Messy desk? Check. Productivity? Check?
May 2, 2007 – 11:26 amI got an email today from Hewlett-Packard, from all people, about the new book “A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder” by authors Eric Abrahamson and David Freedman. It was a soft sell from HP and was included as a link from their small business monthly email.
The authors argue that tidiness is:
- time-consuming
- neatness negates creativity
- managing the mess wastes money
I haven’t read the book, so I can’t validate the research, but I’m sure this book is going to start discussions for people on both sides of the fence.
For me, I live in the world of advertising busting at the seams with creativity.
While I appreciate the cleanliness of some work environments, with some organizations going as far as mandating organized work spaces, I agree with the authors that it zaps creativity. But, I also agree that trying to find a specific piece of paper in the midst of a mound of paperwork, mail, and random sketches is no trivial task either.
So, like most things in life, I think the middle ground with a messy desk that is cleaned on occasion is the best road to take.
Where does your desk rank in the grand scale?
Take my Messy Desk poll
Technorati Tags: mess, disorder, productivity, Abrahamson, Freedman, HP
3 Responses to “Messy desk? Check. Productivity? Check?”
As you know, I’m in real estate sales. And most of the top producers in our office have desks that look like a tornado hit. But having said that, the top producer has an office that looks like a maid works in each and every day. So, there you go. Inconclusive at best.
By Chris Lengquist on May 6, 2007
I don’t really work at my desk. I’m in the creative department at my job, so I usually just unplug and move around throughout the day.
As a result, my desk is like a vacation home (not that I have one, mind you). It’s there when I need it, and I clean it up about once every year around springtime.
By Paul Corrigan on May 8, 2007
I like cycles – ups and downs, beginning, middle, end and repeat. So I generally let things go until it bugs me and then reboot. I like change every so often – so cleaning and rearranging sometime gives me my fix.
By Scott on May 8, 2007