“If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk?” ~Albert Einstein
I’m gearing up to clear out my home office, and for me a hefty part of that process involves kicking and screaming against the mere prospect of doing it. Hence, today’s post, in which I become defensive about my clutter.
When I chanced upon this picture of Al Gore in his office (at right) and noted the spectacular state of his desk, my first reaction was, “One of my people!” (My second was, “What’s with the giant frog art, Al?”)
I felt instantly supported in my long-held belief that countless smart and successful people manage just fine with clutter. According to Ajilon Office, a professional staffing firm, this belief is not merely wishful thinking. Their research has found that “office messiness tends to increase sharply with increased education, salary, and experience.” (Which I guess accounts for why Mr. Gore’s desk makes mine look neat as a pin.)
Despite the fact that many high achievers do their high achieving amid slippery stacks of paper, there’s a whole lotta shaming going on when it comes to clutter. Naturally, a lot of the tsk-tsking is perpetrated by the booming home-organizing industry, which the New York Times says is projected to reach $7.6 billion by 2009.
Authors Eric Abrahamson and David H. Freedman, in their book A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder (due out in paperback on January 1st), attempt to combat the current home-organizing hysteria with reasoned arguments in support of disorder. While Abrahamson and Freedman do not advocate hoarding and concede a space must have enough room for the occupant to actually work, they also contend that people who tend toward a cluttered desk also tend to get loads accomplished (the piles are just a retraceable trail of work flow).
In an interview with the New York Times, the authors purport, “Mess is complete, in that it embraces all sorts of random elements. Mess tells a story: you can learn a lot about people from their detritus, whereas neat—well, neat is a closed book. Neat has no narrative and no personality.”
Even further, they argue, too much organization inhibits creativity. In an article in Inc.com, Freedman says, “When things are carefully arranged and kept in their ‘proper’ time and place and done in precisely the ‘right’ way every time, you lock out some highly useful qualities—such as improvisation, adaptability, and serendipity.” One of many examples cited is that of Alexander Fleming, whose cluttered laboratory desk held a moldy petri dish that led him to discover penicillin.
So here’s to piles of paper and moldy petri dishes! You never know what great discoveries might lie within.
Photo: Al Gore in his office (Steve Pyke for Time).
haha! sounds like a lot of messy people thinking up reasons why they shouldnt clean. I am a naturally messy person, but it dosen’t help my creativity, its frustrating and distracting. Maybe the problem isn’t US, maybe it is the objects that we just allow to share our lives??? I am very into minimalism, owning the smallest amount of objects possible. We just assume we should keep all this stuff we do not want or need! instead of just going with the flow like everybody else, maybe we should question ourselves…?
Well, my desk is absolutely _filled_ with Styrofoam cups I drink out of every day. And an extra mouse and keyboard I don’t need anymore. And the empty Apple keyboard box that my new keyboard came out of. And a gift basket months old. And a fake TPS report, ala Office Space. And an Apple developer t-shirt that I’d love to wear but it’s too big for me… I can’t bear to get rid of that :)
Amidst all of this, I’ve got scraps of paper and pens and stuff with designs and possible solutions to problems.
So I suppose my mess is a little more than a work trail… I wonder… does non-work related junk count toward being praised? :)
Great stuff, but why, oh, why the perpetuated myth about penicillin? It wasn’t the result a mouldy petri dish on someone’s desk, it was the result of a dedicated research project into the properties of moulds.
Oh there is still hope for me with the home office looking kind of messy. Big Al got me beat but I’m going to be sending a copy of that photo to the wife so she can see I’m not alone in my system (she calls them piles of paper-I say its a system).
From my point of view it is a question of priorities. Having a desk where I can find the things I need is a priority. Having a tidy desk is not a priority.
So what does my desk look like? It is relatively empty and still fairly messy.
Why so empty? Well security is a priority, I work in an area where data is absolutely key and privacy is a major concern. This means that most of the possible clutter never makes it to my desk.
Why so messy? Because I know where everything on it is and can reach everything on it easily. It does not need to be tidier. Any effort put into tidying it is low priority. I do tidy it, but only very rarely and only when there is a reason to do so.
As the article suggests there is a flow to my desk. Newer stuff or more recently used stuff on the top and older stuff shredded, in the bin or moved to someone else’s care. Some old things stick around as they are good reference material. This usually means that they will be near the top and easily reachable. If it is complex, and so worth keeping longer, then it may be nearer the bottom (and still easily reachable). If it is not easily reachable then there is no benefit to it being on the desk, so it is not there. Almost everything I have is electronic and actually lives on my laptop or my phone, but there are a few things that are not easy to put into soft format.
In essence I think a tidy desk is not a sign that you have a tidy mind, but a sign that tidiness is a greater priority for you than productivity. In some industries this can be a reasonable priority order. I am not well suited to that kind of prioritisation as I have a tendency to enjoy doing difficult things, with the emphasis on getting things done. Judge someone by their desk if you will, but only in the context of why they need a desk at all.
Rufus Evison
Great post, I totally agree on the recent thoughts regarding mess and productivity, at least for some types of personalities. I have always “maintained” a very messy office and desk, and late in 2007 we moved to new offices. So I time lapsed the packing up of my horribly cluttered office:
http://fraser.blogs.com/pcl/2007/09/moving-day—7-.html
enjoy!
Hey, if a messy desk makes you happy and creative, great! I personally can’t handle too many piles of stuff or disorganization, and part of me enjoys doing the sorting and cleaning. What I resent is the assertion (not necessarily by you–just in general) that because I’m neat, I’m NOT creative. I’ve had people say that–that if someone’s organized, they can’t possibly have creative thoughts. Give me a break! It’s usually messy people saying this…like someone who needs to find something–like an important document–and can’t, and say it to make themselves feel better.
Nice. Keep up the good work. Found this on google. Ya boy Pro
Some people (such as myself) inherently know where they last saw any given thing – except, that memory is tied to the last time it was used, not seen. Tidying up means I lose track of where everything is, even though I’m the one that does the tidying!
Just discovered this enlightened post. I remember reading the magazine with Al Gore’s desk. I quickly ripped out that photo and added it to one of my piles. HA!
Well done :)
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can i just say that the frog on the wall in the photo is awesome?! :D just noticed…
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