Desk Essentials
That pink stapler with "Queen" bedazzled on it, or maybe you love that smell of lavender while swimming through morning paperwork.
Whichever item floats your boat, it's essential for you and helps you perform at your best.
For this post, I wanted to give you all a list of some of the essential desk items that help me through my workday. I'm not affiliated with any of these products; I know they work wonders for me, and I wanted to pass them on to you.
Heated homemade rice/corn bag
I'm assuming there's a more technical term or an official name, but if I call it a warmed rice bag, you get what I'm saying. The basic design is a fabric-type tube filled with rice or corn heated up in the microwave.
I usually heat mine for 3-4 minutes, depending on the strength of the microwave. The bag provides heat which is useful for tight, tense muscles, warming up, or providing an overall comforting feeling.
This is a must for streamers/gamers to warm up their hands before a gaming session or match. I know a lot of pros use hand warmers which is great, but they aren't reusable. Disposables are great for convenience but costly and not nearly as earth-friendly as the bag.
You can find them on Amazon, but the best place is local vendors. They are usually cheaper, and supporting local businesses is always a plus.
The Back Buddy or Lacrosse Ball
This name couldn't be more spot on. The overall shape looks like a sword that should be in a LOTR movie but trust me, it works. It's made of high-quality plastic with numerous knobs and contours to reach every muscle group.
The Back Buddy helps you work out trigger points that are impossible to reach by yourself or that you usually have to press into a door frame (like Baloo from the Jungle Book).
This device cost me $30 and paid for itself the first week. If you suffer from sore muscles or "knots" I recommend getting this ASAP.
A lacrosse ball is an even cheaper option for self-mobilization at your desk. The ball can go directly on your skin with a little spin to take the slack out. Gentle mobilization with minimal pressure is ideal.
At-desk water bottle
I picked up mine randomly at a brewery in Idaho Springs, Colorado, to store the IPA I bought.
The Hydroflask has excellent insulation to keep my water cold forever and a wide mouth simple screw top design. It also never sweats, which prevents condensation from going all over your desk.
Out of sight, out of mind is a concept when it comes to daily hydration. If your water bottle is within your vision, you tend to drink significantly more water throughout the day comparatively. Hydration legitimately makes every system in your body work better.
Stressball
Think of it as a fidget spinner that you can squeeze, throw off walls, bounce on your desk, and strengthen your hands. I have used it to rehab my hands following a fracture and still use it today to continue building up the intrinsic muscles of my hand.
The stress ball is a great addition to warm-ups prior to gaming or working. Physical and mental priming are key for mental performance, regardless of what you are about to undertake.
Laptop Stand/External Peripherals
Working off of a laptop is rough on your body; you just don’t realize it yet. While typing, the upper extremity is supported by the desk, which is fantastic. However, the screen is significantly lower than recommended. This poor position causes the neck to be flexed in order to see the screen. If this posture is sustained for prolonged periods of time, the result is burning/tightness in the neck musculature, headaches, and even numbness in the extremities.
Now that you have purchased a laptop stand, you are not out of the woods. Working solely from a stand without an external keyboard will cause shoulder strain (trapezius/levator scapulae) while trying to hold your arms up for the duration of the workday.
This is where an external keyboard and mouse are crucial for optimal ergonomic setup. These two additions help maintain neutral positions of the upper extremities for prolonged periods of time, preventing the conditions mentioned above.
Yoga Mat
I have had the same mat for over five years, and it looks the same as the first day I performed an epic child's pose.
The mat still has a superb grip similar to what it was on day one. I use it for light stretching at lunch and to work out during morning workouts. This is a small investment for movement promotion throughout the day.
I would also challenge you to perform strengthening work more so than stretch-stretch-stretch. Developing spinal stability, proper core function, and posterior chain endurance is vastly more beneficial for injury prevention.
Conclusion
Well, there you have it, the essential things that help me plow throughout my workday. All of these are relatively inexpensive and add so much value to my workspace both in the short-term and long term.
What desk items do you think are "desk essential?"