Setups & Spaces

Ben Brooks

1.) What is your name and where in the WWW (Whole Wide World) do you live?

Ben: My name is Ben Brooks and I live in beautiful, if slightly rainy, Seattle, WA.

2.) What do you do for a living, what pays the bills? And what is the thing you do when you are not doing the thing that pays the bills?

Ben: I run a commercial property management company. When I am not doing that I like to design iPhone wallpapers, write about Productivity, and try to be a landscape photographer. When the nice weather hits I love to get out and hike the nearby mountains. 

3.) How much of what you do, personally or professionally, gets done at the work space featured?

Ben: I do most all of my work at this desk, with the exception of Fridays when I work from home. The only thing that I don’t do any of at this desk is photo editing, I prefer to do that at home where I have my Photo Printer, for printing proofs.

4.) Typically, what time of the day do you normally find yourself at this desk, and for how long? Night owl, early bird? 

Ben: I do the majority of the work at this desk, from about 8:00 am - 5:00pm Monday thru Thursday. I work from home or coffee shops on Fridays. I used to be a major night owl in college, but the past few years I have become much more of an early bird. I find the quiet of the morning is very conducive to getting a lot of work done.

I like to leave the early mornings and late afternoons for creative work, focusing on busy work in between. I get up at 5:45am most days and spend the first hour and a half of my day reading articles and generally prepping for the day.

5.) How much of what gets done at your desk is for work, how much is it to scratch your own creative itch?

Ben: Even though I run my own company I only spend about 40% of my day doing related work. The rest of my work day is spent scratching that itch – writing, designing, reading. 

6.) What are the essentials that can be found on your desk more times than not? How about those items just out of reach or out of sight? If it’s not on top of your desk what are the things you most often grab out of a top draw or cabinet?  

Ben: Besides my computer, on my desk you will find: water, iPhone, iPad, ScanSnap. I do have an inbox, desk phone, and label maker but none of these are essentials. 

In the draws you will find a Whitelines notepad with a Pilot G2 blue pen, microfiber cleaning cloth, letter opener, a date stamp for mail, and headphones (the ones that come with your iPhone). 

7.) What beverage/food/snack can one usually find at your desk, and why?

Ben: Usually a Sigg Water bottle with Brita water, and a bag of Goldfish stashed away somewhere. I used to be a Pepsi junkie but a year ago my wife convinced me to try water during the day, and I have not looked back. Water is a much better stimulant than the caffeine in Pepsi, and keeps me going during the late afternoon when I used to drag.

I picked Goldfish because they keep my hands mostly clean, aren’t the worst snack one could eat, and I can get huge quantities for cheap at Costco. 

8.) Do you have any reasoning or anecdotes that lend some insight into why your desk is setup the way it is, or the thinking behind certain item(s)?  How about the things around your desks? Decoration, wall art, figurines, statues, etc? Any particular reason behind those?

Ben: I really started focusing on simple and clean work environments when I got out of college before I started my company. My grandfather purchased for me a great glass desk (still in use today) and it only looks good when it is clean and clutter free. When I started working in the shared office that I am in now the cleanliness habit stuck. It has become something that I am known for now in my office. 

As far as the items that I choose go: I try to just pick stuff that fits what I need. I never mind paying more for something if it is going to look better on my desk. I don’t have any say with the wall colors or the wall art - only what is confined to my work area. Which as you probably noticed is very bare.

There are only two decorative items: a picture of my wife and I, and a trophy from an office putt-putt contest that I won. This space has also felt very utilitarian to me, perhaps that is why it is so sparse.

I have included a few pictures of my home office below, and as you can see it is adorned with my own photography - a stark contrast to my bare office. I have never really thought about that difference before now. The only reason that I think my home office is more decorated is because it doubles as a guest room and would look ugly if there was no art. 

9.) How much of what you do, or aspire to do, influences your desk setup, tangibly and intangibly. 

Ben: Since I first heard the term “paper-less office” I knew that it is what I wanted. In college, and now as a business owner I strive to get rid of as much paper as possible. At the same time I am big into zen concepts and how your physical environment can effect your creativity. Both have lead me to a very clutter free work area, with little to no paper. All the open space helps me stay creative and keeps my stress low. When my desk is crowded with junk I really find it hard to focus on anything. 

10.) Are you a Mac or are you a PC? What machine(s) are setup and used at your desk? If you are a little bit of both tell us why. How about any other tech gear that can be found at your desk or in your home?

Ben: Mac all the way and have been since 2004, we do however have a Windows server to run the software we need to for our business. I initially made the switch after the house I was living in during college was burgled and my Dell was taken. I replaced it with the fabled 12” Powerbook G4 and have not looked back.

I was initially drawn to Macs because of the way they look, now I am convinced that they let you get far more work done than a Windows PC ever will. 

In addition to the 2.8 ghz MacBook Pro you will find that a  24”Apple LED Cinema display, laptop stand, USB hubs, backup hard drives, and an Apple Magic mouse is all standard fare on my desks. I try to make sure that my setup is very ergonomic by lifting up both my laptop and monitor screens to a nice height. 

11.) What’s the one piece of gear you could not live without?

Ben: My iPhone. I need this more than my computer, I have taken whole trips with only this phone and it can do 90% of what I need to do. 3 years ago I would have said my Mac. Ask me again in year and I will probably say my iPad. 

12.) What piece of gear cannot be found on your desk, but you wish it could be?

Ben: A Drobo for sure. I have wanted one since they came out to back up my computer, but I have yet to let myself purchase one. I know it seems silly, but if you ever lose data you will understand why this device is so appealing to people. There is not really much else on the market that I want or need. Typically if I need something I just get it rather than making due without. 

13.) Software; what do you use more often than not. What helps you get the job done? And what do you not use, but hope one day to incorporate in your workflow?

Ben: OmniFocus for task management (I swear by this program), Mail for email, Tweetie for Twitter, Parallels with Windows XP for running my Yardi property management software. Notational Velocity for notes, Yojimbo for quote and serial number storage, Safari for web surfing, Fever to read news feeds, Dropbox to keep things in sync, TextExpander to hep save time typing. Ulysses for writing, iWork for Office apps, and Pixelmator for designing. 

14.) If you could change one thing about your desk, or the room it is currently in, what would that be?

Ben: I would love a better chair at my office. I am currently using a very old Herman Miller task chair, but I would love to get the newer Herman Miller Embody chair.  I always pay a lot of attention to the chairs that I work in as my family has a history of back problems that I want to avoid at all costs.

15.) Workspace Breakdown;

Think of as many things as possible that comprise the setup of your office or workspace, anything from the paint on the walls to the floor mat your chair rolls on, and list them out. Who makes your desk, how about the cabinet next to your desk, your lamp, the overhead light fixture? Anything and everything you can see in the pictures shown, give as much color and background on these items as time and memory permits. 

Ben:

• Apple Cinema Display 24” LED - Apple Store ($899)
• Apple Keyboard - Apple Store ($49)
• Apple Magic Mouse - Apple Store ($69)
• Apple MacBook Pro 2.8ghz 6g b RAM - Apple Store ($2299)
• Griffin Elevator Stand - Griffin Online ($39)
• Two Bricks - Backyard (Free)
• Belkin In-desk USB Hub - Belkin.com ($39)
• SanDisk Memory Card Reader - Sandisk.com ($33)
• WOWPAD Mouse Pad - Office Depot ($5)
• Apple iPhone 3GS - Apple Store ($299)
• Sigg 100th Anniversary Water Bottle - REI ($29)
• Apple iPad 16GB WiFi - Apple Store ($499)
• Fujitsu ScanSnap - Newegg.com ($418) - My version no longer sold.
• Brother QL-570 Label Writer - Newegg.com ($59)
• Panasonic KX-T7633 Phone - Integra Communications ($unknown)
• Silver Plastic Inboxes - Topdeq.com ($40) - No longer sold in U.S.
• Desk and Chair are Herman Miller - Business Interiors Northwest ($unknown)
• Whitelines notepad - Petter Miller Books Seattle ($10)
• Belkin 7-Port USB Hub (hidden behind the ScanSnap) - Belkin.com ($49)
• Levenger Oasis pad - Levenger.com ($90)
• Verizon MiFi - Verizon (backup internet) ($99)

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If you would like to learn more about Ben Brooks, his workspace, or his work, you can find him at the sites listed below;

ProductivityHacks.com

Flickr - “showngo”

Facebook 

Twitter

Designer iPhone Wallpapers

Personal Tumblr Blog

If you have any questions or comments about this setup, or any other setup featured here at SetupsandSpaces.com, feel free to email me at FValletutti@me.com.