Cute cubicle decor

OK, so it’s never really fun to return to work after a holiday.

Happy post-Fourth, by the way.

But, I’ve actually been kind of excited about heading in to work lately, and July 5 isn’t an exception.

Why so happy?

Well, I finally got my own cubicle in the newsroom!

(Contains affliliate links) 1. picture frame | 2. coffee mug | 3. desk lamp | 4. pencil cup | 5. cinema lightbox | 6. candle | 7. Keurig | 8. thumbtacks | 9. print

If you’ve already stopped reading I totally wouldn’t blame you at all because short of “taxes,” “cubicle” has got to be the most boring word in the English language. But, after a little more than a year at the Tribune, I finally have my own desk.

When I first started at the Trib, the portion of the newsroom dedicated to our digital team was really full. (Don’t get me wrong, that’s actually the best problem to have at a newspaper.) So, I was given a laptop and a MagSafe charger and told to basically borrow a desk from a digital producer or editor that wasn’t in that day.

As you can imagine, it was a lot of shuffling. I kept my work MacBook in my purse for about eight or nine months, checked in with my boss every day and took a seat at a night producer’s desk. Then, when that night producer came in for his or her afternoon shift, I would pack up all my stuff and relocate to the desk of a morning producer who had already left for the day.

Gives the phrase “9-to-5 shuffle” a whole new meaning.

It was kind of rough because I couldn’t really eat at anyone’s desk for fear of leaving a mess, hated feeling like I was just in the way and didn’t really have anywhere to keep my stuff. I was basically lugging an entire desk around in my purse for quite some time.

But, people move around in newsrooms all the time as they leave, switch teams, get promoted to office-worthy positions, etc. After eight or nine months of shuffling, the other social media assistant and I were assigned to share a desk at the BNC — Breaking News Center. Which was cool because I got to…

• Listen to all the police scanners and talk to the overnight reporters, know all the news first and feel really in-the-Loop (pun intended),
• Eat so many doughnuts (thanks Megan!),
• Take possession of TWO drawers in which I kept my dry shampoo, KIND Bars and tea, and
• Stop carrying two computers to-and-from work every day…

…but was also kind of tough because even if you love your coworkers to death, working three literal inches from them is challenging. Also almost a death sentence if either of you gets sick.

So, after three or four months of sharing the desk at the BNC, I was finally assigned to my own cubicle.

*praise emoji hands here*

I’m really excited because now I have space to spread out, drawers to store things in and I can finally stop using my legal pad as a mousepad.

Oh, and all of the Pinterest decorating to do!

I’ve already gotten started. I snagged a few things from my list above — including the Keurig, light box, picture frame and coffee mug — and have slowly started moving in.

Pro tip! Use large, empty poster frames to section off little bits of your partition in which you can hang little index cards, sticky notes, greeting cards, etc. It makes your whole area seem so much neater.

Wish me luck guys, because (clearly) I’m gonna need it.

Humble beginnings in my dimly-lit cave.

What do you keep on your desk at work? Let me know in the comments!

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