I’ll answer first: One thing that I do that helps my work environment feel a little nicer is I have a stuffed Totoro on my desk, a nice-smelling candle, and a few tasty snacks in my drawer. I also very quietly play video game music or ambience to remind myself of my hobbies that I like 😊
I just started this job, but I’m trying to make myself feel a bit more cozy, since the work can feel a bit heavy sometimes.
Curious what others do to make their environment a little nicer. :)
Reading some of the replies here makes me wish we didn’t use flex work spaces. I have to keep my personal belongings in a locker whenever I go home. I’d love to have a desk I can decorate :)
Anyway, I keep Lapsang Souchong tea in my locker and like to brew a strong mug before I start my day. Then I just sit on the couch in the lounge area and stare outside for a while and enjoy my tea. The tea stinks of smoke, so early morning is the only time of the day I can enjoy it without people complaining.
Ohh I love Lapsang Souchang and haven’t ordered any in awhile. Thanks for the reminder, perfect timing for fall I think!
I’ve never heard of this tea, I will have to try it!
Maybe there are some things you could stash in your locker each evening, which would be fast enough to unfurl at a flex space in the morning?
Piece of fabric to lay on the desk, couple of photos to stick up or prop, some item you find soothing to look at or touch. Tiny jar containing something you like to smell. Pieces of stiff card hinged together with tape to make a folding standup “wall” to prop on the desk - stick things you like to it then just fold it up for your locker each evening.
I’d be trying to join you for the Lapsang Souchong. Love the stuff. Can understand why the taste would not be for everyone, but sort of assumed that the smell of campfire was very popular. Anyhow, if it isn’t specifically the smoky flavour that draws you to it, there is unsmoked Lapsang Souchong - or rather, made without using pine needles as fuel when roasting the leaves, but you’d probably have to go to an online specialist to find the stuff. Story goes that the smoky stuff came about after a batch got messed up in production, and that as nobody could afford to sell at a discount it was sold at full price all the way down to the end customers, with all of it going for export, but that enough people came looking for more of it that the tea producers ended up making it that way specially for export to the West. There are other smoky teas which aren’t really exported, though I don’t think any come close to being as smoky as smoked Lapsang Souchong.
The idea of some portable personal decorations do sound nice. My first instinct was to be dismissive (it’s just how I am, don’t take it personal) but the more I consider it, the more it sounds like a fun little project :)
Oh I love the smokey scent, it’s just that other people are a bit… startled by it. I used to work in a team room and had a proper black, cast iron, tea pot in which I made tea for the whole team. So, one day I made a pot of the Lapsang Souchong tea. The smell became rather overwhelming and it didn’t take long for people outside the team room to start looking around for signs of a fire with rather worried expressions :)
I managed to explain what was going on but decided it was best to limit the brewing of that particular tea to the early mornings when I’m usually alone.