in-trays
Desk document holders
In-trays are containers, typically shallow boxes or baskets, that hold incoming documents awaiting attention—the physical predecessors to email inboxes.
The term appears mainly in British English; Americans more often say inbox even for physical trays.
My in-tray is overflowing with reports.
An overflowing in-tray suggests being overwhelmed with work.
Furniture for writing
- desktopPrimary computer interface
- workspaceDesignated area for tasks
- cubiclePartitioned office workspace
- workstationTechnical computing system
inbox · outbox · pending · mailroom · correspondence · memos · letters · documents
Ordering by importance
- processingSystematic operation on data
- sortingArranging into sequence
- triagingSorting by urgency
- delegatingTransferring authority to another
actioning · pending · backlog · queue · turnaround · routing · distributing · forwarding
Exceeding capacity, spilling out
- pileupSequential vehicular collision
- backlogAccumulated unfinished work
- accumulationCollected mass over time
- heapJumbled collection of items
stack · mess · disarray · overflow · congestion · overload · buried · swamped
Formal written records
- correspondenceExchanged written communication
- memosShort official messages
- reportsFormal written findings
- lettersAlphabetic characters or mail
forms · invoices · receipts · applications · submissions · proposals · briefs · requests
desk
Furniture for writing
- desktopPrimary computer interface
- workspaceDesignated area for tasks
- cubiclePartitioned office workspace
workstation · inbox · outbox · pending · mailroom · correspondence · memos · letters · documents · files
prioritizing
Ordering by importance
- processingSystematic operation on data
- sortingArranging into sequence
- triagingSorting by urgency
delegating · actioning · pending · backlog · queue · turnaround · routing · distributing · forwarding · handling
overflowing
Exceeding capacity, spilling out
- pileupSequential vehicular collision
- backlogAccumulated unfinished work
- accumulationCollected mass over time
heap · stack · mess · disarray · overflow · congestion · overload · buried · swamped · neglected
documents
Formal written records
- correspondenceExchanged written communication
- memosShort official messages
- reportsFormal written findings
letters · forms · invoices · receipts · applications · submissions · proposals · briefs · requests · approvals
- filing systemsfiling systems, filing cabinets, file cabinets, manila folders, tickler file