Frydmania

Gherkins are good for stress

December 4th, 2006

What does your workspace say about you?

Mine has a postcard in Polish, claiming that gherkins are good for stress.  I haven’t actually tried eating them at work.  But probably it’s just the sight of a silly postcard, and a link to Poland, that cheers me up.

I work in an open plan environment, which has pinboards separating desks from each other. Occasional gifts from visitors can make their way to a desk or pinboard, looking for a home.  I also have a flower painted by a friend’s child.  A copy of another friend’s poem.  Nostalgic advert-style wrapping from some German chocolates a colleague brought back from holiday.

From time to time, we’re encouraged to clear our pinboards, and start again.  As a teenager, I used to find it very hard to change displays of cards, ornaments etc - what record would remain of that stage of life?

I’m less precious about it now, but perhaps keeping things the same around my desk is a way of standing still, while the work shifts and changes around me. A way of saying who I am, a snapshot to accompany the name tag on the edge of the pinboard. In these days of hotdesking, it’s nice still to have a space to call my own.

Entry Filed under: Imagination