Desk Tour: My day job
The whole of your life is a work of art
I mentioned how much I love the desk tours featured on Olivia Muenter’s substack in my last newsletter, and I thought it would be fun to do one of my own. I’m using the same questions Olivia asks in her desk tours.
Today’s desk tour features my day job workspace. I work part-time at Postern, a marketing agency in downtown Frederick, Maryland. I’m the editorial manager for MarylandRoadTrips.com, a Postern-owned travel website, and I also write copy for a handful of Postern clients.
Fun fact: Our building was the original city library, and Abraham Lincoln once visited a friend at the house across the street!
Describe your workspace.
I share my office with another copywriter. We brought books and decorative accents from home to fill the many shelves in our office and collaborated on what we’re calling our “tiny art gallery.”
I keep my actual desk very neat. I usually have a backpack, a pile of books and magazines, a sweater, and other bits and bobs lying about on the shelves right around my desk. I enjoy the quick task of resetting the space when I leave for the day. We used to have a lot of clients and community members pop by to tour the office after we moved in, so I got used to maintaining a tidy workspace.
Can you spot the bottle of Ibuprofen and the heating pad? 😆 The white cylinder on my desk is a mini humidifier! I keep lip balm, Tums, gum, a notebook, pens, etc., in my desk drawer.
What are your three favorite items on your desk right now?
The framed photos are from our family photo session last fall taken by one of my best friends.
My big coffee mug
It’s not on my desk, but I keep this lip mask nearby at all times. I use it as a lip balm.
Do you keep anything specific at your desk that you use as inspiration to stay creative or positive?
The artwork around my desk brings me joy and inspiration. My friend Megan Thompson painted the piece directly above my laptop—isn’t it fabulous?
The top collage is a vision board I made during a professional development session at work. I made the other three while going through The Artist’s Way/Walking in This World. I look at them often—they all contain encouraging messages and inspiring images.
My biggest motivator is a print I ordered from Shelby Goodman’s Etsy shop years and years ago. It serves as a kick in the pants whenever I feel sluggish and unmotivated.
Is there anything you absolutely HAVE to have at your desk/workspace or you can't be productive?
I absolutely must have a cold drink at my desk. 99% of the time, it’s ice-cold water in my Takeya, but I sometimes bring sparkling water to work as an afternoon “treat” if I’m trying to keep myself from going to Starbucks.
I get up and take a quick walk around the block if I need to clear my head. I’m constantly inspired by the varied architecture and the way storefronts and front stoops change with the seasons.
Is there anything you'd change about your workspace? If so, what?
I’d like to fill the shelf below our window with plants!
Describe your "ideal" work day at your desk.
This is one of my favorite writing exercises in general—to describe an ideal summer day, an ideal vacation day, time with a friend, etc. The key is to go wild and indulge in your dreams. I’m really going for it, okay? This ideal work day takes me beyond my desk.
The weather is in the 60s or low 70s—sunny but cool, and I’m feeling energetic and park my car farther away than usual so I can watch people play tennis for a few minutes before walking to the office. A golden retriever puppy approaches me and I sit down on the grass and snuggle it. Somehow, it doesn’t leave any hair on my clothes, and my coworkers compliment my outfit when I arrive (lol). My boss has brought in pastries from my favorite bakery, and I eat an Everything Croissant while playing Wordle, which I get in two tries.
I open my email to find an inbox full of positive feedback from clients and the freelance writers I work with, and I copy and paste them into my “affirmations” note on my phone. I never get tired of reading them:
We really love it. It made me cry. You accomplished the inspirational tone we were hoping for. Great job.
We just LOVE how you write and know that you are familiar with the area so we wanted to reach out to you first.
The content is wonderful. You should be so proud. Fantastic job.
I also see an email from a PR agent representing a boutique hotel in Maryland. She says she’s pleased to offer me and a guest a complimentary two-night stay, including meals, in exchange for an article on Maryland Road Trips. I immediately text my best friend to see if she’s free to join me.
I pull up my active projects report and see that I have a few items due soon. I start with the project I’m most excited about. I get a sense of satisfaction out of sending each item to my manager or the client for approval and marking the project “complete” in our project management software.
I clock out at noon and eat lunch with a few coworkers. We ask one another ridiculous questions like, “Is a hot dog a taco?” I have salmon cobb salad leftovers for lunch—yum.
I find an envelope on my desk when I return from lunch. Inside is a card from my boss thanking me for my hard work and noting an increase in my pay. There’s a bonus check inside the card.
I attend a project kick-off meeting to discuss a new project with one of my favorite clients. Their office is on the other side of downtown—a pleasant walk on the linear park that runs along a creek. There’s a harpist playing. I cry a little—I’m overwhelmed with gratitude over my raise, the sun is shining, and the harp music is beautiful.
The client greets me with a hug. I’m confident that I bring valuable contributions to our discussion and my ideas are well-received.
Later, a coworker suggests we walk to Starbucks—her treat!—and we chat about marriage and motherhood.
I finish up all of my work and get ahead on some upcoming projects. Andy texts me to ask if I’d like him to make burgers for dinner. Yes, please! I clock out and pop my AirPods in to listen to a Marco Polo or Voxer from a friend on the walk back to my car.
There you have it!
What’s amazing is that nearly everything mentioned in my ideal workday has happened before and happens a decent amount of the time. Those notes about my work are actual notes I’ve received—the last one is from my boss. ❤️
The basic framework of my ideal day (whether I’m in the office or not) is easy to replicate: accomplish tasks, connect with people, eat something yummy, and spend time in nature.
I want to know:
What’s your favorite item on your desk?
What’s one reach-for-the-stars thing that would happen on your ideal workday?
P.S. That free stay at the boutique hotel? It really happened!
Beautiful space! (I really liked that desk series too! Love how you replicated it!)
Your office is soooo dreamy!! What a fun look into your everyday 🙂