Top 10 Desk accessories that are a must have for a productive desk setup

As someone who sits in front of a computer all day, there’s nothing better than working at a desk that I assembled and decorated myself. Likewise, if you’re working out of your very own home office – where you ideally have space to get creative with the elements that make up your work area – you may want some tips on how to fill that space with items that offer both function and form in equal measure. The possibilities are limitless, and everyone has different tastes. Some of us like putting succulents in our workspaces, others don’t. Regardless, aside from obvious purchases like pens and notepads, there are ten staple desk accessory “categories” that you probably shouldn’t ignore. If I were shopping for a new home office right this moment – from scratch – these are the ten items that would sit at the top of my shopping cart:

1. PowerPic mod Wireless Charger

The PowerPic mod Wireless Charger is a decently-priced yet gorgeous wireless charger that is widely compatible with all types of phones. It’s slated to work with MagSafe and non-MagSafe iPhones, Android phones, and it even lets you customize the frame with your own 4×6 image, allowing it to blend with nearby furniture and match the overall style you’re going for. It only requires a single USB-C cable hooked into the base to power it, making for a clean appearance with no messy stray cables laying about.

2. Lamicall Headset Stand H1

The Lamicall Headset Stand H1 is an inexpensive way to store over-ear headphones on your desk without skimping on quality. The upper lip is designed to protect your headphones’ padding against damage, and the base appears sturdy enough to sit firmly on a desk without slipping and sliding around whenever you remove or replace your headphones. This is a simple product, but it makes total sense to have around; storing your headphones on their side on the desk surface is a missed opportunity to let them shine, and thanks to multiple color options, you can make the Lamicall Headset Stand work with any desk.

3. Shure MOTIV MV5

Shure is one of the best microphone brands on the market, and you don’t even need to purchase one of its premium XLR mics like the popular SM7B. The Shure MV5 is an excellent, affordable, and compact condenser mic that is well-known for outputting high-quality audio while taking very little desk space. This little orb comes in two slick color palettes; white ribs with a black chassis, or an all-black exterior accented with a red inlay. Not only is the versatile MV5 a great microphone for a streamer, a podcaster, or an office worker wanting to sound clear in video calls; it could also be useful for the traveling musician who wants to bring their recording studio on the go.

4. HappyLight Luxe by Verilux

It’s fall, which means seasonal affective disorder is coming sooner than many of us are comfortable with – at least, up here in the Northern Hemisphere. That said, the rather tiny and comparatively affordable HappyLight Luxe Therapy Lamp could be a great assistant to get rid of the SAD by tricking your brain into believing the sun is fully visible, even when it’s dark outside. Its convenient tablet shape makes it way easier to fit on a packed desk than some of the other, bigger therapy lamps on the market. But it doesn’t compromise on power to achieve such a slim and slender form factor; the HappyLight Luxe is rated to output 10,000 lux, which is roughly how bright it is outside in the middle of a clear summer day.

5. LEATHER VILLAGE Vintage Leather Bound Journal

The Leather Village Vintage Leather Bound Journal is a rather unconventional alternative to smaller, cheaper journals. But hear me out: how much cooler would it be to write work notes and conduct journaling sessions with a giant, leather-bound journal that looks straight out of Middle-Earth? Leather Village balances rustic charm with eco-friendly principles, vowing to only use leather from water buffalo that died of natural causes and paper made from recycled cotton waste. In any case, this is one of the most stylish journals I’ve ever seen – perfect for stationary enthusiasts.

6. Bose 700 Headphones

Sure, the Bose 700 Noise Cancelling Headphones are on the expensive side relative to other noise cancelling headphones in this range, but the key difference is that this pair is also wireless. You can’t argue with Bose’s durability and sound quality, and the Bose 700 is built with high-quality materials to provide a balanced sound stage and decent noise cancelling features with a 20 hour battery life. Its extra mics allow it to pick up more of your voice as well, making it a strong daily driver for phone calls and video conferencing.

As far as $300 headphones go, this is an all-rounder that hits every box on the checklist of features you might want when isolating yourself from annoying sounds in your work environment, and it also sounds good, looks good, and lasts for a long time without needing a charge. When you do finally need to recharge it, it should only take about two and a half hours plugged into the wall via USB-C. It comes in black or luxe silver.

7. Goblintechkeys Pastel Pink Seaside Desk Mat

Goblintechkeys’ Pastel Pink Seaside Desk Mat is one of several custom desk mats from Goblintechkeys, and though it happens to be my personal favorite, all of them look gorgeous and immediately breathe life into any desk surface they’re placed on. It’s advertised to use 100% natural rubber to create a spill-resistant, non-slip surface that works great as a mouse pad, a desk surface protector, and a cushy place to rest your wrists. I recommend the extra large (90x40cm) desk mat, which can comfortably seat a keyboard and a mouse on a desk surface while livening up the entire workstation.

8. YETI Rambler 46 Oz Water Bottle

Everyone needs to drink more water. Fortunately, water bottles are always in fashion, and the YETI Rambler 46 Oz Water Bottle is just as useful in an office as it is in the middle of a desert. Yes, this is an expensive bottle, but YETI bottles are famously sturdy, clean, aesthetically appealing, and designed to maintain internal temperatures longer than other brands. This is probably the fanciest water bottle you’ll ever buy, but it’s also potentially the only water bottle you’ll ever need to buy. It comes in several color options, including navy, charcoal, seafoam, black, and white.

9. Serenilite Hand Therapy Stress Ball

Working long hours in one position is stressful business, which is why I always keep my Serenilite Hand Therapy Stress Ball nearby in my own home office. Squeezing these colorful little balls can build up your hand and wrist muscles while easing tension in your body. I even gave it a few good squeezes while writing this article, but the best part of using it so often is it’s never scratched or torn; in fact, it still looks exactly like it did the day I bought it in 2020, when I was first setting up my workspace. Fortunately, Serenilite offers these in packs of three (in case you lose one) including soft, medium, and hard options if you have a preference for one or the other.

10. Samsung T7 Shield

USB storage options are abundant nowadays, but I don’t regret purchasing a Samsung T7 Shield earlier in the summer when I needed a way to migrate all of my data from an older external HDD to something faster and more secure. This tiny portable SSD can carry up to 4TB of storage space and is now shipping for a relatively low price, though you can buy a 1TB model at sub-$100 these days. Thanks to USB 3.2 connectivity and the T7 Shield’s lightweight design, you can use it to easily store and transfer information between all of your devices – allowing you to let Windows, Mac, Android, Linux, iPad Pro, or even gaming devices like the PlayStation 5 transfer files between one another.

I personally keep my T7 Shield hooked up to my PC, where I offload Steam games and play those games directly from the drive, which works way better in practice than I expected, given that it’s an inexpensive way to seamlessly add terabytes of storage to my device.

What makes it truly stand out, however, is just how durable and secure it is. As a Windows user, I can use Samsung’s proprietary software to set a password on my T7 Shield, which locks anyone out of accessing or even viewing the drive partition unless I personally unlock it from my Windows computer. This means nobody is going to be able to break into it and access my data if it gets stolen. It’s also rated to survive up to 9.8 ft drops and is even rated as water resistant and fully dust-proof.