by Talkie Toby • July 28, 2026
My desk is 70cmx90cm so the surface area is close to the size of the Eurasian landmass. When there is a convenient space to place something for future use or short-term storing, you must use that space or else you're wasting the space that is afforded to you. So I place everything I need on my barely rectangle desk; a cup, keys, PS5 controller, books, and iPod Nano 5th gen in blue with 16GB of storage containing just the works of Olivia Dean and absolutely nothing else. The desk is my most intimate real estate and I get to choose its tenants and so an unoccupied area is wasted opportunity to collect rent. A book pays its rent by offering me entertainment when I do decide to read. I don't mean clutter is good on a desk, but unused space on your desk is neglect and if Toy Story 3 taught me on thing, it's that inanimate objects feel neglect, too.
Why even have a desk wider than your shoulder width if you're not going to use the extra space for placing a mug? If you're not using all the desk space to its full potential, downsize because a step brother will tell you it allows for so much more room for activities. There's discourse on the internet that applauds the tidy desk, which I don't disagree with, but the desk shown is almost always empty. A cluttered desk is a cluttered mind, so an empty desk is an empty mind, right? An empty mind seems good for Zen and Yoga practices but what else is it good for? I say a cultured desk is a cultured mind. Only culture-less fast fashion wearing bland people keep a desk empty and do nothing with it. Or perhaps they stare at nothing on their desk and meditate. A boring desk belongs to a boring person and an empty one is almost certainly gruelingly boring.
Start with a pencil. You don't need to fill your desk with things you don't need or won't use in the near future just because you want an occupied desk. Start with a pencil and maybe after a week, you add an eraser. Now your desk may belong to a writer, or a sketch artist perhaps. Then gently place a notebook on the right side of your desk as to not obstruct your elbow space. This already makes a more interesting desk than a desk with just a keyboard and a mouse. Next thing you know, you'll be putting your sunglasses on your desk like someone that goes outside while the sun is up! But never let it turn to clutter. Clutter will make you lose track of what you have on the desk. Never let the desk control who you are. Always control the desk and the tenants living on it.
I'm sure most people have a computer on their desk because we all live in the 21st century now. But it's about the things aside from that that dictates who you are as a person deep down. Yes, what you keep on your desk is an amalgamation of who you are as a person. If you have a bunch of earphones and headphones, you like music. If you have a bunch of anime stuff, you probably use "nani" in your speech non-ironically. The desk is a mirror that doesn't stare back. It's the one thing that knows you best and will continue to reflect back who you are only if you keep it occupied.
👍 0 👎 0