The Ideal Dorm Room Workspace

When it comes to getting organized and taking control of the myriad day-to-day tasks everyone has to deal with, Lifehacker is one of the best resources around.  Recently, this blog ran an article on completely revamping your workspace, starting with clearing everything out, building/repurposing furniture, getting everything organized, and finally installing the finishing touches. 

Reading over this article kicked my mind into gear.  As a student, I face a number of challenges that make setting up an ideal workspace even harder.

• No changes can be permanent.  Since it's just a dorm room, I'll need to clear out come the end of the year.
• I can't cause any damage.  Anything that involves an irreversible change is considered damage.  So bolting something to the side of my desk is out, because there's no way to repair the screw hole.
• Speaking of desk, I can't choose most of my own furniture.  My bed, desk, and dresser are all chosen for me by the school, and are the same as everyone else's.  I can, however, bring my own desk chair.

With these challenges in mind, I can start planning everything out and creating a good workspace.

Here's a few of my initial ideas:

• I have two computers, a desktop and a laptop.  The desktop requires an external keyboard & mouse, but something like a door-mounted letter tray attached with stick-on hooks would work as a place to keep them off my desk.
  
• Depending on the shelving that's put over my desk, and any rotation software on the laptop, I can velcro the laptop to the underside of the shelving and save desk space.

This is just an introduction.  I hope to add ideas, and maybe remix old ones, for the rest of the summer.