What You'll Find on my Desk

One of my #3Words for 2013 is minimize and yesterday I needed to clean my desk off to start that process.

My desk is one of the most important locations in my house as I spend a lot of time there. I write, edit my photos, make videos, take meetings and pretty much run my business from this very spot. Because of that I'm always trying to find the ultimate combination of technology to make it as productive a location as possible.

I took and shared this photo after cleaning off my desk and instantly received a ton of questions asking "what is that?" about various items on my desk, so I thought I'd write up a quick walk through of my desk to answer those questions.

I'll describe everything from left to right. Most links are affiliate links.

While it is mostly off camera, my MXL V63M Microphone is crucial and always present on my desk. This is the same microphone I bought back in 2005 for podcasting and I use it to this day for all my Skype calls, webinars, voice overs and new episodes of Managing the Gray. The boom mount allows me to move it out of the way when I'm not using it and it takes up a tiny amount of desk space.

I can tell that I took this photo later in the morning because where my coffee usually would be is my GORUCK water bottle and leather coaster. I tend to drink at least two full bottles worth every day and try to never be without water. If you like Nalgene bottles like I do, definitely check out getting a Humangear capCap to make them easier to drink out of.

I never found an iPad desk stand that worked for me, so I use to have it laying on the desk charging until I bought a HoverBar. It is a flexible metal arm that connects to my display and keeps my iPad off the desk. I rarely use it as any form of secondary monitor, but it is nice when notifications pop up and I can look over to it without stopping typing and see what is going on. I'm still not sure if this will stick around long term, but for now I'm liking it.

Twelve South makes a lot of products on my desk and if you are an Apple type of person you need to check them out because their products rock. My newest product (and what motivated me to clean the desk) was the arrival of a HiRise Stand that I decided to buy myself as a late Christmas present. It has a hidden compartment in front to put little things that end up hanging out on my desk and already I like having my Apple Display raised up a bit. Who knew it would make such a big difference?

What you can't see is my 13" MacBook Air hidden behind the display on a BackPack Adjustable Shelf which is such a simple, but effective product. I love that my laptop is always here and when I hit the road I just unplug it and go. The cables stay in place and out of the way. A magic combination for my sanity.

Because of all the devices I'm always plugging in and out, I've gone through a variety of USB hubs and currently am using a Moshi iLynx that has worked great for a number of years. I also love that the Griffin Simplifi Dock has extra ports in addition to being where my iPhone stays all day AND it has both an SD card and a CF card reader built into it. Sadly, they are not making an updated version that has the Apple lightning adapter so I will have to get rid of this when I upgrade my phone. I love this device and would hate to have to find a replacement.

There are also copies of Content Rules and Amazing Things Will Happen that I've had sitting on my desk for far too long that I'm due to bring to my local library for their "town room" where they keep signed copies of books by local authors. You'll also see my bluetooth headset that I use for taking phone calls and my Mophie PowerStation (RED) that I'm charging up for NMX this weekend.

Finally, you'll see my speakers and audio control. Music is almost always playing whenever I'm at my desk. As I write this I'm listening to Howard Stern as I do most mornings. Baba Booey!

I've also got a few special things on my desk including my hand carved pen holder from Ghana, a mug from Best Made Company and my pick yourself mug from Seth Godin. I'm a big memento type of guy so you'll always see little things like this on my desk and in my office. Sometimes a bit too much of it :)

So there you go my friends. The desk of little old me and what allows me to do what I do. Hope this is helpful for you.

In a year, it should be interesting to look back and see how much changes.