A Minimalist Desk Tour: The Complete Guide to Productive Workspace

This minimalism trend has rapidly become the way many office workers organize their workspaces. While focusing on only the essentials, individuals feel more successful and productive in their jobs. However, you might be asking how to organize your desk to match this.

One of the best ways to begin creating a minimalist desk setup is to get rid of any unused office equipment and supplies. Nonetheless, the topic of minimalism in the workspace can go much deeper than this, which is why we have created this guide to help you create a minimalist office desk setup.

Continue reading to find out how you can make your desk workstation more ergonomic while limiting the need for unnecessary office equipment and supplies.

What Is a Minimalist Home Office

Minimalist home office designs emphasize clean surfaces, uncluttered environments, and minimal accents. Focus and organization are top priorities when it comes to a minimal desk setup. Such spaces typically include storage, a desk surface, a comfortable office chair, and a few accessories that enhance your work performance throughout the day.

Additionally, you want to create a fun, unique, and personal workspace by adding a few of your favorite items. Quirky items are commonly added like a tiny cactus or hourglass. However, you should create this minimalist desk tour with a ‘less is more’ attitude.

Why Should You Include Ergonomics in Your Minimalist Office Desk?

Ergonomics offers exceptional value to any working space. This is because you gain optimal comfort and support when including ergonomic furniture in a workspace. You can negate the adverse effects of sitting for extended periods.

Here are the most prominent reasons why you should include ergonomics in your minimalist desk tour:

Boosts Productivity

When you’re in less pain, you’re more likely to experience a boost in your productivity. Including ergonomic furniture in your workspace offers effective support with fewer distractions, helping you perform at your best while creating quality work. Additionally, ergonomic office furniture can reduce work-related injuries. Meaning, you don’t need to take unnecessary time away from your work because of illness and injury.

Reduces Pain

Ergonomic electric standing desks, chairs, and supportive keyboards are equipped to support your body while you’re working. Not hunching over your desk or working on furniture that worsens your posture can lead to a reduction in common muscle pain.

Office chairs and standing desks are equipped with ergonomics to fix your posture, encourage proper spinal alignment while reducing any tension and pressure placed on your body. Hence, you can work more comfortably and for longer.

Enhances Your Wellness

Another amazing benefit of including ergonomics in your minimalist desk tour is that you can improve your overall wellness. This isn’t limited to your physical wellness and health, like correct spinal alignment and posture. Your circulation also enhances your mood levels. This can offer a more pleasant working environment.

We all know the feeling of avoiding an uncomfortable environment. This is the last feeling you want to associate with your ergonomic workspace. However, it's difficult to prevent this when you're in constant pain. Being focused to remain in this workspace can be devastating for your mental health. That's why offering a comfortable environment should be a priority.

Our Guide to a Minimalist Desk Setup: What Should You Include in an Aesthetic Desk Tour?

Is your workstation filled with clutter? We can help you learn how to design a dream desk setup that can help you focus on your work. Each minimalist approach to designing an office workspace is different.

However, there are a few elements that we believe to be essential in any office. Here are some of the features you shouldn’t forget to include when designing a minimalist workspace:

Monitor Mount

It’s no secret that the best position is directly in front of you. In most instances, the ideal setting for your screen is in line with your eye level. You tend to tilt your chin downward when the screen is too low. Additionally, your chin is tilted too high when your screen is higher than your eye level.

You might be wondering what this has to do with a minimalist desk tour. The truth is a monitor mount doesn't have anything to do with achieving a minimalist-style office space. However, it has everything to do with ensuring you're working in an ergonomic environment. Such awkward positions can hurt your overall health.

That’s where a monitor mount can be beneficial. This desk accessory is essential, as it promotes a natural position, eliminating eye strain and shoulder pain. These monitor mounts offer exceptional value that enhances the performance of your workstation while promoting a minimalist setup, as these accessories don’t take up much space.

Desk

No matter how minimalist you wish to go when constructing this workspace, you can’t expect to conduct any work without a desk. However, any old desk can’t do the right job either. You want a minimalist wood desk that doesn’t counteract the great benefits associated with a minimalist desk setup.

For example, a minimalist setup is well-liked for promoting productivity levels. Incorporating a fixed desk can be counterproductive, as it doesn't offer ergonomics. This can hinder an office worker's productivity because additional pressure is placed on their back, shoulders, hips, and neck.

Nobody wants to work when they’re in pain, which is why you should invest in an ergonomic standing desk. Many of these products are constructed with a minimalist approach, which helps align with your desired style.

One of these desks is the SmartDesk 2 (Standard) that allows you to work while sitting or standing. An alternative option is the SmartDesk 2 L-Shaped, which is an excellent option if you want to have a corner office or want additional working space. Both of these products are durable and high-quality.

Chair

A workspace isn’t complete without the right office chair. Much importance should be placed on finding an ergonomic chair because this can either make or break your working experience.

You're either in comfort or pain, and you don't want to waste all this time creating the perfect minimalist desk tour if you only associated this space with discomfort. That's why an ergonomic office chair is a must in any workspace.

Luckily, we have found an excellent option. The ErgoChair Pro is a fully adjustable chair that offers tailored support and resistance to your specific needs. It’s constructed with durable and breathable material while boosting customizable features. 

Cable Tray Organizer

People commonly think that less is more when constructing a minimalist desk setup. This is certainly true but it doesn’t mean you should be completely disregarding simple accessories. Minimalism isn’t a desk, chair, and computer. Instead, you’re carefully incorporating items to enhance its simple nature to make it more organized.

One of these items is a cable tray. Now you might think this is another pointless item that you can't get much use out of. However, something you can never take out of a workspace is the cables needed to power your essential work equipment.

Nonetheless, you can control how these cables are managed to ensure you don’t have a tangled mess of black cords across your floor. A cable tray can be a lifesaver in any workspace, as it helps maintain the flow of your desk setup.

Additional Accessories

Of course, you should limit the number of accessories you keep in your workspace to those you use daily. However, this is dependent on different office workers' preferences.

You might wish to include an LED light if you struggle to see clearly or prefer working at night. Otherwise, an anti-fatigue mat may be a good choice for you if you struggle with tired limbs after your working day.

The list is endless, but we recommend that you stick to including items that are beneficial to your daily working conditions. Doing this helps ensure you don’t clutter your desk setup while gaining optimal performance.

Tips for Creating and Maintaining an Ergonomic and Minimalist Home Office

Here are some useful tips to help you learn the basics of home office decluttering and minimalist desk tour:

Keep Things Simple

The core idea of minimalism is simplicity. That's what should be reflected in your office space. To do this, you should begin adopting elements that boast a bold and simpler aesthetic. This goes for almost everything you wish to incorporate, including lighting, chairs, and desks.

One useful tip that we can give you is to avoid any flashy objects that might cause distractions. Additionally, you should remember that your office interior complements everything in this space and offers perfect harmony.

Determine What You Require

You shouldn’t be saving things ‘just in case’ you might need a file, cable, or other working items later down the line. It doesn’t matter if these items are digital or physical. One of the best ways to declutter your workspace and make it more minimalistic is to go through everything in your office and decide if you use this on a daily or weekly basis. If not, it’s time to say goodbye.

Declutter Daily

At the end of each workday, it would be recommended to spend a couple of minutes cleaning out your workspace and planning for the next day's activities. This helps you stay on top of your system and conduct work in an organized environment. Not only are you likely to feel more content about working in this working space, but it also helps boost productivity levels.

Sort and Start a Donation Pile

As you do with most of your spaces in minimalist desk tours, it’s an excellent idea to donate any items you’re no longer using. One man’s trash is another’s treasure and many people might need the chalkboard you haven’t used in years. That’s why you should always try to make time and create a donation pile from the items you don’t need anymore.

Invest in Space-Saving Furniture

Space-saving furniture is an excellent addition to a workspace, as it helps reduce clutter, utilize space, and maximizes productivity. Moreover, this type of furniture is versatile while offering an adequate amount of floor space. You also can’t deny that this furniture makes organization a lot easier.

Plenty of low-cost options are available on the market and these additions are especially useful in smaller desk setups. Hence, if you have limited space, you can easily replace a bulky piece of furniture with a specific space-saving product to free up more room without compromising the functionality of this workstation.  

Pair Similar Items Together

One effective tip for your minimalist desk tour to declutter your workspace and make it more organized and tidier is to organize each item by pairing it with another addition already in this space. For instance, you can group specific items together if you have a clock-full of pens, staples, or notes. These would be grouped under ‘Stationery.’ Similarly, magazines, books, and newspapers can be placed under ‘Reading.’

You can start this process by making a list of all the important items used daily. From here, you can identify which items should be placed together. Pairing these items together and establishing a dedicated space can make it easier to locate such desk accessories.

Keeping Items That Bring Joy

We can end up hoarding a bunch of items in our minimalist desk tour that distract us from conducting work and make a messy environment. To get rid of this issue, we can include items that, as the expert, Marie Kondo says, 'bring joy.'

This can inspire or motivate you to put in the work during the day. Unnecessary things like books you have no interest in reading can be removed, as well as any ornaments that are gathering dust.

Wrapping It Up

There you have it! We hope these handy tips and tricks have helped you understand what it takes to create your own minimalist desk setup. Using this advice can easily aid in cutting the clutter while skyrocketing your productivity.

However, we strongly recommend watching over the items that are coming in and out of your workspace. This is because clutter can build up in the blink of an eye. Creating this minimalist space is one thing but preserving is where the real challenge comes into play.

Follow these steps for your minimalist desk tour and you’re likely to find that working in this productive work environment is like a breath of fresh air compared to most workspaces that are cluttered and chaotic.