Hi everyone, Scott Friesen here at Simpletivity, helping you to get more done and enjoy less stress.
And today, I'm doing something just a little different.
Today, I wanna give you a tour of my actual workspace.
Now, you may be familiar with this background here. This is where I record my monthly webinars. This is where I host the Reset Productivity Bootcamp.
If you've ever attended any of my online training, this is where you're probably used to seeing me, but this isn't actually where I do most of my work.
No, I do most of my work at a different location in my home. I do have an office location and just two weeks ago, I purchased a brand new desk.
So I wanna give you a tour of the new desk, give you reasons why I chose this particular desk and I'm hoping you can maybe help me finish off organizing this desk.
You can choose where I get to put certain items 'cause I'm looking forward to your feedback.
So, let's head upstairs and let me show you my new desk.
Desk Tour
So, here it is, my brand new desk.
And I'm sure the first thing that you're saying is, that doesn't look like a desk.
Well, no, it's a converting desk, sometimes better known as an armoire desk. It looks more like a chest, right? It looks more like a dresser.
Well, I'm big on saving space and so I purposely purchased such a converting desk so not only can I save space, but I'm gonna show you how I can easily pack up shop and leave my work behind at the end of the day.
So, with any converting desk, all you need to do is pull on one of these handles and this desk part folds out.
I've got plenty of space for my laptop, room for a notepad, a piece of paper. This is where I do all of my video recordings, as well.
One of the reasons why I chose this particular model is that, as I close this up, for example, you'll see that it actually has some supporting arms here on the corner that fold out, right? The mechanism is built in.
I wanted to make sure that I had a desk that was sturdy enough because I'd seen other folding desks before and sometimes it was just, sort of, a very thin hinge. That was the only thing that was keeping this part here, but this is more than sturdy enough for my laptop, for my big microphone that I use for recording my videos.
Lots of space here for a notepad and some additional paper. But this is more than enough space for me to get the work done that I need to do.
The other reason why I chose this particular model is that there's ample room for storage space. You can see here, I've got room for my tablet there, I've got some scrap paper there, and in fact, I've got a lot of empty space and this is where I'm hoping you might be able to help me out.
Where and what should I be putting into these different slots here? I don't usually keep a lot of mail or paper.
Now, got some of my favorite candy. I'm a big Skittles fan there, in the background, but I'm still not sure what exactly I should be putting into these four slots.
I've got a few small pull out drawers here where I can leave some knick-knacks. I only have a few things in there, a charging cable and a USB drive. But, plenty more storage down below.
So let me just fold in, put my laptop back inside. Let me fold up the desk here.
And here on the front, you can see, I've got two drawers and two cupboard drawers.
Now, one of the disadvantages of this particular desk is that when the desk itself is folded out, it makes these drawers essentially inaccessible, right? I can't access these when the desk is folded up, but that's why I purposely put in things that I don't need very often.
Here I have a number of business cards in this particular drawer. I'm only needing, you know, one or two writing utensils at a time, so I keep those on my desk. I can leave my extras in this drawer here.
But down below, I've got much more space. Down below here, I've got mostly my recording equipment for recording YouTube videos. I've got a few snacks, a few of my favorite power bars, Clif Bars, down below.
Here I've got, actually, a new timer that I'm looking forward to reviewing in an upcoming video, and you can see, I haven't really maximized the use of this space yet. I've got lots of room still left in this cupboard here.
And if I move over to the left hand side, I've got even more space. In fact, the only thing (laughs) that is on this top shelf is my windscreen for recording videos, the thing that I put in front of my microphone.
But this is the other nice component that I like here is that it actually has a drawer, a nice wooden drawer here, that has hanging files.
And you may recognize this system. This is often referred to as a tickler file system. I'm actually experimenting with something else new with this new structure, as I'm doing, sort of, a modified tickler folder system, where I'm actually using three dates at a time because I don't like the idea of having to flip out a folder each and every day.
I find as long as I'm on top of things within a three-day window, I can do so. If you don't know much about a tickler folder system, it was popularized in the Getting Things Done book by David Allen. You can find many great resources online. Just type in tickler folder or 43 Folders and you can find out how this system works.
But I love how this is built right into it. I didn't have to buy a hanging folder system, it was built right into the desk.
So let me fold that up here.
On the top, I try to keep it nice and sparse. Sometimes I leave my phone up here. I've got a bit of a charging station here in the corner and a little lamp that I use from time to time if I need some more appropriate light.
But let me fold this out one more time, just to explain why I chose a folding desk system such as this.
Why a Folding Desk
Now, I already mentioned that one of the reasons why I chose this desk is I like to save space and maximize my surroundings. That's why I wanted a converting desk.
But there's another reason why I chose this particular desk and that is, at the end of the day, I wanted to literally close up shop, as you see here.
I wanted to close my desk and actually hide my computer, actually make it a little, tiny bit more difficult for me to access my desktop at the end of my workday.
You see, I think it's important to finish your workday at a particular time. The reason being is that that's the only way you can guarantee time for other pursuits and other time with your family, with your friends, and maybe other hobbies.
I truly feel that by having a particular stop time or end time, it's gonna make you more productive in the long run.
So I like that I actually have to put my laptop, I have to tuck it in, just a few inches here on the inside, and then all I have to do is fold this up and it's, sort of, out of sight, out of mind.
That was key for me. This is why I chose such a desk as this one.
So I hope you enjoyed that little tour.
Outro
Of my new desk and my workspace.
I'm looking forward to your questions and your comments and feedback, but more importantly, I'd love to learn more about your workspace and what makes it unique for you.
What do you love about your desk and your setup and what do you wish you could improve upon?
Be sure to let me know in the comments down below.
I wanna thank you so much for subscribing right here to the Simpletivity channel.
I hope you give this video a thumbs up and don't forget to leave me a comment down below.
Remember, being productive does not need to be difficult. In fact, it's very simple.
