If you had to clear your desk today...

[MavisEnderby74]

Would you be able to fit your personal belongings in a banker box a la Cummings?

I think I could probably manage it, but the role of wrapping paper that currently lies behind my filing cabinet would be sticking out.

What personal belongings do you have at work?

Mine:
Notebooks
Mugs (one used as a pen pot, but the pens would stay)
Decaf coffee
Coaster
Fake plant
Three tins of soup
Tin of tuna
Tin opener
Running shoes
Blanket/wrap thing
Running belt
Nail scissors
Tweezers
Pukka teabags (although they could probably stay)
Desktop Christmas tree (it's not up, but stays in the drawer year round)
Tinsel (see above)
Hot water bottle
Fingerless gloves
Hat

I'm sure there's more, but that's all I can remember as I've been WFH since March.

I’m most surprised by the people who don’t understand why others have so many possessions.

Pretty much everything that everyone has listed apart from the Christmas trees is fairly self-evidently useful. You might not have a use for high heels, running trainers, shower gel, deodorant, herbal tea, Lemsip, snacks, chargers, cardigans, etc etc but surely it’s obvious why some people might find any of them very handy to keep in the office.

Fifty pairs of shoes I will grant you is excessive.

...Oh, and jacket and a hat. Cycling with helmet on means I don't bring a hat. I could wear cycling jacket instead but sport jackets are such bright colours, I like a more professional looking jacket if walking around the worksite. And a lock, because the lock weighs 2 kg and I don't need to otherwise drag a 2kg lock around. Lock lives on the bike racks, mind, not in office. High theft area so want a good lock.

I moved classroom in July. It took about 12 boxes and 2 days (in my defence I had to take all my furniture as the room. Moved to had teeny chairs and my children wouldn’t fit!). Due to COVID I’m not totally unpacked yet.

I don't have a desk. But I would have a shed load of books, lots of maths resources and a ukelele.

@AnythingLegalConsidered

I’m most surprised by the people who don’t understand why others have so many possessions.

Pretty much everything that everyone has listed apart from the Christmas trees is fairly self-evidently useful. You might not have a use for high heels, running trainers, shower gel, deodorant, herbal tea, Lemsip, snacks, chargers, cardigans, etc etc but surely it’s obvious why some people might find any of them very handy to keep in the office.

Fifty pairs of shoes I will grant you is excessive.

I just didn't keep all those things in my desk. I carried the smaller things in my handbag, and took things like trainers with me every day, and home again in the car.

...(oh and maybe finally): normally I keep my best spectacles at work, the actual prescription ones for working on a computer. But those are at home at present, instead. I get headaches if I use cheap ones for too long with desktop monitors. I don't need or want to remember to carry them back & forth.

(normally)... music headphones because the place is a morgue or I want to shut out the beer chat. Don't want to lug back & forth.

(normally)... a huge pot plant -- but did get that home in March & it's thriving.

Nothing
I cleared my stuff of , cardigan , chopping knife and mug , when we were given the notice of lockdown 2
I don’t anticipate where I am reopening December 3rd I think it will close permanently, it’s retail I’ll just go to another store if that’s the case
I’m training elsewhere in a different field anyway so not bothered

Spare shoes, 1 pair
Umbrella
Book
Magazines
Snacks
Coffee mug
Hair brush
Hair ties
Perfume
Hand cream
Cardigan

What you’re missing, ginfordinner, is that some people don’t have cars, or don’t take them to work.

You're right @AnythingLegalConsidered

In my old job I had

• dog biscuits
• pair of heels
• toothbrush & toothpaste
• DVDs
• bottle of rum
• gift wrap
• small speakers

3 lockers full, - contract, training certs, PDP folder, full change of clothes/shoes (we go out on visits in all weathers) set of clothes that can be washed at 60degrees plus wipeable shoes (covid-risk visits) folded up raincoat, text books and research articles (referencing evidence based practice) plus a pedestal with 3 drawers, one a deep filing drawer currently filled with crockery, cutlery, ( so no-one uses my stuff and doesn't clean it) tea, coffee, staple foods, chargers for mobile, laptop, tablet (all work items) workbook, diary and emergency gifts x 2 and cards cos I dont want to be caught out.

would take me half a day and several boxes to move it all out.

I don't have a desk but a do a locker.

In it is (I think...)
New work shoes
Miniature perfume bottle
Bluetooth speaker and charging cable
2 bags for life
Painkillers
Spare laces
Spare hairbands &
In the loo, 2 cans of deodorant

That's everything...oh hang on, in the desk drawer, about 100 poundland pens, I'm taking those!

Well my office shut in March and I haven't been back since. All my things were destroyed. So, yes, I guess I'd be fine.

I do accumulate a lot of crap, but not all comes home. I changed roles in the company so have cleared my desk when I dropped off my laptop at my old location. I'm working from home now so haven't got a new desk to take over

Stuff that actually comes home:
Nice instant coffee
Ground coffee
Cafeteria
Fruit / Herbal tea
Paracetamol
Mug - gets swapped out regularly anyway as I get bored.
USB fan (I'm the hot person)
Notebooks (only if they survive removal of pages)
Nice pens
Geode rock
Post its
Pens and pot
Other random stationery bits
Hair bands
Water bottle
Snacks (if any left)
Cleaning wipes
Screen cleaner and cloth

It looks a lot written down....but it's all stuff I use and actually if I hot-desked I'd probably keep most of it in a rucksack

Previously I've also had coffee syrups, a bud vase, various trinkets, and after an office closure...the acquisition of a desktop 4 drawer thing, 3 level letter holder and 2/3 lever arches with too many plastic wallets....

I also tend to have stuff that goes in the bin...
Stack of post its with quotes on, from the edge of my monitor.
Papers - training mats, notes ive hoarded print outs.
Honey, lemon juice and ground ginger
Glitter....from when we decorated at Christmas

This made me laugh - I had to take two suitcases in when I left my last job but one of them was full of the books book exchange which no one wanted to take on after I'd gone, and the other one was mainly full of my footrest, keyboard and mouse which I'd brought in from home. Plus a million notebooks!

books from the book exchange my typing is so bad this week!

Mug, pens, spare top (i’m a spiller so have a cheap white top in my drawer after a full cup of coffee spilled at 8am across my top and I had to do a full day decorated with coffee ). Spare shoes,since I end up sometimes with wet feet on my commute, mini hot water bottle, paracetamol and ibuprofen and Sanpro.

I kept very little personal stuff at work. Box of tissues was it. We werent allowed personal bits and pieces (plants, ornaments etc) on our desks and after things (nothing of value) walked out of my locked locker I didnt keep much in there.

The office I worked in (HMRC) has closed recently & nobody has worked there since lockdown in March. Everyone has been escorted & supervised to collect their belongings to ensure they don't take a paperclip, staple or post it home with them. Some staff have worked for HMRC for over 40 years & how pathetic to be treated like this.

Yep, it's all in a rucksack with my laptop. I'd throw it in the boot of the car that they'd have to come and collect too. Job done.

When I left a job that was office based, I had nothing personal in the office. Just picked up my car keys on the last day and walked out.

A photo of DS, a mug, assorted snacks & teabags, hand cream, sanitary products, office stationary.

4 framed prints
1 Yucca plant
2 Cacti
About 40 books
2 pairs of shoes
Mug
Water bottle
Thermos flask
Fingerless gloves
SAD lamp
Headphones
Coaster
Cardigan
Hoodie
Painkillers
Pro Plus tablets
Mouthwash
Dry shampoo
Hairbrush
Miso soup packets
A large Peppa Pig bag for life

Have been WFH since April, so most of my locket items came home with me. I've got a few pens, notepad, teabags, teaspoon, teacup... still there, as I've been in a few times, but nothing that I would miss if I couldn't get it back again.

Shit no. It's not just a desk it's a whole office with text books lining the whole of one wall. I would need about 7 packing crates.

That was a symbol anyway. His colleagues made reference to the fact that he could have gone out of the back but chose to walk out with a little box in his hand like the bankers did after the 2008 crash. Symbolic of the shit to come with Brexit I feel!