Recently our office has moved into the new age. Not new technologies mind you. We have purchased standing desks for all of us.
The standing computer desk size is small. It fits our computer laptop and a pad, but not much else. When I first started working at Chase Manhattan Bank in the mid 1980’s, my desk was easily 4 or 5 times larger.
Why did I need such a big desk and what did I fill it with?
Then I saw this video highlighting the change of items on a typical work desk over the last 3 decades. Amazingly (with little thought), all of the items that cluttered our desks have been replaced by applications (apps) on the computer itself.
Our calendars are now on our computer – Microsoft Office. Our Rolodex’s – which for anyone under 30 years old reading this post – was a paper listing our contacts and their phone and mail address in alphabetical order is now handle in a CRM software (Client Relationship Management) and/or LinkedIn.
The fax machine has been replaced by email or faxes sent directly to our email. I am still amazed when someone requires a fax! The one item in the video that I am still hanging on to is the paper copy of the Wall Street Journal. Maybe this year I will give it up!
This all seemed to happen without much thought. It even has allowed big companies to handle their workforce without assigned desks. The personal photos are now on their employees’ phones or laptops. Everyone carries their computer and grabs an open spot to work.
Watch this quick video (under 1 minute) and see how 33 apps have replaced and de-cluttered our desks. The video starts with a desk in 1980 and how items are removed form the desks through time. How many more items will be added to our computers to assist us with our productivity in the future?
Here are some other interesting facts from Daniel Priestly – author of the four best-selling books including “Key Person of Influence”, and “Entrepreneur Revolution”:
13 years ago, almost no one had a smart phone.
13 years before that, almost no-one had a mobile phone.
13 years before that, almost no-one had a PC.
13 years before that, almost no one had a cassette tape.
What will the next 13 years bring us?
Trust in a brighter future for all of us!
Hope you have a great week!
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