The Write Life: Make your desk a happy space

Some time ago I was struggling to get any writing done and didn’t know how to get past it. My publishing career wasn’t going well, I had a number of personal issues that were disrupting my focus and writing felt like work rather than the thing that brought me joy. I was basically avoiding my desk because it wasn’t a happy space. The situation was unsustainable and I knew I had to rethink what I was doing. In short, I felt like almost every other writer.

I took a break to just read for a while, as one does in such moments, as reading may be the only acceptable form of procrastination. I happened to reread Atomic Habits by James Clear, and his thoughts on the importance of well-running systems suddenly resonated with me. Clear says goals are great for creating direction but ultimately unachievable if you don’t also have a good system for making progress. Every writer I know will see the wisdom in this.

“When you fall in love with the process rather than the product, you don’t have to wait to give yourself permission to be happy,” Clear says. “You can be satisfied anytime your system is running. And a system can be successful in many different forms, not just the one you first envision.”

I realized what I was lacking was a happiness system for my writing, which meant I wasn’t really able to achieve any of my goals because I couldn’t stick to the process properly. So I set about to change that, starting with my desk. The desk in my office was where I had been doing everything — my work for my day job, paying my bills, doomscrolling, checking my email and my writing. So it was a place of constantly conflicted feelings, with endless distractions to my focus. I decided to make it purely a creative space dedicated to my writing. Archaic perhaps, like buying a record player to listen to music, but sometimes there’s value in returning to the old ways. (Although I draw the line at chicken pox parties.)

First, I moved everything not related to my writing out of my office. I now do the work for my day job in a separate room, I keep up with the news on my phone rather than my writing computer, I don’t bother paying bills anymore, and so on.

Once I had cleared my desk of work, I redecorated it with things that made me happy to look at. I’ve long been a Dungeons & Dragons enthusiast (I’m a writer, remember?), so I framed some D&D postcards and put them on my desk. Just looking at them puts me in a good mood. I added a model of a Tintin rocket because Explorers on the Moon sparked my imagination as a child and I’ve never really grown up. My coffee mug coaster is a map from Lord of the Rings. My ReLit Award ring is always handy as a pick-me-up when I’m feeling down. I’m adding little things here and there that spark joy.

Now when I sit at my desk, I’m automatically put into a happy mood by the items on it. That makes me more willing to spend time at my desk, and the more time I spend there the more writing I get done. Sure, everyone else complains I’ve become a hermit — but I’m a happy, productive hermit!

So one of my most important pieces of advice to other writers is to create a happiness system — and start with a happy desk.