Having a glass desk in your office or study room speaks volumes about your personality.
What else does your glass desk say about you?
What is the first thing that a person thinks when they glance at your desk?
Because trust me, if you’ve never looked at your colleague’s desk and said below your breath, ‘Man! Look at his desk, Jake’s such a mess!’ then there’s somebody else who has, or somebody who has judged you by looking at yours.
According to JFK Binding, 57% of workers admitted to have judged their co-workers based on what their workspaces looked like. In short, your desk is a version of your personal blog where people can peep in and know more about you.
Without even meeting you, a person may walk into your workplace, look at your desk and immediately tell what type of person you are. Jacquelyn Smith, writer of the Business Insider once sent photos of her desk and those of her workmates to London-based
Environmental psychologist Lily Berheimer and Berheimer replied by telling the character of each of the desk owners. But, what about your glass desk? If we showed it to Lily, what would she say? Let’s take a look at twelve things that will scream deep traits of your personality.
1. Minimalist - Sorry, Not On My Desk!
Apart from a computer, a keyboard, a mouse, a notebook, and a pen, there is almost nothing else on the table. Well, you always find a way to organize things on your desk to take the least space possible. You are organized, you always amaze your workmates with how you structure and plan everything calmly.
You are cautious, disciplined and conscientious, too. You are an introvert who is not open with your colleagues but you are reliable and very hardworking. Your workmate, whose desk is always full, can’t dare place even a glass of water on your desk because the last time someone tried it you gave them ‘the eye’.
So, your colleagues think you’re boring and lazy and you don’t even intend to stay there for long. They are always tempted to mess up your clutter-free desk.
2. The Clutterer
The opposite of the minimalist, you are so talkative, socially welcoming and an extrovert. You are so creative but not very reliable in productivity (just look at the workload on your glass desk). You always keep everything, be it a faulty key-holder or even an empty lunch box. You believe they will be of help at one time.
When you borrow something from a workmate, say a stapler, you don’t return it to the owner. So you mostly have people on your desk and you spend most of the time looking for stuff lost between the sheets of papers that you have.
3. The Bookworm
One can easily tell that you are a bookworm because your glass desk is littered with novels from different writers. Most of the books are not even finished but in a couple of day you shall stack up a new collection and bookmark what you are reading currently.
4. I Forget Real Quick, See These Sticky Notes?
You have sticky notes all over your glass desk, not because it is fancy but because you forget whatever you were told two second ago. So, you have to write everything down and go through them every day to remind yourself what you should do.
5. See Here, I Love My Family!
You are a family person. Your family gives you the muscle to grind and in their absence, you have their photos on your desk to feel close to them always, says Better Than Perfect author, Elizabeth Lombardo, PhD, who is also a psychologist.
6. I Have Allergies, I Am Always Sick
You are so health-conscious and we can easily label you a delicate flower. This is because you have been through enough trouble than your workmates and their families combined (health wise). Your workspace is clean, kind of quarantined and your glass top desk has different types of drugs, a bottle of water and a hand sanitizer.
7. I’m A Techie, Have You Tried The New…?
It doesn’t matter if your job is counting calves as they are birthed by heifers in a dairy farm, you will always have the newest piece of tech innovation around your workspace. There is a Bluetooth earpiece on your glass desk, there are probably two phones, and your computer has video games that have slowed down your productivity.
You’ve probably been reported to the HR two times: once for causing a power surge after your 20th device was plugged into the extension and the second time for slowing down the Wi-Fi – your workmates know one of your devices was downloading a movie and the other was streaming videos! They love you though, because they bring you their phones when something goes wrong.
8. I Am a Big Child, I Stick Gum to My Glass Desk Sometimes
The underside of your glass desk top has pink chewed gum that you stuck there sometime back. You steal time to watch cartoons and your tendencies are childish. You like fun, laugh a lot but your workmates sometimes wonder, “Jeez! When will Chris grow up, really?”
9. I Am a Stickler for Time; See the Clock On My Desk?
You value time. You know time is money and whoever said so deserved a Nobel Prize. So, you are always on time for meetings and among the first people to arrive in the morning and leave. Among your most repetitive tasks is looking at your watch. It comes second to working. There is also a clock on your desk.
10. Nothing Connects my Home Life with My Work -- No Photos, No Mementos
What happens at home should stay at home; the same applies to your job. You believe that once you step in the office, you detach yourself from anything that happened at home. You are so private about your personal life, so there is not even a photo of your family or friends on your desk.
11. I Should Be an Environmentalist with All These Wildlife Photos and Sculptures
Your desk has photos of a lion chasing an antelope and one of wildebeests crossing a river. You love wildlife. You keep wishing that one day the company treats you to a day at the park or game reserve. Your workmates think you are wild, but the truth is, you truly are.
12. I Am A Documentarian, Look!
If you aren’t a good camera person, then you have a friend or a family member who is. Your glass desk is full of mementos, photos, and other things which remind you of wonderful memories.
A conversation in the office goes like, “Hey guys, do you remember the day when…” and you’ll fish out something that will remind everyone of the day. You keep every document and help out in future when they are being looked for.
So, now that you know about the different office personalities, which one are you? You can also tell us about the personalities in your office.
