The short answer
For work, face your Sheng Chi sector. For study, face your Fu Wei sector. Both are favourable sectors for your kua number. The table below gives each number’s pair. Avoid facing your most serious unfavourable sector, Jue Ming, when you can, and if the room will not allow the right direction, move the chair before you move the desk.
Work and study: which sector to face
| Kua | Work (Sheng Chi) | Study (Fu Wei) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Southeast | North |
| 2 | Northeast | Southwest |
| 3 | South | East |
| 4 | North | Southeast |
| 6 | West | Northwest |
| 7 | Northwest | West |
| 8 | Southwest | Northeast |
| 9 | East | South |
If you are not sure of your kua number, use how to find your kua first. The kua number guide has the full chart for all four favourable and four unfavourable sectors.
Avoid the most serious sector
Each kua number has one unfavourable sector called Jue Ming (total loss), which is the most serious of the four. Try not to face it when you work. For each number it is: Kua 1 southwest, Kua 2 north, Kua 3 west, Kua 4 northeast, Kua 6 south, Kua 7 east, Kua 8 southeast and Kua 9 northwest.
If the desk faces Jue Ming and you cannot move it, the usual suggestion is to face your Sheng Chi sector for the most important work and to keep Jue Ming out of your view for long periods.
Check the direction you face, not the desk
When you sit at the desk, the direction you face is what counts. Stand where your chair would be and face the direction you want to check, then take a compass reading. Keep phones, keys and metal objects away from the compass, because metal can throw off the reading.
Many practitioners also suggest not sitting with your back to the door. This is common practice, not a kua rule (it is the same idea as the command position used for a sofa), but it is a simple way to feel more settled at work.
When the room will not allow it
Walls, windows and fixed layouts often block the right direction. Traditional guidance is to move the chair rather than the whole desk. Angle the chair as close to your favourable sector as you can, and keep the desk where the layout works. A small change to the chair often gets you most of the way.
Shared and hot-desk spaces
In a shared office or hot-desk space, you may not control where the desk sits. Choose the seat that faces your favourable sector if one is available, or use a chair that you can turn. For a home office, the front door guide and the luckiest direction guide cover the rest of the room. The bagua’s career area and the Wen Chang study star are two other traditional ideas people use for a work or study desk.
These are traditional guidelines, not scientific findings. Use them as a starting point for arranging your workspace, not as a rule for your career.