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How Can I Make More Of My Cubicle?
hv writes "I reside in a 10' x 10' space better than 12 hours a day... as do a lot of you. How do you make the most of the space? I'm looking for creative ways to add storage and unclutter the stacks of lab notebooks, USB peripherals and the O'Reilly Zoo that also inhabits my space."
Giving credit where credit is due
Changing a few words doesn't make it original.
Ice Cream has no bones.
FYI: http://www.steelcase.com/products2/ - they have all kinds of cool stuff, from pre-designed modular offices to individual pieces. A great place to start redesigning your office. Or you can just go directly to the storage area of the site. http://www.steelcase.com/products/category.html?ca tegory=storage
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Oh bother.
Milk crates are cheap storage that stacks nicely.
And for a subtle effect, get plants. Like cactus (hard to kill).
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Take a look at how Jamie Zawinski did it.
There was a good video on how to improve your cubical on computerstew (www.computerstew.com) on how to fix up your cubical. The show is long gone but I bet you can find the video out there somewear...
I also recall reading somewhere that the people who organized their desk (cleaned it up) on a weekly or even daily basis before going home, were more productive workers. I can attest to the fact that it's much more satisfying to sit at a desk that is free of a million pages of tech specs and memos than it is to sit down and have to *see* all the work waiting for me.
I had a little bonsai tree once, but it died from too much 'Coke dumping' before I would leave for the day. I'm thinking I should get some greenery back into my cube, and soon.
You guys get full cubicles?? I only get a half of one. Two walls with a set of hanging shelves on one, so my back is open to the aisle. Its good for conversation, but not so good for getting work done, or for privacy. Worse yet, I work in a glass building. From any direction you can see all the way through the building. I know it could be worse. I'm glad I'm not a manager. Managers get stuck in glass cubicles we call "fishbowls". Even worse, at my last job the desks were set up classroom style (no walls at all) -shudder- with the manager sitting behind us all -double shudder-. At least I get a desk.
Zeus_tfc
"...At the end of the day"..."when everyone goes home, you're stuck with yourself." RIP Layne Staley
- Plants, plants, plants! (But only in an otherwise unclutered cube) If your company allows it, these really make it feel better. However, in a cluttered cube, they just make it seem more closed in. Oh, and don't forget - just because you can live on Jolt doesn't mean your green friends can.
- Small bookshelf. A small bookshelf (1.5' wide, 3' high) can be aquired cheaply, and gives you more top surface - as well as removing the stacks of binders you have. It really is amazing where those will fit, so don't just give up on it!
- Pen jar - a mug or jar for your pens can really make a big difference if you are like I was. I had pens, pencils, slide rule, etc spread all over my desktop. Now, one coffee mug makes my desk ever so much neater.
- Cord keepers. Little bits of velcro strips make more of a difference than you think.
- Get rid of the 50 post-its on your monitor - it'll make your space seem bigger immediately
- organize and clean up the crap you have stuck on your walls.
Hope these help - they helped me!> Think vertical. I have cabinets, shelves and racks almost to the ceiling.
Be careful here -- you can get in trouble with facilities and/or the fire marshall. We've been told to keep at least 1' open, because otherwise you block the sprinklers, the fire marshall yells at facilities, and they come and tell us to tear it down.
And if you live in an earthquake-capable part of the country, be careful about building too high or putting things like monitors on things. Back before the 1989 loma prieta earthquake, we had a number of people do that. We also had to dig many of them out of their cubes after the quake, when everything fell in on them. No serious injuries, fortunately.
Vertical is good -- but too vertical can be a probelm...
Chuq Von Rospach, Internet Gnome = When his IQ reaches 50, he should sell