Being a young professional in the workplace is never easy. We sit in our office chairs in our grown up costumes and pretend to know what the heck we are doing. More importantly, we try and learn how to speak up and assert ourselves when we actually know what the heck we are doing and can contribute to the conversation.
Being a young professional is challenging, but one thing we can always do right is be prepared. It’s important to stock your desk full of things that one might need. Here’s a list to get you started.
Blue, Black and Red Pens: Sometimes you need to sign in black, sometimes you need to sign in blue and sometimes your boss asks to borrow a red pen to bleed on your work.
White Out: Your best friend in the entire world. I go through more white out than anyone ever should.
Legal Pads: I don’t know about you, but my ta-da lists are extremely long–sometimes span several pages of a legal pad. I live and die by these.
Files: I like colored ones. I have one for projects I’m currently working on, projects that are coming up, and papers that my boss is going to ask me for several months from now. I usually separate my projects out as well.
Post-Its: I like to leave notes on papers I give to people. Sometimes people are out of the office and you need to leave a note clarifying what this paper is. Sometimes clarification is necessary even if they are in their office. They’re just good to have.
Paper Clips: Handy for clipping papers, opening boxes that have been taped and shipped and picking vague locks.
Band-Aids: Paper cuts are no joke, people.
A Blanket: I live in Atlanta and my office is never the same temperature as the day before. Some days it is sweltering lava hot and some days Queen Elsa comes to visit. If it’s a freezing day, the blanket comes in handy.
What do you keep in your desk?