How to Feng Shui Your Desk for Productivity and Success

Published January 28, 2020
Woman using laptop at desk

You can feng shui your desk to ensure productivity and success in your career. When you learn how to apply feng shui principles, especially the bagua, in the layout of the surface of your desk you can boost your career and ensure you stay focused on your work.

How to Configure Your Desk Surface Using the Nine-Grid Bagua

The bagua can be used either as an octagon shape or the nine-grid form. For practical purposes, the nine-grid formation works best on most desk surfaces. You can use the Classical feng shui bagua in its nine-grid form.

Nine-Grid Bagua

The chart below shows the nine grid bagua. Each compass direction, the areas in life the sector governs, the element that rules the sector, items that activate the element, and symbols you can place in these directions on top of your desk is included for each space in the bagua.

Northwest
Mentor
Metal

Activate Elements With:

Picture Frames
Metal Objects

Symbols to Use:

Metal Bowl of Ingots
Kwan Kung
Heaven Seal
6 Coins w/Red Ribbon

North
Career
Water

Activate Elements With:

Desktop Water Fountain
Fish Aquarium/Bowl

Symbols to Use:

Dragon
Dragon Tortoise
Ruyi Scepter

Northeast
Education
Earth

Activate Elements With:

Pottery
Crystals

Symbols to Use:

Pagoda Tower
Crystal Globe

West
Descendants
Metal

Activate Elements With:

Picture Frames
Metal Objects

Symbols to Use:

Pictures of Children
Elephant
Dragon Tortoise

Center
Earth
Overall Family Wellbeing

Activate Elements With:

Crystals
Pottery

Symbols to Use:

Crystal Globe

East
Health
Wood

Activate Elements With:

Fresh Flowers
Wood Object(s)

Symbols to Use:

Sau (god of longevity)
Peach
Crane
Deer

Southwest
Love & Relationship
Earth

Activate Elements With:

Pottery
Round Crystal

Symbols to Use:

Double Happiness Symbol
Amethyst Crystal
Heart Shapes

South
Recognition & Fame
Fire

Activate Elements With:

Lamp
Candle
Incense Burner

Symbols to Use:

Horse Statue
Phoenix Statue
Monkey on Horse
Cardinal

Southeast
Wealth
Wood

Activate Elements With:

Plants (Lucky Bamboo)
Wood Objects
Desktop Water Fountain
Fish Aquarium/Bowl

Symbols to Use:

Gold Ingots
Three-Legged Toad
Wealth Ship

Bagua and Your Desk Surface

You can use the Classical bagua as an overlay on the surface of your desk. To apply the bagua, you need to know the actual compass direction you face when sitting at your desk. Hopefully, you have placed your desk so you are facing one of your four best direction. The most optimum direction is your sheng chi direction revealed when you calculated your kua number.

  • Sit at your desk and use a compass to determine the compass direction you are facing.
  • You will use the nine-grid bauga layout according to this direction.
  • You can better understand how to use compass directions for your desktop surface by creating a nine-grid layout of the direction you face when sitting behind your desk.

Example of Compass Reading and Bagua Layout

If the compass reading indicates you are facing the Southwest, you'll use this reading to place the bagua so the southwest wedge is centered at the top of your desk. This means the northeast wedge fall on the bottom side of the desk directly from your chair position.

Example of Desk Facing Southwest

The table below shows how each compass direction fall over your desk when the direction you face is southwest. You will use this as your guide for compass directions and placements of objects on your desk.

Desk Layout for Facing Southwest
South Southwest West
Southeast Center Northwest
East Northeast North

Quick Tips to Feng Shui Your Desk for Productivity and Success

Whether you want to feng shui your desk at the office or your home office for a career boost or as a student wishing to enhance your academic successes, the same feng shui principles are used. You can apply some very basic feng shui rules to the surface of your desk.

  • No clutter - Clear your desk at the end of your workday. Don't leave stacks of papers, files or books on your desk. Dust regularly.
  • Bright hall - Leave the space in front of you or your laptop clear so auspicious and beneficial chi energy can accumulate. This is the space from the front edge of the desk to the laptop.
  • Sheng Chi - You can take advantage of your Sheng Chi (wealth) direction based on your kua number with specific objects, such as live plants, pot of gold ingots or personal symbol of wealth.

Desk Feng Shui Tips for Students

If you're a student, you can use the same nine-grid bagua guidelines. You must first find the direction you are facing by using a compass. Once you know the direction, you can set up the desk surface. You will place emphasis on the east (education) sector of your desk surface and the northwest (mentor) sector.

Discovering How to Use Feng Shui for Your Desk to Good Luck

You need to select each object for your desk surface with care and intent. Keep the symbols to one per compass sector and only select items you truly love.

Pagoda Tower and Crystal Globe

The two most power feng shui symbols for successful education are the pagoda tower and the crystal globe. You can use only one to place in the east corner of your desk.

Fame and Recognition for Students

If you wish to activate your fame and recognition for your studies, place a lamp in the south direction of your desk and leave it turned on for a minimum of six hours each day.

woman studying at her desk at home

Mentors for Students

A student usually benefits from a mentor or may require a tutor. You can activate the northwest sector (mentor luck) of your desk surface by placing a statue of Kwan Kung (Guan Gong), the god of wealth (formerly the god of war). Set the statue so it faces out while you work to oversee that your efforts bring about fruition and to invite a highly respected mentor into your life.

Office and Home Office Equipment Tips for Feng Shui Desk

Whether your desk is in a commercial office or a home office, you'll approach the feng shui for your desk surface the same way. You want to place certain office equipment in the most beneficial sectors.

Where to Place Office Phones

Whether you have a landline office phone or you use a cell phone, you want to place it in the southeast wealth corner of your desk or your personal wealth sector determined by your kua number.

Proper Feng Shui Placement of Printers

If you use your printer on your desk instead of a separate table or cabinet, then you want to set it in the west area of your desk. This goes for any metal equipment you use on your desk.

Man Using Computer Printer

Business Card Placement

If you have business cards displayed on your desk, the best location to place them is in the south sector (fame and recognition). Choose a wooden card holder or a red, pink or purple colored holder. While you can also place your business cards in the southeast (wealth) or north (career) sector, the south sector is ideal for boosting your career via name recognition.

Color of Feng Shui Items

While color can't activate elements, they are used to represent elements. You can always select the items you choose to place on your desk by selecting colors for the corresponding sector.

  • Wood: Greens and browns
  • Metal: White, gold, silver
  • Water: Black and Blue
  • Fire: Red, pink and purple
  • Earth: Ochre

Feng Shui Tips for Desk Drawers

Once the top of your desk is completed, you need to turn your attention to the desk drawers. You should declutter your desk drawers.

  • Organize desk drawers so everything has a place.
  • Use drawer dividers to assist in organizing drawers.
  • File drawers should be neat with files placed in proper folders.
Organized Desk Drawer

Things Never to Be Placed on Desk

There are a few things you should never place on a feng shui desk. You can prevent creating inauspicious energy by avoiding these items.

  • Columns or cylindrical objects: This type of object creates poison arrows.
  • Boxes with corners pointed toward you also create poison arrows.
  • Knives, swords, scissors, and other sharp/pointed objects on the desk surface are considered poison arrows. Keep scissors pointed end down in a penholder or in a closed drawer.
  • Negative images that reflect anger, war, disasters or other symbols of destruction.
  • Never place plants with pointed leaves on your desk.

Understanding How to Feng Shui Your Desk for Productivity and Success

Once you understand how to feng shui your desk, you can ensure better productivity and success. Creating a feng shui desk allows you to take advantage of auspicious chi energy.

Trending on LoveToKnow
How to Feng Shui Your Desk for Productivity and Success