Your Desk
Especially if you’re working remotely, you spend lots of time at your desk.
Your desk may say something about you. For example, a large, quality desk covered with work-related material suggests that you greatly value your worklife. A small, mainly empty desktop conveys something different.
More important than image is how wisely you use your desk. Here are some thoughts.
Ergonomics
Let’s start with the basic but important: ergonomics. Of course, you’ll be more productive if your set-up is good:
Your chair and keyboard are adjusted so your wrist is the same height as the keyboard.
Your monitor is at eye level and 24 to 30 inches from your eyes.
The chair's height is set so your feet are flat on the floor and you feel comfortable.
If your seat tilts, you might tilt it slightly downward, which improves circulation to your feet.
No matter how you set your chair, sitting is the new smoking, so get up for a few minutes an hour or when your body feels it needs to.
Your desk as real estate
Think of your desktop as a supermarket thinks of shelf space—It’s valuable real estate. But while you may not get more money by optimizing your desktop's utility, it can make you more efficient, comfortable, and feel good. For example, I keep the item I most often need to look at right in front of me: a memo cube. On it, I write a to-do list that with the items that needn't be done at a specific time. I write the time-specific ones on my calendar. (See the photo of the main part of my desk.)
Ornamentation
Your desk can feel good if carefully ornamented. My monitor’s wallpaper is a picture of my wife, doggie, and me. If I were trying to develop a habit or keep a concept top-of-mind, I’d temporarily replace that with a few-word reminder, for example, "merit above all.” You can create beautiful such text backgrounds with free software.
I have a few tiny items glued to the base of my monitor. Two were little gifts from clients—I had a rat problem in my attic and a client brought me a 1” toy rat. Another item is a tiny green-haired troll, which reminds me to be my best self in what I write lest my troll magnify my misstep.
The takeaway
If your desk is important to you, perhaps one or more of the aforementioned ideas will help you make the most of it.