The Art of Workspace Organization

This is the first blog in a series on how I organize my work process, both physically and online. This includes my workspace, file management, and planning.

Today, I would like to introduce you to the journey of optimizing my workspace environment, or in simpler terms, my desk setup. In fact, I am not someone who strictly adheres to principles in life. However, I really enjoy working in a disciplined environment and always strive to optimize it for effective studying and working. To achieve the setup I have today, I had to tear down and rebuild this workstation more than 10 times. Finally, I am truly satisfied with it. It not only satisfies me aesthetically but also makes me eager to work as soon as I step into this room (well, not quite true because nowadays most of the time I feel most productive when working from a coffee shop…).

Initial set-up from 2021, when I was just a 9th-grade middle schooler

Looking at the picture, you would probably guess that this is an extremely simple setup. It shows a Lenovo 14-inch Intel Celeron old-school laptop that I inherited from my mom when I was just a 7th-grader. It’s a typical low-end Windows laptop from before 2015, and I couldn’t even take it anywhere because the connector between the monitor and the keyboard was broken. I remember trying to install some games on it, but the only one that ran smoothly was Halflife 2, which is from the 2000s. Despite its limitations, I feel positive about this laptop because it served my educational needs and taught me how to “optimize” things…

Over the years, although there were countless times when this low-end laptop frustrated me with its 2GB RAM and inability to open more than three Google Chrome tabs, it still fulfilled my educational requirements. Adding a second monitor that my mom had left over from her office was a game changer for me, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic when I had to attend Zoom classes. This additional monitor played a crucial role in helping me get accepted into three top high schools in my country before I eventually got a new PC. This laptop also taught me the initial steps of exploring the Internet effectively and opened up a world of computer science knowledge.

To this day, even though I couldn’t keep the laptop because I donated it to my cousin, I still use the second monitor as it has become an integral part of my workflow. Since having two screens, my work productivity has significantly increased as I can multitask and access information more easily. In fact, if given the choice between an extremely high-end laptop with only one screen or a mediocre one with an additional screen, I would not hesitate to choose the latter.

After I got into Amsterdam High School, here’s my mum’s present.

Boom, a big upgrade coming right there. Like, literally from a $50 budget laptop to a $700 high-end PC. Not to mention this is also the first time I have had the courage to ask my mom for a present, as I usually shy away from asking my parents to spend money on me. However, this time was different because, for the first time in my life, my parents were ready to spend this much on my attendance at Amsterdam High School.

However, as much of a tragedy as it may seem, this is also the time when hardware components became so expensive due to the rise of Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency mining. So if I had the opportunity to go back, I would probably wait until November 2021 to buy a new one because with the same specifications, I could have spent only around $400 on this one. Still, I am so grateful for this because it was a big transition from my last laptop and it serves my needs way better than its capabilities.

Everything got replaced except for the DELL second monitor mentioned above. I also took the old hard disk from my laptop to serve as the second hard drive for my computer. Truth be told, initially, I was very excited to set up my workstation. I often visited Facebook groups and watched videos about workspaces, cable management, decorative accessories, and more from various individuals. After countless times hiding under the table trying to make the cables look organized, I finally got the final setup shown above. However, I was too focused on aesthetics without actually realizing what was most important: productivity.

After about three months of attending online Zoom classes where my bed and chair were so close together, I started developing bad habits. Whenever I felt tired or sleepy during class, it was too easy for me to just fall back onto that bed and have a sleepy “day”. It was good for my health but definitely not good for my studies, so I once again had to make a change.

Separate my “working me” apart from my “sleepy me”

The picture above that you see right here shows the setup I have been using for nearly two years. As you can see, there is a table serving as a divider between the chair and the bed. This setup prevents me from “sleeping” when I have to attend a Zoom class or pull an all-nighter. The table not only serves as a place to put additional things on but also separates my “work” mode from my “entertainment” mode.

Additionally, the second old monitor has now been turned into a vertical one since the space on the table has become narrower. However, the main reason for this change is that there is some content that I really love to view vertically, such as articles, coding documentation, or Phuong Ly’s videos -)). Not only can you view more content at once, but it also resembles a big smartphone, allowing you to view optimized social media sites just like when surfing on phones like Medium, Facebook, Reddit,…

However, it’s easy to have an Icarus feeling – never being satisfied with what you currently have. After using two monitors for a while, I have the urge to have three monitors because when I am learning Coursera MOOC courses or watching YouTube reference materials while coding together, the vertical ones really irritate me because they can’t scale fullscreen. But I still have to suppress this urge because I know that I don’t have enough money to purchase another one and my VGA doesn’t have three ports to export screens. Until then,…

I once again changed because now I have 3 monitors and a Hackintosh

This is probably the last update before I leave my home to attend university. As you may have anticipated, after 2 years, I finally got a “new” monitor from my mom’s office leftovers (I’m really grateful for the whole office there, you know).

I also switched my operating system from Windows to MacOS, but instead of buying a brand new Mac, I “Hackintoshed” my computer. Additionally, I purchased a refurbished RX580 VGA from a Facebook marketplace because my old GT1030 had some compatibility issues with MacOS.

And that’s the end of my workspace optimization journey. As you probably expected, having a more modern and optimized workspace can lead to increased productivity, right? Well, that’s not entirely true. I’ve come to realize that true productivity comes from within and is not solely dependent on the hardware or number of monitors you have.

The funny thing is that even though my laptop setup when I was in 9th grade had the lowest specifications, I felt second most productive compared to my different setups mentioned above. I guess it’s because there were fewer distractions with that setup; all I could do was study. On the other hand, with the high-end PC setup, it’s easy to get distracted and procrastinate with games and social media sites. (I’ve put in a lot of effort to counteract this distraction and someday I’ll write a blog sharing how I’ve fought against it). So here’s my current most productive setup, which you may not be ready for yet.