Writing Habits
Charlotte Rains Dixon  

What’s On Your Desk

(My inspiration for this post comes from a list penned by Anne Wayman.)

What’s on your desk?        LT on chair

  • My computer, a small Dell laptop
  • A cat (just about always)
  • A yellow legal pad with notes on it
  • Two books about writing
  • The little journal in which I keep my to-do lists and make notes in all week
  • A pen. Or often several.

My desk is small, like an old-fashioned letter-writing desk, and I like it that way. Until a few months ago, I worked at a massive Ikea desk that had all kinds of room on it.  Too much room, because give me a flat surface and I will stack paper on it. And that is exactly what I did. I stacked paper and books and notebooks and files and all kinds of things all over it.

This did not make me happy.  It cluttered up my mind and made me feel guilty. And then last summer, I started carrying my computer outside every morning and working at the table on the back deck.  Most mornings, it was just me and my laptop, with maybe a pad of paper for notes and a pen, nothing more. I realized I loved this and that what I really needed was a small desk so that I would not have the problem of so much room to stack things on.

For the most part this has worked. The areas surrounding me have crap all over them, but it stays out of my line of vision and doesn’t distract me quite so much.  I positioned this desk so that it is facing into my office with bookshelves behind me, and windows to each side.  My last desk faced the wall.  I like this better because I’m also facing the door and it always feels weird to have your back to it.

I find it amusing that it took me so many years to figure out what worked for me.  And it is also fun to think about how many different places I’ve written. The kitchen counter, the dining room table, a corner of the bedroom, you name it.

Where do you write? Does this location work for you? Why or why not?

0 thoughts on “What’s On Your Desk

  1. Don

    From the look of it, it seems that I have the whole world on my desk. Pens, a Bible, several keyboards, receipts, glasses, calendar, hairbrush (only God knows why?), two watches, several stickies pads, camera battery recharger, one lotto ticket, several books, and I’m scared to see what lies under all of that less I move any of it and the mess on my desk ends up becoming my mess on the floor. Nonetheless I seem to like it this way!

    1. Charlotte Rains dixon

      Ha! I love that–the whole world on your desk. What a great description of it!

  2. J.D.

    I work at a computer desk. Mine is like yours, there’s a lot of crap out of my line of vision. I noticed James Taylor, the musician, works in a studio behind his house. The place looks fancy enough in his little video, etc. The only sounds in the place are the ones he makes.

    1. Charlotte Rains dixon

      Yeah, it really helps me. I am a borderline hoarder when it comes to paper, so things tend to get really piled up. And as long as they are not on my desk, I can concentrate.

Leave A Comment

book cover mockup for Charlotte Rains Dixon

Looking for a Great Book to Read? Look No Further!

Emma Jean's Bad Behavior

Get Your Copy Today>>