Take a look at your workspace – be it your desk, cubicle or a corner office all to yourself – have you personalised it to your liking?
On average, you will be spending about 40 hours a week at your workspace; if you sit at your desk, look around the small space, and feel like it does not motivate you or even make you smile, it does not help at all. Surrounding your workspace with desk accessories does not need to be flamboyant or expensive, it revolves around the line of comfortability and professionalism.
Here are some practical desk accessories for you to complement your workspace and put a smile on your face whenever you’re hustling!
Desk Plants to Accompany You
We’re jumping on the plant-mom bandwagon here, but a little greenery is a real mood booster and helps make your workspace feel more tranquil.
It doesn’t mean you need to transform your desk into a mini Amazon forest, but consider having a couple of indoor plants to sit on your desk and give you company as you work. If you think you don’t have green fingers (like me) and are afraid you’ll kill the poor plants (also like me), don’t worry! Some indoor plants are meant to be low-maintenance, like succulents and cacti. They do not need much sunlight or water; they usually come in cute little pots or jars that can fit into any nook and cranny of your desk.
Some indoor plant suggestions are Devil’s Ivy, Aglaonema and Bromeliads. You can get these easily from Shopee, BloomThis or any online florist.
A Planner to Organise Your Day
This is my personal favourite and mandatory accessory on my desk.
You can get them in any type – a plain notebook, a bullet journal or one of those weekly desk planners to keep at your workspace at all times. This planner is what you will use to write down your tasks for the day/week so that you can organise them based on importance and not miss out on any assignment. Once you have finished a task, just cross out that one. I make it a habit to open my planner once I’m at my workspace so that I can view the assignments pending. When it’s time to clock out, I review my planner and close it before leaving the office.
This accessory, together with the habit that it cultivates, gives you a sense of accomplishment as you cross things out, and also a sense of purpose when you write down your tasks; I’d say it’s a double win!
Quotes to Motivate You
‘Don’t count the days, make the days count’ and ‘Life is better when you’re laughing’ are two of my favourite quotes that I have put up in my workspace; and I’m sure you have your favourites too!
It is draining to be working 8 hours continuously while staring at your PC and tapping away on your keyboard to the extent of feeling robotic. Having quotes of any type in your workspace helps you to be more productive and goal-oriented because it motivates you intrinsically. For example, when I look away from my screen to take a 2-minute break, I tend to read my quotes and feel refreshed. It serves as a reminder for me that there is more to life and I am doing my best at work despite the stress or workload.
However, you must remember that it is a professional setting, hence try to keep your quotes to a minimum with no more than five quotes. Unless your office is super chill, then go ahead and be the walking Quote Guru of your office!
Photographs to make you smile
We are all humans and we need a personal touch – even in a workspace.
Keeping two or three of your photographs can help boost your mood and make you feel happier amidst your workload. Whenever you feel overwhelmed or homesick, just look at the photographs of your loved ones and trust me, you’ll feel better. I have one photo of my family and one photo of my boyfriend just to make me smile and keep me grounded when I feel the waves of stress washing over me.
Again, remember here that you are in a professional setting so try not to make your space into a whole shrine of memories.
Desk Organiser
This item is a mandatory accessory for all the organising fanatics out there and most importantly, the messy ones out there.
If you feel like you’re at war with your workspace every day, then this is what you need to make peace with it. Instead of having separate containers or holders for your different stationeries, stacks of papers everywhere, and food stashed in tricky corners, consider investing in a multi-purpose desk organiser for your stationeries, files, documents and even food or personal items. Not only do they look cute, but they are also functional and make your desk clean and tidy.
Feel free to browse Shopee, Lazada and even IKEA for some functional designs of organisers that fit your style.
These suggestions for practical desk accessories allow you to focus on your work better and be productive, and as a bonus, complement your workspace aesthetically. These items are easy to find online and are affordably priced too. Time to get creative and make your workspace as uniquely ‘you’ as possible!
Vinothini is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
The User Content (as defined on Newswav Terms of Use) above including the views expressed and media (pictures, videos, citations etc) were submitted & posted by the author. Newswav is solely an aggregation platform that hosts the User Content. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact Newswav.