What things do I need for working at an office (not worked at one for 18 years)

[Mokel]

I cannot remember what things I had at my desk when I last had a desk job. Unsure if at my new job, we hot desk or have own desk. Think there were lockers from what little of the building I saw during the interview.

There is no food serving canteen, but a kitchen/breakout area with plumbed in hot water urn, microwave etc.

I work on an office 2 days a week and can’t leave things there.. so I havd a pencil case which holds tissues, hand cream, lip balm, pen, loose change for vending machine, phone charge cable . I also have a teeny tiny flask which I take milk in each day as I can’t bear the uht milk that is supplied in the office

I went back to hybrid work today and in/on my desk I have

decaf earl grey teabags
cappucino sachets
orange squash
handcream
hand sanitiser
tissues
paracetamol

Water bottle, phone charger and your lunch each day? That's all I bring to mine.

We hot desk and I take:
Personal phone
Work phone
A mouse (can't abide the touch pad on a laptop)
Mug
Tea bags
Carton of UHT
Lunch bag
Large water bottle
Hand cream
Sanitiser

Back pre covid when we had our own desks, I had all of the above, plus various punnets of fruit, a bottle of squash, various useful pens and a couple of photos of my son.

Hot desking and have no locker either at mine. I bring a notebook and pencil case with pen and some other small essentials like PP said - lip balm, small hairbrush, paracetamol etc. Also my water bottle, and lunch which is always something I can heat in the microwave. I try to travel as light as I can as I have a bit of a walk to the train.

The hide of a rhino

Don't buy a load of stuff in advance, see what you need once you're there.

That said, obvious things to me - pens you like, a notebook you like, headphones, water bottle, travel mug, USB charger for devices, a nail file, medication (I have migraine), dry snacks and coffee sachets live in my work rucksack because I move about the country so don't know what I'll have access to in each office!

I have a fixed desk but an absolute clean desk policy, so what I leave behind in the evening has to go into the pedestal.
Only chargers (phone and laptop) and keyboard, mouse and headset can stay.

In the pedestal I have:
pens
notebook
my personal mug
water bottle
some ibuprofen/paracetemol
handcreme
tissues

I do have a stapler and holepunch but I actually can't remember when I used it last as we are also 99% paperfree.

The office has a kitchen with hot and cold water tab for drinks, sink, dishwasher, really nice coffee machine, microwaves, fridge and freezer.

We are getting tea, coffee, fresh milk (dairy and oat) all free.
The kitchen is stocked with mugs, glasses, crockery and cuterly.

Some people have lockers, mainly to store breakfast cereals or several pair of shoes.
If you are cycling, you can have a locker in the basement where also the showers are. One of my colleague has spare clothes, shower items and make up there.

Does depend on whether hot desking or not. I have two jobs, one fixed desk where I have my own office and one hot desk. In both I keep (locker for the hot desk one) a few pens etc in a pencil case, hand gel and hand cream, mug and water bottle, herbal teabags. In the fixed office one I have a few more bits and bobs such as photos in frames, pot plants, box of tissues.

We are not paperless in either so I have staplers etc on both desks, at the hot desk one they just stay whoever is working there.

Phone charging cable, small hairbrush, small deodorant.

As pp said - go without anything much for the first day.
Just your phone and wallet, water bottle if you carry it around.
See what's available, where people have lunch etc. Whether you will get a locker or not.
Will you get a work laptop or work phone?

Edited to add - check out the stationary cupboard for pens, notebooks, scissors, staplers, batteries etc

I always have a small packet of surface wipes in my laptop bag - I do not trust the cleaners to properly wipe desks!

I wouldn't bring anything the first day. If there is no where on site that serves food is there somewhere near by? If not I'd take a sandwich the first day.

If it is hot desks I would get a small storage box/ big lunch box. For putting things into and easily storing away. I had tissues, wipes and hand san. A few pens, sweeter, charging cable.

I would have always thought cleaners wouldn't touch the desks? I have never hot desked though

I bring water bottle and lunch in my bag (plus laptop) and have headset, laptop charger, phone charger, mug, teabags, paracetamol, tampons and hand cream that I leave in my locker. We hot desk and the cleaners clean the desks including keyboards etc. I never use pen and paper at work, Onenote has replaced that for me!

It depends what your office provides, I take a water bottle! Mugs, cutlery, plates if you need them, coffee and milk are all provided. I take my lunch in a small cool bag because the fridge gets really full and I use my own backpack rather than the ones that come with our laptops. I have a plastic basket that I keep all my cables, pens and a tube of hand cream in to store in my locker.

Cardigan and fingerless gloves for winter / air con.

At my desk: emery board, handcream, tissues, lipstick, compact mirror, ruler, two phone chargers, charger, headphones, wet wipes, calendar, two or three pairs of shoes.

In my bag: small pencil case with pens and office keys, laptop, 2nd charger, painkillers, anti-histamine.

I take in my lunch, a flask and a water bottle.

So pleased we don't hot desk.

I'm public sector so stationery is supplied but no food or drinks and you take your own cup. So i take a thermos cup in with my first hot drink of the day and some teabags/mocha sachets. An easy sandwich to eat, not too messy with a small cool pack to keep it fresh. A phone and charger. A water bottle. Tissues and a hair brush. Maybe paracetamol.

I work hybrid, 3 days a week in the office. No hot desking.
I have a charger at home and at work, so thats one less thing I need to carry.
On my desk, I just have some handcream, headphones and dog related stuff (my dog comes with me to the office)

In my backpack, on a daily basis, I have my macbook, a notebook + pen, and my lunchbox. And then the usual wallet, phone and a book of course.
No need for a water bottle or coffee or tea, its all provided by our co-working space.

Hi OP some really good suggestions above, I did some temp admin work a few years ago so would also add some wet wipes to give the desk / toilets a quick wipe down. I have also been in offices where the temperature is either boiling or freezing so wearing removable layers would also be a good idea.