Classics: Work desk essentials for the well dressed guy

The Suggestion: What to keep in your desk at work

Originally published 3/3/12

The employee handbook, batch of pens, and preferred brand of stapler is all up to you.  These are a few suggestions that most probably don’t already have in their desk.  Leave any other suggestions in the comments section at the bottom of the page.

Clockwise from Top Right:

1. Shine Eraser / Blotting Sheets – By the end of a long work day, some of our foreheads will look like we just spent the last 8 hours in a squat rack instead of at a desk.  That won’t look real good if you’re headed out to a happy hour right after you clock out.  These dry blotting sheets return your face to it’s normal, matte state.

2. Extra Pocket Square or Handkerchief – Always good to have a spare on hand.  Its uses are numerous.

3. Toothpaste & Toothbrush – Some people are more than okay walking around all day with the taste of the 10am latte warring with the 12:30 red-onion topped lunch salad in their mouth.  Some aren’t.  Give brushing your teeth at work a shot one afternoon.  You’ll feel better, more awake, and believe it or not, more productive with a clean mouth.

4. Floss – If you can’t bring yourself to brush your teeth at work, then this is the backup for when the poppy seed muffin wreaks havoc on your confident corporate smile.

5. Nail Scissors – Nail clippers are good, but a curved blade nail scissors will more easily remove stray threads on your clothes… as well as stray hairs in your nose.

6. Extra Pair of Socks – So you got a last minute invite to head out somewhere right after work.  But you wish you could grab a shower first.  The next best thing is a fresh pair of socks and…

7. Spare deodorant – … a fresh swipe of deodorant.  Might want to use a shine sheet too.

8. A favorite spirit – Check that employee handbook, because having this in your desk might get you fired.  But as our tech & travel correspondent Paul Olson once said about business travel: “nothing in your hotel room is yours outside your suitcase – the pictures on the walls, the furniture – not yours.  With whiskey, your room has your drink.”  Almost the same can be said for that taupe box you call home for 8 – 10 hours a day.  Keep that bottle sealed and only open in extreme circumstances.  Consider it a discreet outpost for your personal freedom.