Let’s take the work out of the workspace
This photo above looks like a fun, hip and professional workspace. I assure you it may start this way but will soon be a torture chamber. Your workspace is a big part of your life and it’s important that you get it absoltely right in order to do good work.
Let’s go:
- Starting very wrongly at the top left, the “inspirational” sign, this one in neon displaying the old maxim “do what you love”. Do not get a sign like this for your workspace. These words– whatever they are– will eventually mock you and your work. You’ll sneer to yourself “do what you love, Brian” as your boss asks for the 15th revision to the excel workbook.
- Top Middle, not sure what this is on top of the monitor but it’s not necessary. Whether it’s a video conferencing device or a high frequency speaker component that goes with the other two mid speakers isn’t important either. This is a workstation not a Guitar Hero rock out station– hide the speakers and only use a webcam when absolutely necessary.
- Ah a cool DOGE crypto digital ticker sign that probably cost a few hundred bucks! Notice that the price of DOGE is .14999 and also note that it is less than half of that now (in Summer 2023). I think you’re starting to see why a sign like this is not only unnnecessary and distracting but also mentally torturous. Put a sign like this where it belongs: right in the trashcan.
- The laptop and docking station are completely unnecessary since you should be using a cloud based desktop backup service (Dropbox, OneDrive etc). Aside from taking up valuable real estate on your desk, laptops belong in your business-travel backpack in case you need to go somewhere. You don’t need to display all of the electronic hardware you own.
- The middle of this photo pleases me a lot. Gigantic monitor and nice keyboard and mouse. Good work!
- Far Right, Gigantic gaming PC box: tacky and unnecessary. You should be focused on your work, not on the internal components of your computer and those sweet LED lights. If you’re working at home you should always use a desktop computer, the laptop formfactor components (processors, ram, video, etc) just cannot compete with that of a desktop. That said, it can be a very small desktop: HP EliteDesk, Dell Optiplex Micro and Lenovo Thinkstation excellent mini desktop PCs that are the size of a small book.
- Chair. This chair doesn’t look very comfortable. If you’re sitting for 8-12 hours per day you better buy a desk chair the way you buy a mattress. Look for a chair with an emphasis on function and comfort and not design.
What is this pictured workspace missing?
Tactile Tools
Notepads. Pens. Highligters. Pencils. Tape. Scissors. You need to touch and work with real things to activate your entire brain, and besides that, there’s no better way to jot down ideas than with a pen or pencil. I love looking through my notebook at old notes; I hate looking through my dour and pretensious digital notes.
Mail Organizer
Yes, this is your workspace and everything else isn’t.
All of your work and paperwork (business and personal) should be done here and only here. Mail should not be left on the kitchen counter or dining table, it goes here.
A Window
If at all possible, your workspace should be right in front of a window. We were not made to spend 8-12 hours inside behind a desk all day, but if we must then we should be getting natural light and seeing the natural world while working inside.
Often times i’ll be frustrated with a difficult problem and i’ll notice some beautiful clouds on a dark blue sky, a squirrel doing something funny or just any part of the outdoors world happening out there while i’m here, and it gives me much needed, valuable perspective.
Yes, this is your workspace and everything else isn’t.
Andy Fox
