To desk or not to desk?

If you work from home, you’re familiar with this issue. Having a desk has its perks, first and foremost: it looks professional. People who happen to stop by – “I was at the supermarket and I thought you could use some company” – will actually realise, even if just for a minute, that you WORK. Having a desk is the perfect way to avoid infertility – to be honest I’m not sure about this one, but surely it can’t be healthy to balance your Mac on your lap all day – and that horrible stingy feeling you get in your legs when you’ve been sitting on the sofa all day. But it also has its drawbacks, especially if, like me, you have no space to set up a home office in a separate room. I mean, who wants to look at his work space ALL DAY? That pile of papers that just keeps growing and growing – yes, even when you’re in a paperless sector like mine, you end up with scraps of paper everywhere… doodles, phone numbers, business cards. Very productive.

So what’s best – a desk or some sort of laptop-supporting contraption, like the thingies IKEA sells? I like to look at it like a fashionista who loves to mix & match colours, fabrics and textures. I have a green (plastic) IKEA laptop support on my desk – yes, I do own a desk, also from IKEA… made of cheap but sturdy MDF. I also have a ridiculously ugly, but comfy laptop cushion – from, you guessed it, IKEA. I use both every day. I start my day at my desk – it makes me feel like a “real” office worker. It motivates me. For about two hours. Then I move five metres to the right and I cosy up on the sofa – on the chaise longue to be precise – with my dog beside me and a cup of espresso on my footstool turned coffee table. And sometimes I end the day in the bathroom, on the bed, in the kitchen, or even on the balcony…

Do I recommend my approach? It works for me, so why not give it a shot? They say variety is the spice of life. So by all means, do move from your desk to the sofa, from the sofa to the table, from the table to the bed, and maybe, just maybe, all the way back to the desk. It will make you feel alive. I mean, less frustrated. But no, it doesn’t count as exercise! 

Oh and, for the record, we don’t have an IKEA store in Malta. Whenever I go abroad, I actually schedule a trip to IKEA to fill my suitcase with office goodies. I’m a sucker for cheap faux-Swedish rubbish.