Quiz: What Does Your Office Say About You?
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During the work week, you spend more waking hours in your office than in your own apartment. But unlike your apartment, which you can spruce up for special occasions like dinner parties or visits from the parents, your office is frequently on display to your boss and co-workers. Does your office make you look organized and on-top-of-things? Or has the clutter gotten out of control? Read on to find out.
1. What’s the image on your computer’s background?
a. A photo of you and your sorority sisters in the Hamptons. Ahh, the good ol’ days of summer…
b. A carefully chosen image of the Irish countryside. Classic, yet soothing.
c. Microsoft’s default background. Who has time to find a photo when you have meetings, memos, and more?
d.Can’t tell, because there are too many Post-its and desktop icons obstructing your view.
2. A co-worker asks if you can spare a tampon, so you:
a. Reach into your Lilly Pulitzer cosmetics case and hand her a Kotex wrapped in pink plastic (it matches the cosmetics case, isn’t that cute?).
b. Pull a Playtex out of a carefully organized drawer. Never hurts to be prepared, right?
c. Can’t help her out, because your stash is stored at home.
d. Try to find one, but can’t remember where you put them. Wait… is that? No, actually, it’s a pen. Sorry!
3. When it comes to filing, you:
a. Enlist the help of an intern to take care of filing for you. She’s practically your BFF, so she’s happy to help you out.
b. Purchased Vera Bradley file folders to replace those unsightly yellow files in the supply closet.
c. Have everything neatly filed and out of sight.
d. Don’t believe in it. Isn’t chaos the sign of creative genius?
4. Fill in the blank: Your office is ideal for __.
a. Dishing about those hot guys in finance and planning a happy-hour strategy for chatting them up.
b. Hosting a brainstorming session. You have plenty of extra seating and pass around a bowl of mints to get the ideas flowing.
c. Getting work done. What else would you do in it?
d. An office makeover. How did you accumulate so much crap?
5. You have a last-minute dinner date right after work. How do you primp beforehand?
a. Put on some lip gloss and ditch the cardigan.
b. Break out the pair of Marc Jacobs pumps and mascara you have stored in your desk for this type of “emergency.” Voilà!
c. Run home early to change.
d. Rummage around for those mints and makeup you remember seeing last month, but end up doing a little last-minute shopping instead.
6.What’s the lighting scheme in your office?
a. You hate fluorescent lights, so you bought one of those desk lamps from Ikea.
b. You prefer task lighting, so you have a few different options strategically arranged around the office depending on the time of day.
c. What’s wrong with the ceiling lights? They serve their purpose.
d. You had a really cool lamp that you bought in your favorite funky boutique, but the bulb burned out and you never quite got around to replacing it. Now your office is illuminated by the computer monitor.
7. Where do you keep your pens?
a. One of those free mugs that they give out at alumni events.
b. A special pen holder that matches those Vera Bradley file folders.
c. One of those utilitarian chrome cups you inherited when you moved into the office.
d. Everywhere!
8. What’s in your snack stash?
a. You keep Pop Secret and Crystal Light in your desk for those 3 p.m. hunger attacks.
b. You have organic peanut butter and fresh veggies tucked away in the communal fridge.
c. Snacks in the office? Ha! If you’re hungry, you’ll run to Au Bon Pain for something.
d. You’re pretty sure you have a half-eaten Luna bar and some stale pretzels somewhere…
Mostly A’s: College Coed
You treat your office as an extension of your college quarters: You have pictures of friends and family tacked up on corkboards and perhaps even a stuffed animal or two lying around (you justify it because it has a T-shirt with your company’s logo on it). Your office supplies are a perky pink color, and co-workers are always stopping by to raid the mini-fridge. You might want to take it down a notch before your next review. You want a promotion, not an invite to the office kegger.
Mostly B’s: Design Diva
You see your office as an extension of your (very tastefully decorated) home. Plants (in ceramic pots, natch) line the windowsills, you’ve brought in soft lighting and hand-woven rugs, and you even came in on a weekend to paint the walls a soothing shade of muted yellow. (You would’ve hung curtains, but they’re considered a fire hazard.) Since your digs are so cozy, co-workers often drop by to chat. Socializing is fine, just don’t let it get in the way of your workload.
Mostly C’s: Uninterested and Uninvolved
Except for your name on the door, it’d be almost impossible to tell that your office is occupied. There’s nary a personal item in site, your in-box is empty, and every notepad, pen, and book is neatly put away and accounted for. Giving your office a few personal touches will not only make it more comfortable, it’ll show your co-workers that you have a life—and a personality.
Mostly D’s: Sorta Sloppy
Sorry, but your office is a complete disaster. Papers, books, food wrappers, and coffee cups litter every surface. You haven’t done any filing since the Clinton administration. That may explain why your co-workers never drop by to chat. You may think you’re expressing your creativity (or perhaps you haven’t given it any thought because you’re too busy); however, others might think a messy office proves that the occupant can’t handle their workload. Don’t let that be you!