how to feng shui your desk for career success and happiness at work!

Whether you want to boost productivity, be happier at work, or even just bring a little more zen to your work day, learning how to feng shui your desk is always a great idea! Not only is it extremely easy, but you get a lot of bang for your buck for very little time, energy, or money.

Top 3 Tips to feng shui your desk:

One. Declutter! A good rule of thumb is to keep your desktop 50% clear.

Decluttering is always the basis of good feng shui, and the same is true of your desk. Go through your papers, books, office supplies, pictures — anything you’ve kept in your desk for a long time but never use has to go!

Keeping your desk decluttered and developing a good routine to organize it helps move the chi (energy) around your workspace and leaves room for new energy to enter your work!

Two: Add a plant. Plants symbolize growth and new energy, and they also cleanse the air and raise the vibration of your work environment.

Any time you can add a plant it will boost the energy of your space, and your desk is an even better opportunity to experience this because you’ll be sitting next to the plant every time you’re working.

Three: Add a lamp. Lamps represent fire energy and will boost the passion and success you have in your work.

A lamp will also bring more warmth to your space and help you feel more relaxed and at home while you’re working, which is always good for your alignment and energy.

Where should you place items in or on your desk for good feng shui?

To figure out the best layout for your desk top for good feng shui, let’s look at the bagua.

The bagua is the feng shui map that divides your space into 9 areas that correspond to different areas of your life. And not only can you apply the bagua to your home and your office, but you can also apply it to your desk!

Here is what the bagua looks like:

And here is what the bagua looks like when you lay it over your desk top.

This is just the basic layout for a rectangle desk, but you can also apply it to other desk shapes. We will talk about that a little later.

Now that you know what the bagua looks like, here are some ideas of how you can use it to organize your desk:

One: Plants are great in the back left corner (the abundance area) because they represent growth.

Two: You can place a lamp or your name plate in the back middle area (fame and reputation). The lamp will add a little fire to those areas, and the name plate represents who you are presenting to the world. You can also keep your business cards in this area.

Three: Place family photos in the back right corner (the relationship area).

Four: You can place groups of items (like all of your post-its or paperclips) in the middle left area (legacy). Legacy represents your family but also represents your purpose in the world, so you can also place items here that reflect what you want your contribution to be in the world.

Five: The center area is the health area – you can leave this area clear or place a colorful desk pad or your planner in this area if it helps you feel organized and strong.

Six: Keep colored pencils, pens, markers, scissors, and tape in the middle right area (children and creativity). If you frequently brainstorm ideas, you can also place a notepad in this area. It will help boost your creativity and represent space for new ideas to come through.

Seven: Keep books, diplomas, spiritual items, or pictures of people you’d like to learn from or be like in the bottom left corner (wisdom and knowledge). This area represents things you’d like to learn, knowledge you’re proud of, or mentors in your life. You can even place a picture of Einstein in this area if you’d like to boost your brain power!

Eight: The bottom center area is your career area, and it’s the best place for your computer and also most likely aligns with where your desk chair is! It’s the optimal place for productivity and career boosting activities, so it’s the perfect place to work!

Nine: You can keep client lists, names of potential clients or customers, business cards for people you’d like to work with or might need to call, and your phone in the bottom right corner. It’s the area of helpful people and travel, so it’s also helpful to keep pictures in this area of places you’d like to travel to – either for your work or as a result of your success at work.

Those are the bagua basics for good desk feng shui, but you can also use the bagua to help you boost certain areas of your career that maybe aren’t doing as well as you’d like them to be doing.

How to use the bagua to boost the different areas of your career:

For example: If you’d like to make more money, you can place an amethyst in the abundance corner of your desk.

Purple is the color of opulence, and the amethyst will also help bring calm and stability to your finances.

Alternatively, you can place your lamp in this area for a while to stimulate your income, or even light a candle every day when you sit down to work and place it in this area with the intention that you’re bringing your abundance to a higher level.

Again, plants are also great for this area and represent growth, so you can also buy a plant with the intention that it represents your growing finances.

If you’d like a raise or promotion at work, you can boost your fame and reputation area with similar items, such as a lamp or a candle to stimulate your fame and reputation at work.

You can also add a triangle object, or the color red (it can be taped under your desk!) to add the fire element and boost your status.

If a specific person is in charge of raises or promotions and you need this person to help you get that promotion, you can also write his/her/their name down on a piece of paper and put it in your travel/helpful people area until the promotion comes through.

If you have to take a test, learn something new, or raise your faith in your abilities – add a boost to your wisdom/spirituality area.

Again, you can place your lamp there, or light a candle for a little time each day and place it in this area.

If you need to learn something specific, or get a specific degree for your career, place items that represent that knowledge in this area to help you learn it.

If you need more clients or customers, add a boost to your helpful people area.

Again, you can place your lamp there until more clients come in, or light a candle with the intention that you’re attracting new customers.

You can also place something metal here, or your planner/calendar here to represent your full client schedule.

Feng Shui Your Desk: Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best feng shui desk placement?

According to feng shui, the best placement for your desk is in the command position.

The command position is anywhere in the room where you can sit at your desk and still see the door (but not be directly across the door). Your desk should face into the room and not a wall or window.

Ideally, you should also have a solid wall behind you when you sit in your chair, but if that’s not possible, a chair with a tall back can also work.

Here are some examples of the command position:

The command position helps your subconscious relax (because no one can sneak up behind you or enter the room without you seeing them), which helps you concentrate on your work.

It also conveys confidence to the universe and others you work with because you are in the “boss” or “executive” position. Have you ever seen a boss whose desk faces the corner or wall?

If you don’t have control over where your desk is placed, and your desk does face away from the door, there’s an easy feng shui fix: a small mirror. You can place a small mirror in front of you that reflects behind you so that you can see anyone who approaches you.

How do you feng shui your work desk?

All of the above tips apply to your work desk. If you can’t really control your desk placement, use the mirror.

If you can, keep your desk 50% clear and clutter free. Organize your desk according to the bagua.

No one at work has to know you’re applying feng shui principles to your desk (but you’ll know!) and you’ll see your success at work soar.

How do you feng shui an L-shaped desk?

Essentially you can apply the bagua to an L-shaped desk in almost the same way you’d apply it to a rectangular desk.

Using whichever direction you normally face, you’ll use that as the bottom area of your bagua.

Then either your left or right side (whichever side the L is on) will align with either the left or right side of the bagua. Then the main part of your desk will align with the top of the bagua, and you’ll fit all three rows of the remaining two columns in that area. Like this:

How do you feng shui a corner desk?

When you apply the bagua to a corner desk, you are basically collapsing the bagua areas so that they all fit on the desk.

Similarly to how you apply the bagua to an L-shaped desk, the areas all fit onto the desk surface.

But instead of being “equal” squares across the whole space, they are compacted into a smaller area. Here’s what the bagua would look like on a corner desk:

Does your office desk have to face the door for good feng shui?

No! If you like your desk facing away from the door, or if you don’t have control over where your desk is placed, your desk doesn’t have to face the door.

A feng shui cure for this is to place a mirror in front of you that reflects the door and creates the command position for you even when you can’t move your desk.

Even if it seems like facing away from the door doesn’t bother you, at least try the mirror trick for a bit and see if it boosts your productivity and concentration while you work.

If your office desk is facing the wall, is it bad feng shui?

Again, your desk can face any direction if you place a small mirror in front of you that reflects the area behind you (which means no one can sneak up on you while you’re working).

What is the best material for your desk?

According to feng shui, the best material for your desk is the one that makes you feel best. You can choose any material you like!

If you don’t have a preference, or you can’t choose which desk you use, here are the feng shui meanings of desk materials:

Wood: Represents the wood element, and represents growth, creativity, and expansion. It’s also a solid, stable surface which is good for your career and work environment.

Metal: Represents the metal element, which symbolizes logic, clarity, and productivity. Metal desks are good for concentration and mental energy.

Glass: Glass is representative of the water element, which represents spirituality and connection. Glass desks can let energy and emotions pass right through them, which can be stressful when you’re trying to concentrate at work.

One way to fix this is to place a cloth or desk pad over them so that you have a solid space to work. You can also add plants (wood element) to help stabilize the energy.

Laminate: Laminate is a neutral surface, so they don’t affect the chi of your work space. This means you get to apply your own chi and elemental energy!

What is the best color for your desk?

In feng shui, everything is based on how it makes you feel, so the best color for your desk is one that you love! If you are interested in learning the different color meanings in feng shui, you can click here: Feng Shui Color Meanings

What should you keep on your desk for good luck?

Anything can be lucky in western feng shui! What is most important is the meaning that you give an object.

If you have an object that you love and it reminds you how lucky you are every time you look at it, then definitely keep that at your desk!

It is better to have an object that has meaning for you than it is to pick one that is considered “lucky” because feng shui says it is.

You can use lucky feng shui items too, but only if YOU feel good when you look at them. Don’t pick an item just because feng shui said to. 😉

If you don’t really own anything that you consider lucky and you’d like to find a feng shui object that attracts good luck to keep on your desk, try these: 9 feng shui items for good luck!

You can also add a feng shui lucky bamboo plant! If you place it in the back left corner of your desk (the abundance area) it will bring growth and good luck to your financial success at work.

Plants also help raise the vibration of your work space, while they cleanse and purify the air. So it’s a lucky plant AND it has health benefits – win/win!