Desk job

"Cleanliness is next to Godliness."

"If a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind, what is the significance of a clean desk?"

How's your work space looking, boys and girls?  As with the first set of photos, is your desk free and clear of clutter?  Do you subscribe by the rule "If it's bigger than a bread box, it shouldn't be on your desk?"  A clean desk can allow you to focus and concentrate on the task at hand, to work without distraction.  It may remind you to work paperlessly and store everything on your computer.  Also, it literally allows you to clean your desk / computer / keyboard / mouse with those antibacterial wipes - something I forget to do all too often.  At my old job, we used to have a clean desk policy, which was reinforced once a year when someone came in and literally did an inspection and audit of everyone's work space to confirm that confidential information was not in plain sight.

Or maybe your desk is more like the second set of photos.  You let papers, files, magazines, books, cups, plates, dead plants and other sorts of detritus collect on your desk.  Could be that you're too busy / lazy / unorganized.  Or perhaps you work better having things on your desk where they're within easy reach and remember.  You don't want to potentially toss something important or sentimental and find inspiration from random scribblings, desk toys and photographs.  Rummaging through the stacks on your desk is like going through a personal timeline of what you've been doing, eating, wanting in the last few days (or weeks).  My own desk now (last picture) follows more of the second philosophy, although it's not for lack of trying to aim for the first.

PS - Please click on the links if you want to find out more about the desks' owners.  My favourite, which I've blogged about before, is that of Nike's CEO - picture #4.

1 / 2 / 3

4 / 5 / 6 / Yours truly

Comments

  1. What an awesome post! haha. I think I'm a closet Swede. If it doesn't have a function, it's pretty much clutter to me. My desk space is very very clean most of the times. It's the only way I can actually work.

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  2. My desk is full of things that are completely unrelated to work. Mainly dishes and such since I eat at my desk and work on my couch. I wish I was more organized. These photos are quite inspirational.

    Wren

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  3. Your desk was how mine was before when I used to work in finance. Now, it's more like the 5th picture...sigh.....

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  4. Mine's definitely a lot like #3 because I love minimal and de-cluttered spaces, especially for my desk. HOWEVER, it doesn't always look that way... especially during finals. Or writing projects. Or hey, even blogging. ;)

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  5. My desk is relatively neat - partly because I'm a bit of a neat freak, but mainly because I tidy my desk to procrastinate, haha.

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  6. I like to keep a nice, clean space. I love looking into other people's offices!

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  7. My desk is pretty clean, but has things like my calendar, a notepad, sticky notes, pens, and a water bottle when I'm actually at work and working. As soon as the clock hits five, though, everything goes back into its proper space and my desk is spotless again.

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  8. My desk at home is pretty messy or shall I say I have a little creative chaos going on but at work I keep a fairly clean and organized work space. I wish I could keep my desk at home the same but I just can't ;)

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  9. The Tardis! Yay!!! And is that a tiny, pink Courage under the interrogation lamp? I like your set-up.

    And I like the Nike CEO's desk, but not the posters. I once got a job (in part) because I picked up toys from the interviewer's desk as we talked. He had them there as a test--he liked people who felt comfortable enough to grab them.

    My desk is mildly messy at the moment, but I'm getting a file cabinet to help change that. Most of my documents are in electronic form, but there are some documents I just have to have in hard copy.

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  10. I think I am somewhere in between. My desk is quietly cluttered as I prefer to have all the information I need to hand but I can't function in serious mess. My desk at home is another story all together!

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  11. i need to get my desk more clutter free. i feel organized, but there is just so much stuff! your desk is quite nice and peaceful :)

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  12. as always it's a bit of both. I'm generally more the cluttered kinda brain, but sometimes I need order. so it varies from day to day...

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  13. My desk is clean because otherwise the kitten goes there and eats/chews/breaks everything. All the mess is inside the cabinets!

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  14. I don't think your desk looks that messy at all!
    I have to say, neat freak that I am, my desk is almost always uncluttered. The tricky part is helping to keep Rick's desk tidy too... :)
    Ronnie xo

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  15. I'm sitting at my desk at work right now and as I was reading your post I started looking around and it's actually covered in rubbish. Time for a tidy!

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  16. Mine quite tidy. Most of the time. I do work here, so there are notebooks and such pretty much all the time. But--4,5,and 6? They give me a nervous condition . . . :)

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  17. I have to keep it clutter free! thanks for your comment yesterday

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  18. I definitely keep things clean and neat, or try to anyways. If my desk at work at home gets too messy, I always straighten up before I'm done for the day. I LOVE the first shot so much. That's more my speed :)

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  19. One of my favorite things to do is browse photos of people's desks...I think a desk can tell a lot about a person, since it's where you spend most of your time. Me, I like to keep it pretty neat, and I HAVE to have a dunny on it ;)

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  20. Haha my desk is somewhere between these categories. What does that say about me?!

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  21. When Izzy and I move upstairs we'll have a great space to set up a double office. I've already gone up several times to visually check it out and I can't wait - between all my blog and writing stuff and his drawings it's going to be such an artistic room!

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  22. My room and every desk surface I get near are terribly messy basically all the time :( whoops, time to get cleaning, I hate it being messy I'm just first class lazy! haha

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  23. My desk is covered in dust bunnies, and Gregg's is covered with coffee cups. We're classy.

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  24. my desk always looks like it's in between some kind of organizing war - half organized and the other half in chaos, of cause, that's not every day although it feels like it, besides, what's a desk use for but to create chaos in order to clean it out later?

    I prefer the latter photos because it looks like these people know how to create and how to decorate their office.

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  25. your desk area looks pretty organized to me, you're only showing a portion of it does this means the other views are more chaotic? I do prefer seeing more things on a desk, that means the desk owner actually uses their desk

    have a great day.

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  26. Mostly my work space is pretty neat, but sometimes I let the rascals play there and it becomes mayhem. For real. :-D

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  27. My work station looks like an explosion of deadlines and ideas. It's also the girliest, with flowers and pictures of family and friends. I spend the majority of my time at the office, trying to get everything done, that sometimes my desk gets little cleaning :(

    I love the photos you've posted though. Maybe for the home office?

    Cheers!

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  28. Hey, r u a Hoops & Yoyo fan too :) My desk is super organized (I just can't FUNCTION in visual clutter), though my desk-draaaawer is another thing - a bit afraid to open it haha.

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  29. Oh, I always aspire to a very neat desk. I find that it really does increase my productivity, but it is more often in a state of messiness, with piles of books and gadgets that I shove aside whenever I need to sit down and get crackin' on work. XD

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  30. I'm obsessed with your TARDIS desktop background! (and the fact that your desktop is so clean! Mine is constantly cluttered with blog pics and schoolwork.... sigh!)

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  31. I wish my desk looked like the ones in the first set of photos! It's a mess and completely cluttered in textbooks, candy wrappers, and tissues!

    Thanks for stopping by my blog! It means a lot!

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  32. My desk looks a lot like yours. I try to adhere to the clean surface rule, but I always inevitably end up with two piles that consist of notes, calendar, magazines, catalogs, and books. Oh, and yellow Post-its along the bottom of my computer screen, always.

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  33. I always work in a kind of organised chaos. But we have a clean desk policy so everything is cleared away before I leave every day :)

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