The Office Survival Kit

We are moving offices (it feels like only yesterday that I last did an office move – from beautiful Avenue Matignon to crummy La Défense), so I decided to clear out my desk drawers before the crates arrive.

There is a whole lot of stuff in there that should be sent for archiving or just binned, but it made me realize that I have a little mini ‘home’ in there, with everything a girl could need to fend off appearance disasters.

Those drawers house my own personal office survival kit, and the items are definitely coming with me. So here are some things I don’t think any self-respecting project manager should be without:

• Lip gloss. Much easier to apply in a hurry than lipstick.
• Sewing kit for caught hems. Also useful when the slit in your skirt gets caught on a revolving gate and tears higher than is decent (of course, this has NEVER happened to me). Safety pins are also good as an emergency quick-fix – I have the small ones.
• Spare pair of tights.
• Shoe cleaner: one of those little sponges from hotels will do.
• Sore throat sweets: nothing worse than having meetings scheduled all day but not being able to speak!
• Hairbrush, for those windswept days. Extra hair accessories too, if you have long hair.
• Face blotting sheets. Good for taking the shine off before meetings.
• Cleaning cloth/fluid for your glasses. I favor spray and cloth over lens wipes.
• Spare bag: a folding shopper for when you go out and buy stuff at lunch times or have to take work home with you.

Hope I have enough space in my new desk for all this!

If you have read this far, you’ll have realized this list isn’t very appropriate for male project managers. Sorry guys!