and pull a single sheet or two of paper out, since the paper juts out beyond the curve. The trays aren't particularly attractive but they are functional and seem to be in use in every office I've seen. They're a very popular office supply item.

Using the Trays
Organizational tools work only as well as the people who use them. That's to say that mine work well sporadically. Sometimes they just don't because I don't pay full attention to what's in them.

These trays stack as advertised and they hold paper, it's a pretty basic function. And they do it well. However, there are some small elements of the tray design that I feel could be improved. For instance, nowhere on the front of the tray is there a convenient space for a label. You can label the sides of the tray, or even the back of it, but with the tray facing you, there's just not much room for even a tiny label. And face it, the person using the tray is usually in front of it, and usually needs the label there.

These trays are also somewhat flimsy. They can bow and sag under weight and they can fall off one another if you're not very careful. It would have been nice if the feet somehow could have "clicked" into place to provide more stability and to keep the trays from inadvertently being lifted apart.

The trays can be stacked, but based on the fact that they do come apart so easily I wouldn't stack them more than five or so high. And that's only if you're going to be using light paper. Heavy papers and magazines can bow out the frames of the trays.

I have used these trays for a couple of years at home and for many more years at work. I'm not always timely in filing away my papers, so I wish the trays were slightly taller to allow me to cram more papers in. Of course, if they were, I'd still probably cram them to the max and wish for taller trays.

One problem I have with these trays is simply inherent in the fact that they're horizontal stackable trays: I can't see what's in them without pulling it out. Vertical trays allow you to flip through folders and papers, pulling out just the ones you want. Horizontal trays hold the papers better, but the contents are less visible.

Summary
My office isn't the neatest by any means, but these trays do serve a good purpose. They keep papers from running off my desk and onto the floor. They're perfect for single sheets of paper and other papers that don't lend themselves to being stored vertically.

Where to Buy
Tenex 100 Class Side Load Self-Stacking Desk Trays can be purchased in both letter and legal sizes, in a few different colors. They can be found at all office supply stores, especially the larger chain stores.

Recommended: Yes