Hello everyone! I’m starting my new job soon so I figured I’d share what my desk set up is now before it gets all messy.

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Literally, I sent a photo of the set up to my bestie and told her to “pretend that I’ll keep it this clean forever”. To which she replied “that’s what I say every time I clean my up too”. That’s why we’re besties!

So I recently shared that I finally accepted a job offer after a little over a year of being unemployed. I’m so, so grateful to have found a job and for everything they sent over! Thus far I’ve been very impressed with the onboarding process, and I haven’t even started yet. They’ve been very communicative and helpful. But enough on that, I want to show you my new set up!

Oh! If you’re new here (newer than May 2020) you might be wondering, what’s BirthMay? Well, every year I blog every day in May because it is my birth month. I just figured it was something fun to do, and it has proven to be really enjoyable for me. This will be the fifth BirthMay on my blog! No matter how many BirthMays you’ve been through with me, thank you for being here this BirthMay and thank you for your support!

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My WFH Desk Tour

So, since the job is fully remote, my new employer had to send me everything so I could set everything up before my first day. I was starting to get nervous as I hadn’t heard anything and then one day I got a random text from FedEx about a package that required my signature with a link for tracking. I immediately realized that it must be my work equipment but didn’t click on the link – just in case it was a scam! I hardly ever order anything so I knew it had to be one or the other. Sure enough, a few hours later I got an email from HR telling me that the equipment was on it’s way and that a signature was required for delivery so I had to be ready to receive it. They’d already told me that I had to physically be present when I accepted the job offer, so that was no surprise. It’s a bunch of electronics after all!

On the delivery date I got my packages around midday and immediately got to opening them up and assembling. I hadn’t been expecting so much stuff, so I was very surprised when I got six boxes! My previous desk set up had a plant shelf (I think the shelf was meant to hold a printer or something) and I had to move the plants to make room for everything.

Two of the six boxes were giant 24″ monitors and one box was my laptop with a fancy carry case. Another box was full of office supplies including the usual pens, pencils, paper pads, a planner, and post its. Weirdly enough though, it also had a little white board and a calculator? My bestie assured me I would find the white board helpful so I’m choosing to believe her. The calculator still baffles me though. Onto the two remaining boxes. One box was full of accessories to go along with the computer, so it had the dock station, keyboard, mouse, a webcam, and a headset. The last box was company swag! They sent me a branded notebook/pen set and a travel mug. I thought that was so sweet for them to do.

One thing that I didn’t get was a mouse pad, weirdly enough. But I already had one so no worries there. I also didn’t get anything like a printer or supplies for one, so I’m not sure if that’s something I can get myself and expense later on. I already have a printer so it’d be nice if I could just get reimbursed if I have to print anything out, but hopefully I don’t have to in order to save some paper. Another thing I found a bit odd was that I didn’t get things like copies of materials specific to my role. As an academic advisor I would have expected to get a course catalog and such, but didn’t get anything like that. Maybe I’ll get one later or it’s just online? I’ll have to figure that one out! Then again, this stuff all came from HR and IT so maybe my direct managers/supervisors will send more stuff out later.

Now, here’s how I set it up! For anyone who saw any previous desk tours and my shelf styling post, this is suddenly very different than before! My desk is pretty small, so I did worry I wouldn’t be able to fit it all on here and even asked my bestie if she thought I really needed two whole monitors along with the laptop. She assured me that I did need two whole monitors with the laptop so I got to work (she provided some insight through a series of Snapchats we sent back and forth to each other – bless her).

Also please try to ignore the mess of cables in the back, the birthday balloons and stack of books that need to be donated to the left, the guitar to the right, and the stack of papers and such under the desk. I tried to crop out as much as possible but gave up eventually. Life is just chaotic sometimes!

So I first had to figure out how to fit so much stuff, as I mentioned earlier. I had planned to keep my plants on the shelf, which used to be situated all the way to the right, but it soon became clear that I needed the space. I guess I could have kept it if I really tried to, but I figured I’d try it this way first. My previous set up also had a keyboard and extra monitor for my personal computer, the silver Apple Macbook in the front, but those had to go too so I could have room for my new work equipment. I think I might end up donating my old keyboard and monitor, but I’m not completely sure yet!

Anyway, back to the work equipment. So, I tried to fit the big monitors onto my desk first. I angled them in on either side as otherwise I couldn’t fit them in without overlapping the screens, and that would have just been silly. I moved that little shelf to the middle and am using it to prop up my new work laptop. I have the dock station mostly under one monitor but it does also extend under the shelf. I don’t want to put it under a monitor as the power button is on the top. When not in use, I close my work laptop and set the mouse for that computer on top of it so it’s out of the way.

I didn’t do this next part in the photo, but I did also put my planner and notebook on top of my laptop when not in use too. I figured it was best to keep it all out of the way when not in “work mode” to try to separate that stuff out. I know working from home can be a little confusing when trying to keep work stuff and home stuff separate! At my old job, working from home was a “perk” so I only got away with it by using my own laptop for work. I tried to keep it separate by only using a certain browser for work stuff but even then I would have to download files and sometimes certain browsers were better. It was a mess and I’m sure if I really dug around my old files I’d still find stuff from that job somewhere. But back to the new job!

I originally had my new headset hanging on my new monitor, but it kept sliding off the edge and annoyed me so I just set it down. Also, if you’re my new employer, the post it on my desk that I blurred the info out of is 100% not my passwords. My new job also sent a power strip so I set it up under my desk for everything too. And the new keyboard went on the little keyboard self under the top of the desk.

Now onto the personal stuff! I have my personal computer and a wireless mouse for it on my desk as well. While I’m working I think I will store it under the little shelf to keep it out of the way but also be able to easily access it when I need to. I also left my bullet journal on my desk as I plan to take time before the work day starts to still keep up with my bujo, as it’s part of my morning routine. I left a pen on my desk, which is a beautiful rose gold pen with a pink gem on the top. (My mom got it for me for my birthday!) A temporary item on my desk is a carnation from my dad for my birthday. Once it dies I think I’ll replace it with a little snake plant I just bought. I also left a coaster on my desk with my water cup, to remember to stay hydrated throughout the day.

Not pictured is all the aforementioned office supplies. I recently went through a massive decluttering spree and one item that I decided should go was a 3 drawer plastic office organizer. I just didn’t feel that it was that useful as I had decluttered most of the stuff in it and now it was mostly useless. I put it in the pile of stuff to drop off at the thrift store and almost forgot about it. But when I got the paper pads and other stuff for work, I realized I should pull it out of the pile and use it! I have a little shelf under my desk too, which I think was originally meant for a computer tower, but it’d been unused since all I use are laptops now. So I stuck the organizer on it! It isn’t a perfect fit but it’s fine. I use one drawer for the work stuff like the paper pads, the calculator, and so on. The next drawer is my bujo supplies, scrap pieces of paper, and notebooks I use for other things that aren’t my bujo. And the final drawer where I store my pens, blue light glasses, lens cleaning cloth, and other kick knacks I usually need near my desk like chapstick.

I’m sure I’ll continue to make more changes as I get settled into my job. One change I’m considering is putting my plants back on the shelf and rotating my laptops between the storage spot under the shelf or front and center when in use. I am not entirely sure that’s what I want to do yet though, as I feel it’ll be more annoying moving stuff back and forth constantly. If I don’t move the laptops, I do think I want to try to request risers for my monitors so they can be further up and more in line with the laptop screen.

Oh, and my desk will for sure get super messy again. I just know it!

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So that’s my new desk tour! I will try to remember to update it once I’m more settled into work and the next time I clean it. I’m so excited to get to work and I can’t wait to share more about my new job!

Thanks for reading!

Pamela

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