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Below is a sketch of my current office room layout. The desk and the bookshelves can be moved.

sketch of office room layout

According to the article "Where to Put Your Desk" on What's Best Next, it is generally best to see the door from your desk. This is difficult to do in my office, since the window will be at the back and reflection will be a problem.

The article "What If My Desk Is Facing A Wall?" on Open Spaces Feng Shui suggests not to put the desk facing a wall.

Is there a better arrangement that can follow the above principles?

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  • 3
    "Better" in terms of what?
    – Martin Tournoij
    May 23, 2018 at 10:13
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    The way your desk is placed now is in adherence with German office workplace ergonomics regulations (long document, in German but has pictures). The desk should be perpendicular to the window, there should be a light source overhead the desk.
    – simbabque
    May 23, 2018 at 10:24
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    as @simbabque has cited, there are general guidelines on how to place things to achieve best ergonomy of the workplace. If office-layout is on-topic here, I don´t see why this question isn´t?
    – Daniel
    May 23, 2018 at 13:08
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    This question fits the definition of navigating the workplace, and is on-topic. Voted to reopen.
    – Masked Man
    May 23, 2018 at 14:47
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    Would it be pedantic to point out that you have East and West reversed in your sketch?
    – Lumberjack
    May 23, 2018 at 18:02

2 Answers 2

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I suggest a small alteration to your layout per below picture.

Proposed layout

Place your chair at or near position C1. This satisfies all your requirements:

  1. Your desk is perpendicular to the window with less of the window behind the desk, so there is less reflection.
  2. You can see the door without tilting your neck too much.
  3. Your desk is not directly facing a wall, so you don't feel boxed in.

Additional usecases:

  • Collaborate with your coworkers by pulling in chair(s) at position C2 (and C3).
  • Attend conference calls from one place by placing additional chairs at C2, C3, C4, C5, C6.
  • Have face-to-face meetings (one-on-one meeting with a subordinate or an interview candidate) by placing a chair at or near position C5.
  • Draw doodles diagrams on the whiteboard (together with coworkers when required), which you can look at later while working at your desk.
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    Upvote for putting effort into a diagram!
    – dwizum
    May 24, 2018 at 20:18
  • @dwizum That's the power of Powerpoint Fu. :)
    – Masked Man
    May 25, 2018 at 3:21
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Close to the power outlets and out of the sun. However, if you're in the northern hemisphere, the sun won't matter too much.

The power outlets are the key director here - placing the desk away from power outlets will result in extension cords trailing on the floor around the edge of the room. Extension cords also increase the risk of fuses getting blown if you put too much current draw onto one plug. Your building maintenance department won't like that.

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  • power outlets, network connections, ...
    – Laurent S.
    May 23, 2018 at 11:18

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