Meet the myworkpet cast

Six companions wandered out of a storybook land and decided your desk was the desk. A short, fond introduction to each of them.

People always ask which pet they should pick, and the honest answer is that there's no wrong one. They're all, to a fault, on your side. But they do have personalities, and choosing one is a little like choosing a desk plant: it should be the one you're glad to see.

So here's the cast, told the way I'd introduce friends.

The capybara

The calm one. Nothing rattles a capybara. It will sit beside your worst inbox like it's a warm spring and you're both just here to enjoy the afternoon. If your days run frantic, this is the buddy that lowers your shoulders an inch.

The cat

Affectionate on its own terms, which is to say it's thrilled you're here but would never make a scene about it. The cat is for people who want company without fuss. It notices everything. It comments on almost none of it.

The pup

The earnest one. The pup thinks every single task you finish is genuinely the best thing that's happened all day, and it is not faking. If you respond well to enthusiasm, adopt the pup and let it be proud of you. It's very good at that.

Nobody on this list is your productivity machine. They wandered in, looked around, and stayed because they liked you. The work is just something you happen to do together.

The blob

The blob defies description, which is the point. It's soft, it's a little silly, and it improves any desk it sits on by being so obviously delighted to exist. People who pick the blob tend to be the ones who needed permission to not take everything so seriously. Granted.

The sprout

The quiet grower. The sprout is for slow, steady people who like the idea of something small and alive keeping pace with them. Undemanding. Patient. Always a little greener by the end of a good week.

The axolotl

The whimsical one, perpetually mid-adventure even when it's sitting still. The axolotl seems to know things about the storybook land that the others don't, and brings back the strangest treasures. For the people who like a little mystery on the desk.

Pick whichever one you'd be happy to glance at fifty times a day. That's the whole science of it.