Glass Desk Mat - The Ultimate Whiteboard
I got a glass desk mat table top last year for my desk and I love it. It’s been one of the best improvements to my home office since the external monitor.
What is a glass desk mat and why did I get it? First, a glass desk mat is a giant piece of glass for your desk. It looks like:
Second, I got the glass desk mat so I can take notes like a whiteboard.
Whiteboard for Room
My work area is pretty tight and having a dedicated whiteboard on a wall would not work. Also, when I write, I find it most natural when I am sitting and writing on a desk, not standing with my arms up. I also want a glass whiteboard. Other surfaces always discolors over time and with heavy use.
After research, I found the glass desk mat is a whiteboard for a desk that can also protect it. :-)
In Practice
This glass desk mat has been awesome for my problem. I now “write” at my desk. Taking notes during a meeting, especially 1:1s, is more natural. The keyboard click sounds are not in our conversation and I can be free form with my notes that I cannot be typing.
Diagrams
Whiteboards are great for diagrams and I make them more now
I use the desk mat to diagram for the team by re-orienting my webcam in a meeting. Having all the different colors and ease of erasing helps as well.
Problems
As much as I want to say there are no problems with this, there are new problems. :-/
Note Transfer
One big problem with writing notes - my main source of information is my Getting Things Done™️ archive and if I do not transfer the notes from my desk mat, I probably will not have any record of it. I write the notes during the meeting and after the meeting, type them out. This aspect reduces my effectiveness, especially when I have back to back meetings all day - ugh!
One solution I use when I have back to back meetings and desktops full of notes: take a photo of it. It’s a record and my desk mat is ready to go again - but now I have just queued up notes that I have to enter.
Conclusion
A glass desk mat is the ultimate whiteboard for your desk. You can write on it in a natural way, have 1:1 meetings with notes in silence, and a protected desk surface.
Keeping notes from the desk mat and your digital notes archive can be a problem, especially when you are in lots of meeting with ample notes.
I still love it because I am using a different set of muscle to think and writing with markers is fun, especially at my desk.