Web Worker Daily

Human beings have been decorating their personal working spaces for tens of thousands of years, from the Lascaux cave paintings on down to the traditional executive desktop picture of the perfect family. We’re less stressed and more productive when we’re in a place that we can call our own. Yet digital bedouins and frequent travelers often miss out on this basic human need, plopping down the laptop in a series of anonymous spaces to get work done on the go. Why not fight back against the drab sameness by bringing your personal space along with you? Here are some ideas that can help dress up your workspace wherever you go.

1. Use that extra USB port. This is one of my favorites: for a minimal investment you can add a lava lamp, musical Santa Claus, desk fan, or any of a zillion other accessories to your laptop, powered by a USB port. Yes, they’re cheesy, and you won’t want to use them while on battery power, but they can be very comforting.

2. Bring along the digital picture frame. Sure, if you’re the family type, you’ve probably got photos of your kids on your hard drive, but can you see them when you’re working? Packing (carefully!) a digital frame from the likes of Ceiva or Kodak lets you get those pictures out on to the table somewhere, and one-ups the old static portrait shots of the pre-web executive set.

3. Customize the laptop itself. For heaven’s sake, put something prettier than the default background image on your desktop; there are a zillion wallpaper sites on the web these days. If you want to go whole hog, you can customize the outside of the laptop, too.

4. Dress up the physical desktop. Fifty bucks will get you a four foot square custom printed vinyl banner from one of the national shops; your local Fedex Kinkos offers large-format printing too. For a little investment, you can lay down your company logo, favorite wallpaper, or a picture of your dog as a tablecloth before you set up your laptop and coffeecup. People may look at you funny, but you’ll make an impact when clients meet you, too.

Got your own ways of making portable workspaces your own? Please share!