When you pull out your dabba at lunch time, unleash the fishy odours and make merry with the pickle, have you ever wondered about the reaction of your co-workers? Many offices in pricey business districts in India lack separate lunch rooms. So when you start tucking in, it is normally at your own desk or cubicle.

Most people don’t bother about what their colleagues may be thinking. They may be finishing a presentation or responding to an important call. But they have to do it while the Goa pork sausages are assailing their nostrils. Most surrender and lunch becomes a communal affair. Pass that sabji; have some of this chicken.

There are two views on this. First, it adds to office camaraderie and creates a more cohesive team. Second, it’s a terrible nuisance. But, in various aspects, the phenomenon is growing. Recent studies show that, just as the office is moving into the home with the advent of telecommuting, the home too is moving into the office.

According to a survey in the UK by recruitment agency Office Angels, three-fourths of women keep make-up in their desk drawer. Sixty per cent of the women and 33 per cent of the men keep a second set of clothes in the office, which they may need to don for an unexpected meeting.

Even more surprisingly, eight per cent take a shower in the office and 87 per cent use office time to do personal chores. “You’ll find similar numbers in India,” says Mumbai-based HR consultant Shashi Rao. “In the public sector, you will probably find them doing their own thing all the time.”

Office Angels points out some dangers. Too many home comforts can create a ‘schizophrenic’ office, provoking tension among colleagues who prefer a defined working environment. Says Management Issue magazine, quoting Office Angels managing director Paul Jacobs: “Like anything, apply a bit of common sense before you start importing the contents of your bathroom into the office loo.”

The home invasion of office space is part of a larger debate on how much clutter is okay on your desk. If you are spending half your time searching for things, you can’t be all that productive. On the obverse side, however, clutter implies creativity. There are also studies — such as the one done by Ajilon Professional Staffing — which show that people with messy desks tend to earn more than those who maintain their workspace in a very organised fashion. “The world seems to put a lot of energy into fretting about being messy,” say Eric Abrahamson and David H. Freedman in their book A Perfect Mess. Actually, it’s not such a bad thing.

Getting back to that cluttered desk, do you want to know what different components say about you? Psychology Today reports on research done by Sam Gosling of the University of Texas:

* Plants and foliage: They hint at a person who intends to stick around.

* Post-it notes: A deluge indicates a person who feels over his or her head.

* Clocks: Indicates a task-oriented person, thorough and hardworking.

* Family photographs: Depends on whether they are facing the person or the visitor — a guilt complex (for not spending enough time with the family) or a status symbol.

* Sweet offerings: A bowl of them attracts others, indicates an extrovert.

* Just bare: Empty work spaces hint at a person with little status in the company.

Watch this space. We are working on what the lunch you bring to work says about you.

WIPE OUT THE WORRIES

How to keep your desk clean

Store the information and materials you use most often within easy reach — perhaps in your right-hand desk drawer.

Put things away as soon as you stop working on them. If you’re working on something and get interrupted, try posting a sticky note on the page.

Keep a to-do list close at hand, preferably sorted by category. Update it at the end of each day.

Set up a filing system. Many people feel more secure when all their active projects are in sight.

Source: CNN Money