WorkSpace: The Yoga Geek Desk

If a cluttered desk signs a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?

– Albert Einstein

There is a lot to be said about workspaces and their impact on the way we work and learn. The iconic Lifehacker blog even features customised workspaces regularly, showcasing how desks can be all they can be. This week Lifehacker founder and arguably one of the most powerful women in tech, Gina Trapani, blogged Why and How I Switched to a Standing Desk. The article had a massive and wide-ranging response. In response to my comment on it, I received a request from Terry J. Benzie in Taiwan for a picture of my desk setup. In the name of social media, I am responding with a blog post.

The Yoga Geek Desk

My workspace is built around my rather unique quirks and foibles. These involve comfort, cost, cleanliness and capability.

Comfort: I am most comfortable sitting cross-legged on the floor in a position known in Hatha Yoga as sukhasana, the “easy pose”. The desk is set up on a runner carpet on the floor, where I can Zen out to my heart’s content.

Cost: I love spending money on worthwhile things. Being semi-nomadic, furniture is not one of them. My desk is a simple coffee table where I set up my laptop with all the necessary gadgetry on hand (but usually out of sight). Storage space is provided by A4 photocopying paper boxes aesthetically reworked.

Cleanliness: Living in a desert, dust is the enemy, so I store my video camera, microphone, external CD writer and maintenance equipment where I can reach them but the dust can not. This also leaves my space uncluttered. (Unlike Einstein, I would say that a clear desk affords me a clear mind.) 

Capability: This setup makes it possible to do everything I need while working at the computer. I do find it important to get up and do something else every now and again. Rather than listening to and watching podcasts at the computer, I set up my Galaxy Tab on the monitor of my stationery bike and get moving.

This setup is perfect for me. One thing would make it even better: if I could elevate the whole shebang from this height to a sitting, or standing, desk when necessary. That is the next frontier. Meanwhile, I am perfectly contented.

What Gear? I am not a gear snob and live in a small, isolated town, so my choices are limited. However, my trusty gear serves me well. From left to right, an HP F2480 printer-scanner-copier, Shure PG58 microphone with X2U USB converter, my ageing but wonderful HP Pavillion dv6700 Entertainment laptop, Genius Traveler P330 mouse, Samsung Galaxy Tab, Edifier M1350 speakers, LG external CD drive, iPod Nano and Sony DCR SR200digital video camera.