With most of us spending long hours at the office every day, it makes sense to equip our workspaces with a couple of personal items that are handy to have on hand. While we go to great lengths to ensure our homes are always stocked up with all our necessities, we tend to neglect to give the same consideration to the place many of us think of as a second home; our office or workspace.
Keeping a generous supply of some of the handy necessities mentioned below will guarantee you’ll always find yourself covered while at work.
Healthy Snacks
There are days when you simply might not have time for breakfast or forget to pack your lunch for work. To remedy this, it’s useful to have one of your desk drawers stocked up with a few go-to snacks that will keep you going through a long day at work. Think of dry food that won’t spoil easily like instant oatmeal, a jar of peanut butter or a packet of nuts. Just make sure to check and clear out this drawer frequently to avoid attracting insects to any leftover food. Also, keeping a reusable water bottle on your desk will serve as a reminder to refill it and keep hydrated throughout the day.
Personal Necessities
If you need a quick freshening up before your 4 o’clock meeting or are heading out for an important appointment straight after work, it would be worth dedicating some drawer space to a few essentials such as deodorant, spare make-up, hair ties and even a toothbrush. Other items include a box of tissues that will keep you going through allergy season and a nifty bottle of hand sanitizer to ward off those pesky office germs. Additionally, having a box of paracetamol and some band-aids handy wouldn’t hurt either.
Extra Items of Clothing
While the advent of the summer months signals a change of wardrobe, the a/c in your office could be set to teeth-chattering levels; keep a thin scarf or sweater around to drape over you when changing the thermostat isn’t an option. Moreover, keeping a spare top, trousers and an extra pair of shoes handy just in case you mess up the ones you’re wearing (or break a heel!) will leave you prepared to face any misfortune your workday throws at you.
Electronics
Just remember that accumulating too much stuff at your desk might be counterproductive. Fight the urge to desk hoard and keep your workspace neat and uncluttered to avoid hindering your productivity. Moreover, consider some items that are probably best not kept at work; these include alcohol, illegal substances, inappropriate photos and any other items that may trigger distractions – if you wouldn’t want your boss to see it, you probably shouldn’t have it at your desk at all.
Office Supplies
This may seem obvious but many employees often waste a lot of time at work tracking down a pen or stapler, to the detriment of their work. Keep your desk fully stocked with any office supplies you might need and store these in a drawer if you want to keep them out of sight of thieving co-workers. A good stock of stationery and an office diary to log your tasks and projects will save you a lot of precious time at the office. Making use of a desk organiser will help you to keep all your documents and other bits and bobs more
