GoKawiilHow I turned a single long desk into a digital side for work and an analog side for reading, writing, and building LEGO with the kids.
For years, my desk was pushed against the wall. I would sit in front of it, look at the wall, and work. It was fine, and I never really questioned it.
After a recent trip to Hamburg, visiting various museums and exhibitions, something struck me. I hadn’t seen a single desk that was facing the wall. Almost every single desk was in the middle of the room, and facing the room itself.
Once I was back from my trip, I rotated the whole setup for my desk, and flipped it. Now my desk is facing the room. My back is against the wall, I can see the door, and I have the rest of the room in my field of view. It is a small change, but the space feels very different. I should have done this earlier.
From time to time people still message me of my desk photos that appeared on Instagram or X. Those photos are old now, and I actually changed my room setup quite a bit. The room looks different, and the desk has changed as well. Over the last months I started to think more carefully about what I want from a desk and how I spend time around it.
Rethinking the desk
Instead of having a single, tech only desk, I now use one large desk that is split into two parts: a digital side and an analog side.
For a long time my idea of a desk was simple: a place for a computer, monitor, keyboard, mouse, and some accessories. It was a work surface for technical tasks. Everything else had to adapt to that. Here is an old photo:
The problem is that this pulls every activity into the same mode. If you sit down, you are in front of screens. Even if you only want to read, think, plan, or write something by hand, the computer is right there and competes for your attention.
This also means that I always had to push away my keyboard if I wanted to have more space for writing or sketching.
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