Office Space: No Longer Just A Category Heading

There are a million things I should be doing right now, like figuring out the Index feature in Adobe InDesign. However, since I work best under pressure and my deadline for turning in a fully revised clinical directory is still a whole twenty-four hours away, I figured I could give myself a well-deserved break and show you my office, at the request of Isabel, who was kind enough to photograph her own space earlier this week.

I've been in my current position for about a year and a half, and when I first started, I was in a cubicle in a corner of the administrative part of the building. It was freezing. There was a door behind my desk that allowed the renters next door to help themselves to our bathroom when their pipes froze. People would often forget I was there and turn the lights out promptly at five, and since I was too lazy to get up and turn the lights back on, I brought in my own lamp from Wal-Mart so that I wasn't hypnotized by the brightness of my computer screen.

Since that time, a ton of new employees have signed on, requiring the construction of several new offices scattered throughout the admin side of the lab. When that happened, my cubicle was taken apart to allow space for two new offices. Did I get one of those new offices? No. But I did get one on the opposite side of the building, much closer to the printer, PLUS I got my own window, so really it was all for the best.

Here it is, my humble corporate abode:

 

When I'm not scrambling to finish an article for the Web site or a layout for one of our company newsletters, this is what the surface of my desk normally looks like. Right now I'm working on the directory, so it's a little more top-heavy than I prefer, but I did organize my papers into managable little stacks before shooting the picture. You never get a second chance to make a first impression.

Let's break this down a bit.

That Christmas tree's been fully decked since November of 2005, when I first brought it to work. After the holidays were over, I could never muster up the energy to take all the little ornaments off, so I just moved the thing over to my filing cabinet until last Thanksgiving, when I positioned it on my window sill, where it remains to this day. The red bows and striped candy canes are perfect for Valentine's Day, don't you think? As for the snowflake cut-outs taped to the monitor, they're perfectly acceptable until the first day of spring, so I'll thank you very much to keep your nose out of my seasonal-decorating affairs.

You'll also notice the CD collection that's slowly making its way towards my cheapie Wal-Mart boom box. Current discs include such artists as Fiona Apple, Liz Phair, Norah Jones, the Carpenters, and a slew of cheesy love song CDs.

I'm showing you this picture because it includes the best planner in the whole universe: the AT-A-GLANCE Weekly Professional Appointment Book. I was introduced to it when I first started working at Saint Joe and will never use another model for as long as I live. Each work day is assigned its very own column, which accounts for every fifteen-minute increment between the hours of seven a.m. and nine p.m., and even the weekends have a little face time, so I can record my trips to the college for alumni board meetings and visits back home. Not only do I keep my appointments in here, I also scribble down notes from my day so I can remember how I spent major blocks of time. Just talking about it gives me a warm, tingly feeling.

You can also see that I love me some Post-Its.

See those beautifully colored stickies covering my dry-erase board? I receive them often from my darling husband, who knows paper products turn me on more than a bouquet of carnations ever could. I almost cried the day I ran out and tried in vain to request the exact same kind from my purchasing manager, because those fun Post-Its can really be kind of expensive, you know? But I ended up with the traditional (boring) yellow ones everyone else has instead. Blah.

Luckily, I have my pens to comfort me through such hard times.

My passion for writing utensils is nothing new. There are pens stashed throughout Luke's and my apartment--at both computer stations, on the night stand, in my craft box in the closet--in my coat pockets, in my purse, in the back pocket of my jeans. I'm a freak and I like it.

What I really love about this picture, though, is the box in which the pens are kept.

My sister Donna gave this school box to me when I was a freshman in college and she was four months shy of turning six. Next year it'll be ten years old. She used to make a lot of things for me to keep in my dorm room; my closet doors were covered with her drawings, and my book shelf at home still holds a rainbow-colored clay snowman person she created just for me. She was so young at the time, and it was really traumatic for her when I left for Saint Joe. Her eyes always filled with tears when my dad's Suburban pulled out of Halas Hall's parking lot, and I was required to wave at the car until it was just a tiny dot on the road, to call her the night I returned to Rensselaer after a weekend visit because she couldn't go to sleep without hearing my voice. Nowadays I'm lucky to see her for five minutes when I'm in the city because she's fourteen and has a full life that no longer includes waiting on the porch to see my car pull in behind the garage. But it wasn't always this way, and things like this box will always remind me of that.

These last two pictures are unrelated to my work space, but they do relate to work, and the incident in question just happened about an hour ago, so I couldn't NOT share.

One of my coworkers, who's quite lovable but also very quirky, collects hats. As in, if there's an abandoned baseball cap lying in the street, he'll pick it up, take it home, and run it through the wash until it's "good as new." Last year he gave me a hat he found on a park bench that reminded him of me. Today, it was one that's sure to be a collector's item. He can feel it.

Nothing shouts "money maker" like Mr. Pibb. God bless him.

Comments

[mk]

Your desk and office are so orginized - I would be embarrased to show mine...lol... Love that your tree has been up so long!

[Silly Hily]

Do you keep track of blogging in your little appointment book thingy?

[Isabel]

Okay, I love how excited you got just talking about your planner. And I love the pen box from your sister. (Because, you DO rule!)

[Luke]

Ah, Mr. Pibb, the poor man's Dr. Pepper.

I need to find ways to make my office more homey and comfortable. I don't even have a window, but my Post-its do have little tools along the top and I have a keen pirate calendar.

[daddy d]

I love looking at your work space. It is good to see how others work and where. There is great joy in that pen box. Those gel pens are the best.

[mjd]

Don't let Frema kid you blogging buddies. I am sure that her desk is always organized. Unlike her parents-in-laws, Frema makes the neatest stacks.

[Katie]

I'm jealous! I had a dusty office at my previous job, though no window, and when I came back from a 3-month stint working at home, the office was filled to bursting with all the stuff my boss cleaned out of *his* office. But at least it was an office! I could pump milk for my baby to my heart's content. I could even listen to a little music!

Now I've switched states, and I'm in a dumb cubicle :-( Heaven forbid that I should have to work and pump after my next baby is born. I'm lowest on the totem pole, so even if there was an office, I certainly wouldn't get it. Although maybe my coworkers would vote for me to have it, so they wouldn't have to listen to me blow my nose ALL DAY!

[Will Shannon]

Humble? Compared to my office, that is like the Ritz-Carlton.

I should take pictures because it shows how people in academia are treated, facilities-wise. Well, I should say people in the liberal arts...those bastards in Law, Business or any of the sciences have it pretty good.

Typical occurrence: yesterday, I had a dull pencil that needed sharpening. Oh, there was a box of pencils in the office, but no sharpener.

[Elizabeth]

Also jealous over here. I work in a lab and do the actual lab work, so I'm all over the place. All I get is my own network log-in that saves my windows preferences! Oh to have a desk where I can put a little framed picture up, let alone lots of pens and a bulletin board.

And Mr. Pibb is great. Darn folks at Coca-Cola had to go and change it to "Pibb Extreme", whatever that is supposed to mean.

[PaintingChef]

Oh I have the same passion for pens and post-its. Sure, I lvoe me some Sephora and LUSH but honestly? Nothing does it quite like those aisles of pens and post-its at Staples or Office Max. Be still my heart.

[Stacey]

Here is my VERY important advice to you...if you really love those appointment books, go ye to the office supply store and buy fifteen of them. Seriously.

My last year of teaching, I went to the teacher supply store and discovered that they had discontinued MY style of lesson plan book. The book I had been using for seven years. I nearly wept in the aisle. And then I quit teaching a year later. Because of the plan book? Maybe. Just maybe. Nothing was the same after that.

[Molly]

How fun to see your office!!

Your planner rocks, sista.

[Lindsey]

I just love your office--it's great! My favorite part is the planner. Seriously, I have planner envy. Edgar tried to get me to use this old Palm Pilot he had instead of paper and pen. It's just not the same. I will always be a pen and paper kind of girl...nothing bring me joy like writing down a task in a planner and crossing it off when it's complete. Nothing.

[Sissy]

Donna is getting old! You're speal about her almost made me cry sister. :( Your office looks very personalized. I'm glad to know Luke gets the multi-colored post its to brighten your day. It's the little things that really can make a difference!

[Donna Lyn]

hey big sister.
i was just skimming through your blog.
that box is so cute that i made.
&& you are so rite about me feeling sad when you left.
i would hide in my room until it was time for you to leave.
i love you though breain.
&& i do think of you.