Desk Essentials: 10 Items That Aren’t That Hard to Remember

Yeah, yeah, I hear you, between everything that goes on in an office (and the constantly changing flux of technology) remembering to keep a pen on your desk can be hard. But I promise you, if you manage to make even five of these items desk essentials, your work day will thank you for it (heck, maybe even your boss will, too).

So here it is, 10 desk essentials you should always have on hand:

1. Chargers!— Probably one of the most important things on here. Think of the charger like your office God, without it, there is no life. Literally everything starts and stops with a charger, and if you forget it, you can kiss all your electronic-related work goodbye. Do us a favor and keep extra chargers on hand (or aim for the full schabang and invest in a universal charging station).

2. USBs— Ahh, the universal serial bus, no self-respecting worker should be caught without one. And I’m not talking about the cheap kind, either. If you’re gonna do it, do it right, get yourself a few of these babies that have at least 32GB or more, so you’ll always be prepared with backups and copies of different documents.

3. USB Hubs— The USB hub is to USBs, what jelly is to peanut butter. The bottom line? You should just keep one at your desk. With more and more companies (I’m looking at you, Apple), ditching USB ports on their laptop, having a place to actually plug in all those USBs is kind of important.

4. Extra Earphones or a Killer Pair of Headphones— In other words, get yourself some serious audioware. Extra earphones provide a less inconvenient and bulky backup to losing your main headgear, but a killer pair of headphones won’t only block all background office noise out, it’ll make you look way cooler than you are, too.

5. A Notebook— But, but, but- you thought the world was going digital, am I right? There will be times when, alas, technology fails you. For those moments in life, it’s always wise to have a notebook on your desk to jot down quick notes.

6. Wire Organizers or a Cable Management System— Sure, tech is supposed to make your life easier, but it comes with some strings attached. Make sure you have an efficient way to organize those strings. Wire organizers can get the job done easily enough, but if you want to step up your game, look into a cord organizer or cable management system. Organization will keep your wires from wearing out or getting ruined.

7. A Laptop Stand— Surprised? Here’s a tip of the trade, use a laptop stand to prop your screen at an angle, that way it can double as a second screen to your regular office monitor. Sit back and watch your productivity soar. Career hack, check. You’re welcome.

8. Lint Roller— Before you say it, yes, a lint roller is pretty imperative to have on hand. Here’s where the boss might even thank you for it. Imagine this: you just ate lunch, napkin fuzz and crumbs are all over you, then bam a surprise meeting with a client. You always want to look clean and presentable, so make sure the lint roller becomes your new best friend.

9. Breath Mint or Gum— You’d be surprised how many people don’t realize their breath kinda smells. This one is applicable for pretty similar reasons as number eight, so make sure you take presentation seriously and always remember to keep an arsenal of breath mints stocked.

10. Coasters?— Bet you didn’t think that would round out the list, did you? Well, it did, and here’s why. With all the technology swarming your desk, no one wants water rings sweating all over their brand new earbuds or ruining their USBs. Coasters are a sleeper desk essential, but it almost makes them that much more necessary. Remember, safety first.

Think you can remember all of that? If you can, you’ll really be setting yourself up towards being the Superman or girl of your office, just don’t start sharing all your breath mints at once, otherwise you’ll be restocking more often than you need to.

For ZBRELLA Technology Consulting, I’m Christopher Clark, goodnight and good luck!