One of my favorite set of posts on Lifehacker is the “Featured Workspace” posts. Your workspace is important. It’s where things get done. Each and every workspace is different because we are all different. My workspace utilizes a 50 year-old desk and a mix of tech from old to new. Read on for more on how I have set this up.
The desk is one I picked up many years ago on Freecycle. Freecycle is a Yahoo group in our area that people list stuff for free. This desk’s previous home was a local church here in the Columbus area, and I was able to lug this thing home in my old Minivan which we don’t have any more. It’s about 50 years old, and it is VERY heavy — which means it will never make it upstairs without two to four guys to help me lift it.
One of the things I love about this desk is the wide open workspace lets’ me layout my computers and ham gear in many different combinations. I also love the pull out sections on each side which are perfect for setting a cup of coffee, a netbook or a tablet on them. Since they are made of metal like much of the rest of this desk, I could even set a regular laptop on the pullouts. Back in the day, they used to tape a phone list to it, or they would use it for writing notes or memos. Finally unlike stuff from Ikea or Sauder, it’s not going to fall apart any time soon.
On my desk, you’ll notice a monitor I use for my old Powermac G5, my laptop, microphones for podcasting, my Android Dock from Digital Innovations, a Mixing board, a lamp, and the ham gear which is probably the oldest things on the desk. The 2 Meter radio and the power supply were originally owned by my grandfather.
I want to eventually replace that power supply and put some shelving up, so I can place the radio gear closer to where I sit. I’d also like to get a replacement machine for the G5, and put the antenna that you can see in the back outside, along with a new antenna for the 10 meter ham radio.
What does your workspace look like? Are you old school or ultra modern?
Joel how old is that picture
It’s recent. Took it for the article right before I wrote it.
Thanks for an interesting writeup. I had forgotten about the featured workspace/tech bits on lifehacker, Joel. I’m muddling through some home re-arrangement ideas right now since my youngest has entered the school fray in kindergarten.