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.

“Agile working” with a small locker. I’ve forgotten most of it but I know it’s roughly a pouch with painkillers/tampons etc, my head set, my pencil case, a small umbrella, pashmina, hand cream/deodorant/lip balm etc, toothpaste/brush, a water bottle and charging cables. Boots, hard hat & hi vis in a communal locker.

I commute by tube & am surprised at the amount of stuff some of you have! Mine would all fit very easily into an archive box.

This has peaked my interest because I have a lot of stuff in the office, under the desk, in drawers and cabinets, some personal some ‘work essentials’. The thought of hot desking always gave me a slight panic.

We were sent home in March, the box I packed was all work related, nothing personal as we thought we’d be back within a short time. I visited the office last week and realised I need none of the paraphernalia around me. I have missed none of it, couldn’t even remember most of it.

@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.

Aren't they useful at home too though? I'm surprised people can afford double of almost everything!

I have a mug with my name on and a calculator at one clients as I have my own office there.

I’ve only been in my job two weeks so, at the moment, a pen. That’s it.

My last job was two huge banker type boxes. One of which burst and dumped its contents all over Finsbury Park tube station, making a shit day shitter (was made redundant)

We had a clear (ish) desk policy, so it is all the personal and non work related stuff I'm surprised at.

My phone used to last all day so I didn't usually take a charger to work. I am not a snacker and there wasn't enough room on each desk for anything other than two wide screen monitors, landline phone, mouse, keyboard and tea mug anyway.

It always makes me sad, even Cummings (the idiot) that anyone can fit their professional life in a box. He looked pitiful didn't he?

I'd need about three large suitcases

Why do people have so many pairs of shoes?

Pen pot
Sharpies in various colours
Mug
Perfume
Hand cream
Hand sanitizer
Calendar
Tea caddy
Coaster
Water bottle
Mug
Notebooks
Box of notecards
A million lipsticks
Paracetamol
Box of pins/tape measure/sewing stuff
Shawl
Cardigan
Shoes x2
Umbrella
2 large wooden candle sticks
Empty cake tin
Headphones
3x plants

There is other stuff in my drawers, but could all go in the bin, I suspect.

A coat
A hoodie
A couple of different coffees/teas/hot chocolate.
Probably a few bits in the fridge.

Hairbrush. Various notebooks. A little medicine kit I've made up. Hand cream. Sanitiser.

I'm the only menstruating staff member so I'd take the box of tampons/pads etc I set up in the ladies.

A few postcards and photos on the wall by my desk.

Oh my paper trays on my desk I bought as they're very pretty. Whatever shit is in them too. Some sore glasses, more notebooks. Hair bands etc.

I was at my last job 12 years and it was more than a box full when I changed jobs in May. I was at risk of redundancy when lockdown started anyway so I went back in one day and cleared it when no one was there. It was mainly shoes.....

I left the radio and Christmas decorations though and these have been binned as they have moved office in July.

Christ OP, that's a lot. Your desk sounds like the one I took over when I returned to work post maternity leave. Unfortunately for me, the woman who'd previously sat there didn't come back to collect any of her stuff, so I had to throw it all away.

I've been WFH since March but changed jobs in July and had to go and clear my desk with the old company. The only personal belongings I collected were a moleskin notebook, spare iPhone charger and a photo of my little boy.

All I have at work is my mug and a spare pair of slippers ( I wear slippers at work) My desk only has a laptop, phone and scrap paper on it, and the drawers have nothing in them but work stuff.

My fan for my hot flushes and a box of dog treats, oh and my coffee and sugar as we have to buy our own.

Notepads
Mug
Pens
Emergency snacks
Study folders
A couple of photos on my pinboard
I left recently and it all went in a bag for life and then the folders from my studies

Why does everyone need to snack so much?
And why so many pairs of shoes?
I don't own enough pairs to do that. I just wore the shoes to work that I wanted to wear that day, and wore them home again. I took trainers in if I wanted to walk at lunchtime.

I'd need a couple of suitcases. I keep all my work shoes and jackets in the office. Plus a variety of rucksacks and laptop bags for bringing work home or going to meetings out of the office. And a couple of golf umbrellas.

Other than that:
Photo frame
Calendar
Make up bag
Personal stationery (fountain pen, etc)
Snacks and vitamin pills.

@Ginfordinner

Why does everyone need to snack so much? And why so many pairs of shoes? I don't own enough pairs to do that. I just wore the shoes to work that I wanted to wear that day, and wore them home again. I took trainers in if I wanted to walk at lunchtime.

Do you drive to work? People who walk/cycle/walk to tube/bus stop tend to keep smart shoes in the office to change into. I walk in in flats, but have smarter shoes to put on for meetings with visitors etc.

I understand why people keep a pair of smart shoes at work - it makes sense, but several pairs I don't. I guess it is because I only have a couple of pairs of work shoes, that I would also wear if going out at home, so I would probably pop them in my bag and take the in every day rather than keep them at work.

I have a lot, but has room to store 50 prs of shoes at work?

My old office every day started off at cool temps (7:30 or 8am when I arrived) but reached very hot by 1pm or so.
I hate having hot feet. I hate having cold feet.
So I needed 2 pairs of generic black shoes at work, one boot style for the morning & one open sandal style for afternoon. I had warm/cold weather outdoor shoes for walking 10 minutes each way to the shops most lunchtimes, so I could prevent either work pair getting dirty on the walk.

Cycling shoes have (expensive-ish) metal cleats on them, that could wear out or get otherwise worn/dirty, so I didn't want to wear the cycling (commuting) shoes for the walk. I had an umbrella at that workplace, too, come to think of it. But not a drying rack to get wet commuting clothes dry (do have at current workplace).

lot of stuff... who has...

Thank you for your explanation @ragged

I had stilettos in black, red and grey to go with different outfits. Plus heels with cut outs in black, grey, red and nude, that could be worn without tights in the summer. I wouldn’t always have all seven in the office at any given time, but that’s essentially what I needed to cover my work wardrobe satisfactorily.

Our work dress code was far less formal than yours @AnythingLegalConsidered. We wouldn't have had enough room to store that many pairs of shoes, and I think there would have been complaints from the cleaners and the H and S bods if they had been left on the floor.