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Parent Category: Lower-Intermediate News Lessons

Category: Business Lessons

Written by Chris Cotter

Every office has at least one person who always has a messy desk. Papers are stacked here and there. Old Post It Notes are still on the cubicle wall. The garbage is filled with takeout coffee cups and empty bags. But a business book suggests that these messy people are more efficient and creative than neat people.

The book's author, David Freeman, explains that a mess is like a filing system. For example, one employee admitted her desk looks like a disaster. Yet it's an organized mess because she knows where everything is. If someone cleaned up the mess, then she wouldn't be able to find anything.

A messy workspace can be a natural reminder system. The person who made the mess will reviewold papers and notes with new information. As a result, he can more easily make connections between new and old information. On the other hand, when papers are filed away, they quickly get forgotten. And anything which is thrown away is lost forever. Lastly, tidy employees usually spend from one to four hours per day keeping their desks clean.

But Barry Izsak, who is the head of the National Association of Professional Organizers, disagrees with the idea that messiness is more efficient. Izsak explains that the average person will often feel stress because of the mess. He will also have feelings of missed deadlines and lost opportunities.