Organize Your “Place of Power” with Feng Shui

I work mostly from home, and my desk is where I spend much of my day doing business, both with my real estate and feng shui clients, writing, paying bills, and sometimes eating breakfast and even painting my nails.

 

In other words, my desk is a mess.

 

Since I became a Feng Shui Practitioner, I am much more mindful of the “active chaos” on my desk. In feng shui, keeping your desk organized is not an option – it’s absolutely mandatory.

 

No, the feng shui fairy won’t come check up on me if I leave a teacup next to my printer, or a stack of paper gets too high. The fact is, I know that a clean desk will help me be my best. And that makes it easy to keep things in order.

 

Whether you work at home or in an office, full- or part-time or just on the side, your desk is your “place of power.” It is a place where you attract prospective clients, generate leads, and earn a living. You are associating this space directly with the wealth and prosperity aspect of your life. Therefore, if it’s not organized and arranged in a way that aligns with your goals and desires, you’re defeating your own capacity to stay disciplined and productive.

 

Keeping my desk organized and clutter-free not only makes the space beautiful and inviting, but it enhances my ability to focus, create, and flow. When my desk is in disarray, my mood mirrors my environment. I am anxious, blocked, and less efficient – impeding my ability to be my best.

 

Feng shui is about harnessing positive energy from our environment to create a harmonious life. When we are in harmony with our surrounding, we can begin to see the flow of abundance; nurturing a healthier and happier self. And when we are healthy and happy, we naturally feel more productive, balanced, confident, focused, optimistic, and ready for anything.

 

Here’s what feng shui has to teach us about turning our desks into a “place of power:”

1. Choose safety over beauty. In feng shui, our goal is to minimize stress and irritability by choosing furniture with rounded corners. And this includes your desk.  Sharp corners and edges, often referred to as “poison arrows,” can stop the energy flowing around your space in a natural, balanced, and positive cycle. Additionally, sharp corners can often “hurt” us physically – when we accidentally jab or poke ourselves trying to maneuver around the desk in a tight space, for example.

 

1. Sit on your throne. Be the king or queen of your business. Choose a chair that is absolutely the most comfortable thing you’ve ever sat on. Your ability to be effective is considerably enhanced by a great chair. Pick one that you love and can easily adjust, is ergonomically correct, and has excellent support.

 

1. Be in a power position. Take a moment and think of the office of a successful CEO. What do you see? You notice a CEO who “sees” everything. Make every detail of your space serve you by arranging your desk in a power position. The best power position is to place your desk where you have a perfect view of the door, a pleasant view of a window, and a solid wall behind you. This will give you complete support from the back and a commanding view from the front.
2. Declutter. Throw out old receipts, outdated to-do lists, magazines, bills, dishes, nail polish remover, and anything else that does not belong on your desk.

 

1. Find a home for everything. Every object must have a home. Store each one away so you know exactly where they are when you need them. This will eliminate wasted time and feelings of annoyance when you can’t find what you need, when you need it!

 

1. Apply the Bagua Map. The Bagua Map is a feng shui tool. It contains 8 trigrams (or “Gua”), each representing a goal in life. Place the Bagua Map above your desk, divvy it into 9 squares, and organize your belongings on your desk accordingly (See example in bullets below). Only use objects that directly correlate with each goal and one that fosters positivity. You don’t have to do all guas if you don’t have enough room, but focus on the ones you can do easily.

• Wealth & Prosperity (top left corner) — A healthy bamboo plant and a piggy bank that represent growth, nurture, and money.
• Fame & Reputation (top center) – my business cards remind me I offer a great service and I am awesome at what I do.
• Love & Marriage (top right corner) – A framed photo of me and my love, depicting partnership and unity.
• Helpful People & Travel (bottom right corner) – My teacher’s feng shui book inspires me to share my passion with my clients.
• Career – (bottom center) – My laptop, where all the “magic” happens!
• Knowledge & Self Cultivation (bottom left corner) – A book on introspective self-growth to help deepen my spiritual development.

 

1. Bless your desk. There are different space-clearing techniques. Lighting a candle or incense, ringing a bell, clapping, or playing music are great options. I often like to burn sage over my desk to quickly cleanse and “call-in” new energy. There is no fast-and-hard rule to doing this, but I bless my desk whenever I have successfully completed a business transaction. Simply thanking your space for allowing you to do what you do is just as effective!

You can apply feng shui anytime, anywhere, no matter how small or big your space is! Remember to always surround yourself with things you love, keep the space organized, clutter-free and beautiful, periodically change it up, and have fun!

Note: For the purpose of this illustration, I only explained how you can organize your desk using feng shui, excluding any discussions on yin/yang and the Five Elements. As a student of feng shui, I acknowledge its complexity and a deep responsibility to share it accurately.  This requires studying its history, philosophy, and application diligently under the mentoring of master practitioners. 

 

Jen Nicomedes

Jen graduated from the Western School of Feng Shui and studied under the guidance of Terah Kathryn Collins, renowned feng shui practitioner and best-selling author. Feng Shui by Jen ©offers intimate and personally tailored consulting services to residences and small businesses using the “Form School” Feng Shui. This method observes that all forms – shapes, dimensions, areas, objects – define energy without referring to compass directions, making it more adaptable and applicable in today’s Western culture.

 

Jen is also a real estate entrepreneur, contributing writer for MindBodyGreen, and yoga practitioner.

Website: www.JenNicomedes.com

Facebook: Jen Nicomedes

Twitter: @Jen_Nicomedes