# Your Office & You



## medwards (Feb 6, 2005)

Many individuals add personal touches to their offices/workspaces/desks to reflect their personalities and to personalize their work environment. Sometimes this takes the form of photographs, art, or plants; sometimes it is more encompassing (https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/19/fashion/19cubicle.html?_r=1&ref=fashion&oref=slogin ). How does your work area refect your style and personality? What special items sit on your desk?


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## Acct2000 (Sep 24, 2005)

I have no style and personality, possibly other than my clothes. I have a dead plant and a very messy office. I will admit that this is not what I would advocate as a best case scenario.


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## jcusey (Apr 19, 2003)

It is the practice in my group for members to bring back little trinkets for everyone in the group when they visit exotic locales, so I have, among other things, an alabaster Taj Majal, a letter opener from Paris, and various items from China.


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## Patrick06790 (Apr 10, 2005)

- Photograph of Lou Gehrig with the Marx Brothers
- Photo of Tom Seaver pitching
- Nerf basketball hoop krazy-glued to wall
- Hockey puck for paperweight
- Book on the Lizard People conspiracy theory prominently displayed to discourage idle chatter
- Piles of paper everywhere.


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## Armchair (Nov 12, 2006)

My desk has too many piles of paper and a page-a-day calendar with pictures of cats. I'm not sure what that says about me!


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## crs (Dec 30, 2004)

A dictionary, a computer and a phone.


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## odoreater (Feb 27, 2005)

Only personal touch I have in my office is a plant in the corner that my secretary gave me and a picture of my fiance.


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## jbmcb (Sep 7, 2005)

My monitor/mouse/keyboard. My phone and the wireless headset base. A coaster for my coffee cup. A stack of post-it notes and a pen, though I usually keep those in a drawer. That's about it. (My plant is hanging up from the drop tile.)

The mass of papers I keep in the bottom drawer with my box of tea and jar of peanuts, the important papers are in a binder.


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## Connemara (Sep 16, 2005)

Patrick06790 said:


> - Photograph of Lou Gehrig with the Marx Brothers
> - Photo of Tom Seaver pitching
> - Nerf basketball hoop krazy-glued to wall
> - Hockey puck for paperweight
> ...


LOL! Friends with David Icke?


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## Hedonist (Nov 5, 2006)

Nothing personal ... my boss is a control freak. Piles of paper to constantly remind me of a train I can't hop off.


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## Patrick06790 (Apr 10, 2005)

Connemara said:


> LOL! Friends with David Icke?


The single most effective method of silencing a bore of any stripe is to wait for a pause in his flow and then zap him with the Lizard People.

It works particularly well at dinner parties when people want to get into a political argument.

Back to the office: my desk is so small and cramped that every Thursday after our editorial meeting I hurl great quantities of stuff into the trash and then regroup the remainder into the Immediate Attention pile, the It Can Wait pile, and the Maybe If I Ignore It It Will Go Away pile.


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## Étienne (Sep 3, 2005)

I am a grad student, so my office space is cramped and precarious. I have nothing personal in my office, all there is is a computer and well-organised stacks of papers.


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## Coolidge24 (Mar 21, 2005)

Currently my office is one corner of the bedroom, I have a 1930s barristers bookcase, a 1940s mahogany desk, my grandfathers gavel from the bank on top of the bookcase, various framed awards, and, lighting the desk, one of those marble base faux-oil lamps which I think fits in the 1920s-40s category. Hopefully all this can be transferred to my law office after law school since I'm not going to work for BigLaw.


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## Wayfarer (Mar 19, 2006)

I have three seperate areas in my office. 

My work space, nothing personal. Manilla folders in tiered racks so I can read the heading on the credenza behind my chair. My desk has keyboard, flat screen, usually one or two piles of papers related to whatever I am working on. On my right, phone and next to it a stack of 3-5 yellow 8.5" x 11" notepads. Several pens, a letter opener, stapler, staple remover.

Conference table with eight chairs and an Xmas cactus my secretary cares for in the center of a table. Book case with various regulatory and reference manuals/books/binders. On the top, an empty photo copy paper box with a note that says, "Do not remove". It is for the day I quit/am fired so I do not have to look for a box.

My washroom. Just the facts in there.


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## johnnyblazini (Feb 24, 2006)

An amazing Black leave Snake plant grown in Florida, and and elephan ear plant sitting by the window. 

A stack of HBR some Economists and Businessweek. 

Everything else is Business.


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## johnnyblazini (Feb 24, 2006)

I love people with pictures of tropical places. Always makes me wonder; if you wish you were somewhere else, why aren't you..?


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## JLibourel (Jun 13, 2004)

My office is almost always a mess except when I go on an occasional cleaning binge. I always have tons of stuff pouring in--press releases, manuscripts, catalogs, books for review--and it's hard to find the time to winnow through it.

I have the place decorated with paintings from my old family home--some of which might be valuable. I also have photographs of some of my dogs, now sadly gone to their rewards and some other Tosa fighting trophies and memorabilia that have been given me.

I also have a personalized autographed photo of HM Abdullah II, King of Jordan, that he had sent to me. He is a reader of the magazine I edit. In the photo, he is wearing a suit, sans pocket square I regret to report. I would have preferred it had he been in military uniform or Beduin attire.


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## Tom72 (May 8, 2006)

JLibourel said:


> My office is almost always a mess except when I go on an occasional cleaning binge.


You the nail on the head! Maybe I will go in this afternoon and straighten up, but it will give the staff a heart attack on Monday morning. One of the great advantages of small town living is that home is 7 minutes away from the office, door to door.

I broke my knee cap a few years back, and had a burgundy leather recliner chair brought in so that I could come in to work after I got out of the hospital. I wouldn't part with it now. Turn off the computer, shut the door, DND the phone and get away from the desk, that's when I can catch up on all my backlogged reading and note writing.

I also have a collection of oddities on my office shelves that one of my partners brings me. He has a large farm, and whenever he finds something odd he presents it to me. The includes several rusty car and truck parts, a rusty railroad spike, a glass insulator, and various animal bones, including the pelvis of a cow that takes a whole shelf to itself. He also gave me a Land Rover - or at least the rubber plug for the receiver hitch. He said I have to get the rest for myself.

Yours,


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## ceaton (Feb 15, 2006)

JLibourel said:


> My office is almost always a mess except when I go on an occasional cleaning binge.


Same here. Otherwise, instead of paintings I have framed old subway maps from around the world.

Which I suppose is a bit odd, as my field of work has nothing at all to do with transportation.


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## Newton (Oct 6, 2006)

I don't have an office! I am a desk nomad.

Because of this I have no desk or office adornments.

My phone has a picture of my girlfriend which is enough for me.


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## lovemeparis (May 20, 2006)

*My desk in Paris...*



medwards said:


> Many individuals add personal touches to their offices/workspaces/desks to reflect their personalities and to personalize their work environment. Sometimes this takes the form of photographs, art, or plants; sometimes it is more encompassing (https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/19/fashion/19cubicle.html?_r=1&ref=fashion&oref=slogin ). How does your work area refect your style and personality? *What special items sit on your desk?*


I wont tell if you dont tell yours... hihi:icon_smile_big:

...from paris


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## Trenditional (Feb 15, 2006)

Photos of my kids, and my family and friends at the river (showing my boat).


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## Artisan Fan (Jul 21, 2006)

My office is full of whiteboards for sketching out business strategy which is a large part of my role in the company. I have a mesh ergonomic chair which I really like and I have some great greenery. My prized possessions are framed photos of me and my wife and my animals-two awesome dogs and a horse.


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## DaveInPhilly (May 16, 2005)

My office has no personal touches, save for a small plant that the woman who sat at my desk before me left, and I continue to water. Other than that, there are a bunch of computers (three plus my laptop) and a book case that’s only half full. Only thing decorating my walls are yellow post-it notes, which are my favorite office product/ decorative art, bar-none.


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## BertieW (Jan 17, 2006)

I have a devil mask from Mexico propped on a credenza where it appears to be chasing a smallish angry nun that, if you wind her up, spits sparks. There's also a helpful gnome aiding in the pursuit. 

Much of the rest of the place is given over to business books and magazines. 

Oh, there's also a framed portrait of Nick Cave and another big portrait--puffins frolicking along a stormy coast.


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## agnash (Jul 24, 2006)

I have a glass framed picture of my son, that I keep in a closed cabinet. I'm not ashamed of him, I just don't enjoy being overly familiar with my coworkers. Other than that, everything in my office is either equipment or junk handed to me by my employers. I save my real personality for the people I don't need to be paid to hang out with.


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## [email protected] (Jan 12, 2005)

It's a mess. I feel perfectly reflected.


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