What's on my desk?
On my desk
As a content lead and video editor, I’m forever at the desk creating new walkthroughs, webinars and animations.
All of which require a lot of time sat or stood at the desk.
So it becomes really important to take note of the little things that makes the day more creative or less distracting.
In this article, we’ll take a look at what’s sat on my desk.
Let’s go.
A near-empty pen pot
We all have so many pens and pencils. It’s too easy for pots, drawers and that space behind the sofa to get stuffed full of half-used writing tools.
But how many do you actually use?
You probably find that every time you reach for a pen, you have to lean over and look before rifling through a varied assortment of colours and types before you pick one.
I find it useful to be ruthless with what I keep in my pen pot.
When you reach for a pen, not having to pick up the pot and take a look is just a much nicer experience.
It’s the little things that count I guess.
In my pen pot I have only one of each: a pen, a pencil, rubber and scissors.
Everything else goes in the drawer.
That pencil is from 2001 by the way - just to prove a point that we collect these tools faster than we use them!
Snowball microphone
This is a really handy piece of kit when creating all sorts of video.
I’m often recording voiceovers for website walkthroughs, so getting a professional quality recording is super important, and this microphone brings the quality without taking up space.
The pop filter attached helps reduce the impact of “P”s, “T”s and “F”s, which makes speech sound all that much clearer.
Ultra-wide monitor
During my first full-time video editing job, my main monitor was the amazing LG 34” 21:9 ultra-wide monitor, and at home I have it’s little brother’s 29”.
This is the perfect monitor for video editors.
Sized at the same ratio as Hollywood movies (so no more black bars at the top and bottom of 16:9 monitors), it’s also perfect for showing more of the timeline while video editing.
A grass table runner (and indoor plants)
We’re always being told to bring the outside indoors, and I’ve always liked the look of faux grass in the home.
I used to have a green fluffy rug under the desk that looked a bit grass-like.
But then it started to walk away.
As time passed, the rug would wrinkle and slowly snake itself across the room, as though it was trying to tell me something.
This astroturf table runner fits perfectly on my monitor riser / drawers, so now I sit looking at (fake) grass all day.
It’s also a perfect accompaniment to real indoor plants.
Pop vinyls
Not wanting to fall into the trap of collecting hundreds of these, I tried to stay away from Pop vinyls for a long time.
That was until lockdown hit and I was left scrolling through things to decorate the house with.
I caved.
I ended up buying a few of my all-time favourite fictional characters.
We’ve got Mr. Bean, Lara Croft, Mickey Mouse, Alan Parish (Jumanji), John Locke (Lost) and Sackboy (LittleBigPlanet).
They fall over very easily, so I got the glue gun out and glued them onto these small slabs of wood which makes them much more moveable.
They’ve steadily explored the whole house, popping up on window sils and bedside tables, but they always come back to my desk to bring a sense of creative imagination to the workplace.
SAD lamp
Not only does a SAD lamp help brighten up the Winter months, it also doubles up as a great light for Zoom calls.
If you’re sat in a room not facing the window, the lighting on your face can be pretty low.
Brightening things up with any lamp can really make the difference, and getting more light into your webcam will improve your picture quality immensely.
It’s handy for those days when it’s particularly cloudy outside, and can help deter your reliance on coffee later in the day.
There you have it
What do you make of my list?
Is there something obvious that I’ve missed? or did you tick all these boxes already?