An incandescent lamp. A nice keyboard and mouse. A pad of paper that’s big but not big enough to get in the way. Extras in drawer. Some sticky-notes and pens I like. Anything related to my trade that it is a better idea to have at work than in my home. Usually also gets stowed in a drawer or shelf. In my case this is joy-of-computing type stuff. Posters I like. A small area rug so I can walk around barefoot or lie down to think. Fingernail clippers so I can type comfortably. A bottle of headache pills.

Objectives: Make it comfy, so you want to be there. Keep crap out of your way so you can work. Encourage shoe removal and reward good posture.

I got a new job 3 months ago. Though I have essentially no constraints, the only things on my office desk to this point are: a phone, a laptop, a 5x8 yellow notepad, a black pen, and whatever paper I happen to need at the moment. I also keep a water bottle handy.

I have one drawer for files. I only use one other drawer for: headphones, a spare black pen, a red pen, a blue pen, and a pad of post-it notes that I have yet to touch. If I need anything else, I walk to the supply room.

If I were to add anything, it would be a tray for incoming stuff. But so far I’m fine without it.

Like you, I keep a clean divide for my personal stuff, and that’s all in my backpack up on the shelf (leisure books, moleskine, pen, mobile phone, etc).

Keep some snacks in your drawer. You never know when you’ll get hungry and be unable to leave for some reason.

A dry erase board. I use to live in a cube, and they make ones that mount to the cube frame. Get one, get one as big as they will give you. Its good for doing your own brainstorming, and great for when people are in your cube trying to explain something to you, you can let them draw it out.

Try to acquire a second chair from somewhere. Steal it from a conference room, and empty cube, etc. Eventually someone is going to want to talk to you about something, and you will want to be able to offer them a place to sit. Plus it is more comfortable than having someone talk to you standing, while you are sitting down.

Get a few wire mesh stacking trays. You are going to need an inbox, a work tray, and a reading tray, especially as people start dumping things on your desk. If you can acquire a labeler or just get access to one do that. Then get a ton of file folders, and if you have hanging files, get a bunch of the hanging folders as well.

The insidious part of cube life, is the rapid accumulation of paper. Yes, your system may be trim and runs on a minimal set of paper, but expect your co-workers and worst your bosses to flood you with useless paper. Throw it in your In Box, process it with a rabid desire to throw out as much as possible, and then file every scrap you think of holding on to.

Because of my multiple work sites, I have to keep my work kit (including a laptop) pared down to what I can carry. While this gives others the impression that I’m just passing through, it does force me to take inventory of what I’m using and take action on it frequently. I also never have problems with a messy desk. My GTD is mostly blackberry-outlook based, so everything comes with me there, too..

A good noise canceling headset for the phone. I use a wired dual headphone one from Plantronics that make me look like a telemarketer, but it sounds great, both to me and the people I am talking to and it helps to block out the sound from the idiots on the floor who scream into their speakerphones.

I like the wired headsets better than the bluetooth ones for the office. Much better sound quality and I don’t find that not being able to roam around is a issue. I have a bluetooth at the home office and the ability to do laundry while being on a conference call is a plus, but my old ears miss the sound quality of the wired headset.

If you love your index cards, perhaps make that whiteboard magnetic so you can stick them up on it when you need to brainstorm.

A quick look at a feng shui site to position your desk so you’re empowered and not vulnerable. And then one of them dang money plants in the right corner…

I’ve just been through a change and was very “GTD conscious” as I was setting up.

Trays were installed, the labeller really was the best thing I bought, the Netcentrics GTD plugin made Outlook2002(!) more friendly and… a tickler with 43 folders was a first for me.

I hardly ever use the tickler. Why scribble a note and bury it there when Ctrl-Shit-K creates a new task that I can set a due date on?

That all said, I’m still procrasting like crazy.

I really wish there was a Tabula Rasa switch for my mind. I’d reformat my work_partition and install only good habits.

I had the pleasure of reconfiguring my environment when I started a new job 2 months ago. My old company was very technologically advanced - we didn’t rely on paper, but weren’t afraid to use it if necessary. My new company, on the other hand, got off the tech train sometime in mid-1997. Sure, the computers are new, but the business practices need a serious update (I used a typewriter today, lucky me).

It’s been an interesting transition, and my setup has had to adapt accordingly. I manage GTD on paper, so it wasn’t tough there, but I added several new boxes to handle the wave of incoming paper. I now have a @reading box to catch the things that used to be PDFs. I can’t scan anything since we don’t have a scanner, so it’s very much back to basics.

Oddly enough, I realized that my GTD setup had a lot of overhead I didn’t need. Now that I’m having to spend more time on processing my physical environment, I needed to trim down my GTD setup to make it more efficient.

Probably not the advice you were looking for.

Think about it. You’re young and full of energy; this is the time to work at a startup or do your own startup. You can always get a day job later if you have kids or need stability for some reason.

Re-read your post. Your employer doesn’t value you enough to let you choose your own computer or software, do you really think they give a crap about your career or personal growth? Build equity for youself, not The Man.

Don’t spend your 20s living in a veal pen with Windows.