Once again I seem to be the outlier when it comes to general disposition in our field. I like my space to be unmistakably "me," and I think I'm too optimistic and happy with my company to seriously consider the possibility of ever being forced to pack up to leave.
One of the benefits of the way our space is set up is that I have quite a bit of desk surface that I am able to keep cleared off that isn't right at my computer. That is the area I use to review plans, have my calendar, leave documents, etc.
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Heidi C. Wallace, P.E., M.ASCE
Tulsa, OK
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-07-2022 11:05 PM
From: Christopher Seigel
Subject: How do you bling up your workspace?
I was wondering what you thought about when it came to space personalization (both in a work or home-office environment). I ask out of curiosity, because while I am actually not the best example of someone who does much decorating in any aspect of life, I finally began adding decor to my home office (aka bedroom) once I started sitting there for 10+ hours a day.
I like having a few decorations in a home office simply because the space is already "my own" and I would like to not let work from home completely dominate that space. Personally, I got into LED light strips around the room and a world map over the desk.
In the "real" office, I never had much decor for a few reasons. Most importantly, I work out of a client office and wanted to minimize my impact on their already crowded floor. I also wanted to follow the age-old logic of "never carry in more than you can carry out in one trip."
However, even with those things in mind, I began picking up a few small trinkets over time. I had a statue of the train that delivered me to work every day, and a stuffed animal dubbed "programmer pig" that was given to me by a work friend who left it behind "for good luck" after they left the office. I also had a few other small items that were gifted to me by other co-workers in the office. I liked keeping those around because they were small and they made me feel more connected to my co-workers. We also decorated for the holiday season quite often, and so there were some holiday lights that our group as a whole refused to ever take down. Finally, each of our desks in the office had some sort of meme printed and stuck to it that was related to H&H modeling. It got to the point where other parts of the office would stop by just to read all of the engineering memes!
What is your experience with personalization, decor, or other non-functional work items?
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Christopher Seigel P.E., M.ASCE
Civil Engineer
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