A tour around my office

My room is my castle

Ok so this week I’m going to be a little self indulgent and write about the place where I work and the equipment that I use every day.

I don’t like to have too much stuff in my room

While I’m working I like to keep everything clean because if there is too much clutter it gets very hard for me to concentrate . That’s why I always clean a little bit every friday so that my office is ready for me on Monday.

I also don’t like to pack in too much stuff because that can also be distracting, I want everything to be conveniently located and easily accessible.

Choosing a good desk is important

Yes, that’s right. . I’m using a glass table for my computer. I bought it a few years ago at Office Depot, marked down from $100 to $80. The keyboard tray slides in and out which gives me a lot more room for my notebook and tablet.

My Aeron Chair is a dream come true

I had known about the Aeron chair ever since I wrote my article Tools of the Trade: Hardware. And ever since then I really wanted one. Unfortunately, the price tag was a bit more than I wanted to pay ($1,200 a pop) but I eventually found one on ebay for half off and quickly jumped on the deal. I’ve already noticed an improvement in my performance and I don’t feel as tired at the end of the day.

Dual monitors were one of the best investments I ever made

Dual monitors are probably one of the most effective ways to improve your performance for the least amount of money. I’m using a 22inch and a 19inch and I love them both.

Get a good keyboard that is comfortable

My brother bought this for me one Christmas. Before, I was using a crappy little dell keyboard that came with my first computer (which I bought more than 6 years ago). This keyboard has customizable buttons and a comfortable wrist pad which is easier on the hands.

I love my wireless mouse

I was getting fed up with my mouse chord constantly getting stuck in the keyboard tray so I bought this Logitech MX Revolution mouse ($60). I don’t have to worry about changing batteries and it’s ergonomically designed for my hand.

I use a tablet whenever I do design or illustrative work

The mouse just doesn’t cut it when I’m trying to draw or design an interface. The wacom tablet makes it much easier by harnessing your natural ability to use a stylus. In the picture below you’re looking at an Intuous 3, Wacom has since released an Intuous 4, which I really want.

Don’t underestimate the value of pen and paper

My notebook and pens are one of the most useful tools that I own. I constantly need to jot down ideas and organize my thoughts, I’m simply not smart enough to keep it all in my head.

I use a filing cabinet to organize and archive all my notes

I keep an archive of all my old notes tucked away neatly in this filing cabinet. Every once in a while I will go through and discard papers that I’ll never need again.

I use my iPod Touch to organize my tasks

It took me a long time to decide whether I should get an iPod Touch or not. Well, obviously I bought the device and I never had any doubts since. I also purchased a great task management app called “Things” for $10 which was worth every penney.

Every night, I back up everything onto my external hard drive.

I use this 500GB Western Digital external hard drive to store all my crucial files. It was about $100 at Circuit City about a year ago and it’s been working great since.

The printer that was

This printer right now has no ink in it, and I can’t even remember the last time it did. After I graduated college I no longer found the need to print papers (who would have thought?). No doubt, I will need to print something eventually and when I do I’ll pony up the $50 for more ink.

note: I didn’t intentionally make this photo grainy, it kind of just showed up like that and I ran with it.

Books, books and more books

I love to read books and articles about web design, I can’t get enough, it’s turned into a real problem. . .

What do you use?

What kind of equipment do you use on a daily basis?