Student Desk Essentials

 **Guest Post**

When you left your parents’ home to start your new life at university in another city, you were probably packed off with a few essentials such as towels, bedding and a reminder to phone home occasionally to let your parents know how you’re getting on. 

Towels and bedding are indeed student essentials (as is phoning your mum occasionally) but what else might you need in your room in student accommodation? Although high on your own particular list of essentials might be fairy lights, your phone charger and a photo of your dog, I’m going to concentrate on the place you probably do most of your studying - your desk.

With that in mind, below are a few student desk essentials I think you’ll like.  

Diary/planner

You might think there’s not much to being a student other than sleeping, drinking and attending a few seminars a week. But you’d be wrong. Being a student is hard work and your life will need organising. 

Although paper can be seen as old-school, a diary or planner is a great way to keep all your studying, working and socialising commitments organised and in one place. 

Laptop stand

Laptops are a wonderful invention. They’re small, portable and don’t take up much room. However, laptops can give us eye, back and neck strain with all that looking down at them. With this in mind, invest in a laptop stand and your eyes, back and neck will be eternally grateful. 

The downside of a laptop stand is that it’s difficult to use the built-in keyboard and trackpad with the laptop in its raised state, so you’ll also need to invest in a separate keyboard and mouse. 

Let’s face it though, laptop keyboards and trackpads are a metaphorical as well as literal pain in the neck to use anyway. So, do yourself a favour and disable your trackpad, give your laptop a raise and go external with your peripherals. 

Lamp

I’m 100% sure you’ll have been provided with an overhead light in your student accommodation. At night time though, you might want a warmer light to study by, so this is where a lamp comes in handy.

If your desk is a bit on the small side or it’s covered with all your books, journals and pet photos, lamps that clamp on the side and don’t take up any space at all are available. 

Mug warmer

There aren’t many things worse than forgetting about your mug of tea and having to gulp down a tepid brew while it still has at least a bit of warmth to it.  To save you from wasting tea or wasting time on another trip to the kitchen, keep your tea, coffee or hot chocolate hot with a mug warmer - either mains or USB powered. 

Plants

Plants may not seem like much of a student desk essential but plants will liven your room up, give you something to talk to and, best of all, they’ll release oxygen into the room, purifying it while you’re sleeping off a heavy night out. 

These are just a few student desk essentials - what else would be on your list?

xXx