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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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    "Better" in terms of what? – Martin Tournoij May 23 '18 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 '18 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 '18 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 '18 at 14:47
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    Crazy idea: Move the desk around till you find a position that works – Keltari May 24 '18 at 8:16
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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 '18 at 20:18
  • @dwizum That's the power of Powerpoint Fu. :) – Masked Man May 25 '18 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 '18 at 11:18

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