For many Texas lawyers, desks and offices take on a significant importance in our lives and careers. Often these spaces become a representation of our professional identities, home to our creative idiosyncrasies, and landing pad for our often-challenging workload. After all, workers in America clock in more time than those in any other country in the world, taking less time off and retiring later in life. While most of the United States works a little more than 40 hours a week, many professions, including the law, demand much more. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “The majority of lawyers work full time, and many work long hours.”
Even if you’re an attorney pulling a standard workweek or are doing some part-time work—chances are you spend significant amounts of time at a desk, probably in an office, and commonly for more hours than you spend awake in your own home. It comes as no surprise, then, that websites, publications, and scientific journals have begun analyzing the different styles of desk-keeping, especially the benefits and possible deeper meaning of clean vs. messy (What Your Messy Desk Says About You (It’s a Good Thing), The Dangers of a Messy Desk, and Clashing Over Office Clutter). And, apparently lawyers in the United Kingdom have been found guilty of having dirtiest desks.
So where does your desk fall in the spectrum of dirty or spotless, cluttered or organized, creative or simplistic? We want to know—what does your space say about you and what tools do you find indispensable to getting the job done? Even if you’re a lawyer who spends most of your time in a courthouse or in your car driving between small counties, show us where and how you work.
Share your workspace photos with the State Bar of Texas (@statebaroftexas) via Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram using the hashtag #txlawdesk. Alternately, you can email your photo to tbj@texasbar.com. Be sure to note your five favorite items featured in the photo, such as a tablet that helps you manage workflow, a lamp that puts off the perfect glow, a comfortable chair or stand-up desk, a to-do list app on your smartphone, or a window that gives you the clear mind you need to tackle another day. For inspiration check out this list of 40 Inspiring Workspaces of the Famously Creative and Lifehacker’s series How I Work.
Particularly interesting, impressive, or messy desks will be featured on the Texas Bar Blog. Now get to work!
Disclaimer: By submitting any photographs via social media to #txlawdesk at the State Bar of Texas, you agree to give the State Bar of Texas, Texas Bar Blog, and Texas Bar Journal the right to use, publish, and edit the photograph(s) and that they can credit you by name upon publication. You also agree that the photograph(s) and additional information you submit are original, accurate, under your ownership, and that they do not violate the rights of any third party nor do they present any falsities or misleading impressions.