1. Introduction
1.1 Introduce the importance of workspace
Have you ever had the experience of arriving at the office in the morning and looking for an urgent document but searching the desktop but couldn’t find it, with pens, chargers, and sticky notes piled up in a mess, your mood instantly became irritable, and the originally planned work rhythm was disrupted? This is not an isolated case, as research by the American Psychological Association shows that a cluttered workspace can reduce concentration by 40% and increase anxiety. On the other hand, a tidy and organized workspace not only increases productivity by 25% (according to Harvard Business Review), but also makes us feel more happy at work and reduces unnecessary wasted time.
1.2 Explain the role and benefits of table stands
And if you want to quickly achieve tidiness in your workspace, the Desk Rack is definitely a cost-effective tool. It does not take up as much space as a large storage cabinet, but it can accurately solve the problem of “waste of three-dimensional space” on the desktop – “shelving” and “classifying” scattered stationery, electronic devices, documents, etc., so that the desktop floor space can be released. I used to help a freelancer organize his studio, using only a multi-functional desk frame, freed up 70% of the usable space on his desk that was originally full of clutter, and then he reported that he spent half less time looking for information than before.
1.3 Overview of the purpose and structure of this paper
This article is to help you make the most of your Desk Rack and create your own clean and efficient workspace. Next, I will start from the three core dimensions of “choosing the right desk frame”, “organizing items with the table stand” and “long-term maintenance space”, each part integrates actual cases and specific methods, and finally answers the common questions that everyone is most concerned about, so that you can get started directly after reading it.
2. Choose the right table frame
2.1 Types of table stands
Different work scenarios require different types of desk stands, blind purchase will only make it “idle”, the following three mainstream types, corresponding to different needs:
- Vertical desk stand: The core advantage is “space-saving and easy to access”, which is suitable for people with small desktop area (such as less than 1 square meter), such as student parties and small office staff. It mainly relies on vertical layered storage, and common ones include vertical shelves for documents and vertical shelves for stationery. I previously recommended a simple vertical file rack to the company’s intern, her workstation is only 0.8 square meters, and after using it, the documents no longer need to be piled on the desktop, and can clearly distinguish between “pending” and “completed” materials.
- Adjustable desk frame: The highlight is “flexible adaptation”, the height or shelves can be adjusted, suitable for people who need to store items of different sizes, such as professionals who have tablets, laptops, and folders at the same time. Here is a reminder that when purchasing, pay attention to the material of the adjustment rod, give preference to metal rods, which are more durable and have better load-bearing capacity than plastic rods (high-quality models can bear more than 5kg).
- Multi-functional desk stand: It can be called the “all-round king of storage”, integrating stationery compartments, equipment holders, file layers, and even charging interfaces, which is suitable for people with many types of items, such as designers and self-media practitioners. A designer friend next to me uses a multi-functional desk stand with a tablet stand + stationery grid + file layer, which can store brushes, tablets, and design drawings, and the desktop is neat and professional.
2.2 Material and Design Considerations
When choosing a table stand, materials and design directly affect service life and aesthetics, please refer to the table below:
Material type | Advantages: | Disadvantages | Suitable for the scene |
|---|---|---|---|
plastic | Low price, light weight, and rich colors | poor load-bearing (generally ≤ 2kg), easy to age | Short-term use and storage of light items (such as pens, sticky notes) |
Metal | Strong load-bearing (up to 5-10kg) and durable | The price is slightly higher, and some styles are prone to rust | Long-term use, storage of documents, electronic devices |
woody | Good texture and suitable for a variety of decoration styles | Afraid of moisture and heavy weight | Scenes of working from home and pursuing appearance |
In terms of design, priority should be given to the style of “no sharp corners” to avoid bumps; If the desktop style is simple, choose a solid color model (black, white and gray, log color), which is not easy to be abrupt.
2.3 Size and space adaptation
This is the easiest point to step on! Before choosing, be sure to measure the “available length, width and height” of the desktop. For example, if the width of the desktop is only 30cm, don’t choose a desk frame with a width of more than 25cm, otherwise it will occupy the entire desktop; If there is a bookshelf above the desktop, reserve at least 20cm of height space to avoid inconvenience in accessing items after the desk frame is put in.
Tip: If you are not sure about the size, give preference to the “assembleable and detachable” desk stand, which can be adjusted according to the space in the future, and the flexibility is higher.
3. Organize desktop items
3.1 Classify items
The first step in organizing is not to directly set up the table stand, but to empty all the items on the table first, and then classify them by category, so that you can clearly know what you have and avoid subsequent storage omissions. Specifically, it can be divided into three categories:
3.1.1 Office stationery
Including pens, notebooks, post-it notes, paper clips, staplers, etc. Here you can further subdivide “commonly used” and “infrequently used”, such as gel pens and post-it notes used every day into one category, and occasionally used punches and long-tail clips into another category.
3.1.2 Electronic devices
For example, chargers, cables, headphones, tablets, mobile hard drives, etc. This type of item is easy to mess up, especially the data cable, which can be stored with the cable buckle on the desk shelf in the future.
3.1.3 Personal Items
For example, water glasses, tissues, ornaments, skin care products, etc. It is recommended to control the quantity of such items, and do not put them on the table if they are not necessary to avoid taking up too much space.
3.2 Determine priorities and frequency of use
After the classification is completed, the core principle is that high-frequency and important items are placed on the easy-to-access layer of the table shelf, and low-frequency and secondary items are placed on the inner or lower layer. Like what:
- High-frequency items (gel pens, laptops, mobile phones): placed on the outermost or middle layer of the table frame, you can reach for it;
- Intermediate frequency items (chargers, staplers): placed on the inner layer of the table frame;
- Low-frequency items (punching machines, spare data cables): Put them on the bottom layer of the table frame or in the storage box, and do not need to be taken every day.
3.3 Use table stands for reasonable layout
This step is key and directly affects the convenience of subsequent use. Share a “golden layout method” that I commonly use:
1. Place the desk stand on the “non-dominant hand” side of the desktop (for example, if you write with your right hand, place it on the left side) to avoid being blocked when operating the computer or writing;
2. The top layer of the desk frame is for documents, notebooks and other items that need to be stored upright, the middle layer is for commonly used stationery (separated by a divider), and the lower layer is for electronic devices or personal belongings.
3. The data cable passes through the wire hole reserved by the desk frame and is stored in the lower layer to avoid clutter. I used to help a small e-commerce company organize the office area, using this method to lay out 10 workstations, and the employees reported that “there is no need to bend down or rummage to find things, which is much more efficient.”
4. Maintain and adjust the workspace
4.1 Clean and organize regularly
No matter how good the storage layout is, it will become cluttered if it is not maintained. It is recommended to formulate a “fixed cleaning plan”: spend 5 minutes every day before get off work to return the desktop items to their places; Every Friday, spend 10 minutes before work to clean up clutter on the desk shelf (such as empty pen refills, useless sticky notes); Do “decluttering” once a month and throw away or put away items you don’t need (such as expired documents, broken stationery).
4.2 Adjust the table stand layout according to work needs
As work needs change, the layout of the table stand should also be adjusted. For example, I mainly did text work before, and the desk shelf was mainly for document storage; Later, when I started doing video editing, I needed to put a pen tablet and a hard disk, so I could adjust the spacing between the shelves of the table rack and reserve space for the equipment. Flexibility allows the table frame to always adapt to your needs.
4.3 Evaluate the use of the table stand
After 1-2 weeks of use, you can make a simple assessment: Is there a situation where “you can’t get what you want to take, and what you don’t want to use takes up space”? Is the table frame load-bearing enough? If these issues occur, adjust the layout or replace the table stand promptly. For example, if you find that the desk frame is not load-bearing enough, the documents will be deformed when you put them on it, so you change to a metal model; If you put the commonly used items too close in, adjust the front and back positions of the shelves.
5. Yigu (purchasing agent) point of view
As an agent who has been deeply involved in office storage and procurement for many years, I suggest that when choosing a Desk Rack, give priority to “cost-effectiveness + adaptability”, and do not blindly pursue expensive or multi-functional. In the case of wholesale procurement, metal table frames have the highest repurchase rate, especially the style with multiple partitions, which is suitable for enterprises and training institutions to purchase in bulk; For personal use, the plastic model is cost-effective, and the wooden model is suitable for home scenes. In addition, be sure to choose a manufacturer with a test report, focusing on load-bearing and environmental protection indicators (such as formaldehyde release) to avoid stepping on pitfalls. Choosing the right desk frame can help organize your workspace with half the effort.
6. FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Q1: Is the desktop small suitable for table stands?
Fit! Small tabletops require a table frame to take advantage of vertical space. It is recommended to choose a narrow vertical desk frame (width ≤20cm), which is mainly used to store documents and commonly used stationery, which can effectively free up the flat space on the desktop.
Q2: Is the desk frame prone to rust or deformation?
Depends on the material and quality. Plastic table frames are easy to deform if they are exposed to the sun for a long time or exceed the load-bearing standard, and if the surface of the metal table frame is not treated with anti-rust treatment (such as painting or electroplating), it may rust in a humid environment. It is recommended to refer to the “Material Description” and “Anti-Rust Treatment” introduction on the product detail page when purchasing.
Q3: Is the multi-functional desk stand better than the regular model?
Not necessarily, it depends on your needs. If there are many types of items (such as stationery, electronic devices, documents at the same time), multifunctional models are more practical; If you only need to store a single type of item (such as only storing documents), ordinary vertical desk frames are simpler and cheaper.
Q4: Does the desk stand need to be assembled? Is it difficult?
Most table stands require simple assembly and are not difficult. Regular manufacturers will be equipped with assembly instructions and tools, the steps are clear, and ordinary people can assemble it in 10-20 minutes. If you are afraid of trouble, you can choose the “assembly-free” model, which can be used when unpacked.