What do you require easily to hand on your desk while you work?

A little bit off topic but I am intruiged in what you guys require/beg/demand on your desk while you work. I don't mean you demand a certain plant or chair I mean what you require to be productive.

I'll start things off...

I have the following things on my desk ready to hand:

Notepad open ready to jot down things as I work.
Flash drive with template scripts, documentations, manuals, etc.
Grant Fritchey's "Dissecting SQL Server Execution Plans".
Brad McGehee's "How To Be An Exceptional DBA".
"SQL Server MVP Deep Dives" book.
"Pro SQL Server 2008 Relational Database Design And Implementation" book.

And that's it really. On my computer I have of course Google on pretty much all the time! ;-)

asked Feb 25 '10 at 06:59 PM in Default

Ian Roke
1.7k ● 24 ● 29 ● 31

I keep feeling amazed (and a little awed) that so many people value #5 so much.

Feb 25 '10 at 09:06 PM Rob Farley

I keep feeling amazed that there is so much good info in one book Rob! :-D

Feb 26 '10 at 07:36 AM Ian Roke

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10 answers:

A picture of my kids (reminds me why I'm there)
Google
Headphones (nothing beats D&B for me to get in the zone)
A chocolate cookie (or multiples thereof)
One cup of coffee that I've just made, and the three half-drunk ones that I haven't taken downstairs yet
A pen & paper
ask.sqlservercentral.com (keeps me occupied during long compiles)

answered Feb 25 '10 at 07:51 PM

Matt Whitfield ♦♦
29.2k ● 56 ● 63 ● 87

+1 I definately need to sort out a photo of my kids. Helps with the motivation doesn't it? Drum & Bass is an interesting choice of music for "zone" music.

Feb 25 '10 at 07:59 PM Ian Roke

I like the photo option. I keep a few in my cube. The photos help keep me grounded.

Feb 25 '10 at 08:46 PM CirqueDeSQLeil

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Google
Books online
Flash Drive
Script Repository that I have created
MP3 collection
SQL Server MVP Deep Dives
Notebook
Post-It pad
Water Fountain
Motivating Employees Book
PASS Summit DVD Collection

answered Feb 25 '10 at 07:18 PM

CirqueDeSQLeil
3.9k ● 6 ● 11 ● 15

+1 Interesting list there, particularly 10 and 11. Do you really get an opportunity to motivate people being a DBA? ;-)

Feb 25 '10 at 07:24 PM Ian Roke

I have the book due to being a team lead and needing to help the team keep a positive attitude.

Feb 25 '10 at 08:45 PM CirqueDeSQLeil

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web connection - probably for Google but I tend to go straight to the source so SSC, Stack Overflow/Server Fault, MSDN, SQLServerpedia if I expect its a question thats been put to the community already
Two screens - script on one, UI/Report etc being developed on the other
Multiple desktop software - means I get one for email, SSMS one for monitoring s/w such as SQL Response and one for web browser/Twitter client
Nuts and dried fruit to chew on; lasts longer than chocolate!
Chilled Water + Hot Coffee supply
Any sort of paper to note times/values/phone numbers etc
Outlook - I run my task list in there and its also my work diary/reminder system
On the PC - SQL 2008 Dev Edn, SSMS+BIDS, LogParser, PowerShell, Visual Studio 2008, Excel (you can keep Word and put it somewhere uncomfortable, probably right beside Project), Chrome, Firefox, IE8 and Opera, Twhirl, PasswordSafe, ZipCentral, Acrobat Reader for ebooks
ageing library of dev books from VB6 onwards - mostly for comfort I think!
no photos - I dont want to remember that I'd rather be somewhere else
iPod

answered Feb 25 '10 at 08:32 PM

Fatherjack ♦♦
38.8k ● 55 ● 69 ● 104

two screens = +1

Feb 26 '10 at 04:49 AM Matt Whitfield ♦♦

(comments are locked)

My personal laptop, tethered to my phone... with my own stuff on it rather than the client's.

My phone will contain my todo list, which I need to have open most of the time. Without that, stuff gets missed for too long.

But generally, very little.

answered Feb 25 '10 at 09:12 PM

Rob Farley
5.7k ● 13 ● 17 ● 19

+1 - for the minimalist DBA!

Feb 26 '10 at 05:32 AM Fatherjack ♦♦

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I gave Matt a +1 but wish I could give more because it's so close to my own answer.

pictures of my wife and kids (cause they're awesome)
our wedding DVD -- I rarely actually watch any of it, but the editing was fantastic, and I sometimes like watching the parts that are essentially music videos to Coldplay's "Yellow" and Dido's "Thank you".
headphones -- my preference is psytrance
my green tea and ginseng pills (fantastic mid-day boost)
water and something to nibble on
ask.sqlservercental.com -- So I can try to help someone else during long builds or waiting for long processes to finish or when I'm stuck and just need a break.
a whiteboard as big as possible -- I prefer visual aids when explaining things. This was more important when I was a manager, but I still love my whiteboard.