The Messy Desk – Brilliance Revealed

Brilliance?
Well, this may be a bit of an overstatement, but organization, productivity and even creativity exist behind a messy desk.

Quite a bold statement, isn’t it?
A popular view of a messy desk suggests just the opposite – chaos and disorganization. I won’t bother to cite references for this one; you can find them on your own.

Albert Einstein is quoted as saying, rather poetically,

If a cluttered desk signs a cluttered mind,
Of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?

Aren’t convinced?
Distinguished and reputable experts provide support of this audacious claim. One such expert is Dr Jay Brand. He is a Cognitive Psychologist and ergonomist at Haworth Inc, which designs office furniture and environments based on the needs of the workplace. This is a gross oversimplification. To really see what they do, visit Haworth’s site. Dr. Brand’s wealth of knowledge and experience give a deeper view into the mysteries of the messy desk, among many other topics like office space and lighting.

Impressive?
There’s much more to say about Dr Brand… The brief bio on his corporate site and on Linked-In modestly state his credentials. I’ve gathered other info from around the web in Spotlight.

Virtues of a Messy Desk – Explained
On first glance a messy desk may appear to be disorganized, but closer examination reveals otherwise. Carol Smith, of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports on Dr Brand’s observations.

Most people are tasked with doing several things at a time in a regular workday without the luxury of finishing one thing before starting another. People have capacity of holding multiple ideas in their heads, but use their desks as an extension of their minds in keeping things assessable by being visible and in range of action.

Heady stuff?
Not really. Our short-term memory has a limited capacity to about seven chunks at once – about the size of a phone number (xxx-xxxx). The desk easily becomes an extension of the chunks that we are holding in our short-term memory.

Piles of paper can actually represent a project and can be meaningful to the organizer. Since people think differently, the way that these piles are stacked may vary from spreading out left to right or from piling projects in the classic stacker method. Dr Brand isn’t suggesting that one should deliberately mess up a desk, but rather that there is deeper meaning in the organization of those that do.

Empty Minds
Some companies have a policy for employees to keep their desk cleared off. This practice can actually hinder productivity. After clearing off the desk at the end of the day, one must spend the time to set up and organize the work the following morning. The empty desk is just waiting for the mind to use it again.

Carte Blanche
Dr Brand does not advocate an extensively messy desk. Moderation is key in this discussion. In order for the messy desk to be efficient, once a project is done, the papers should be removed from the desk and put away.

The next time you see a messy desk, look deeper. Consider the organization and productivity behind the messy desk. The brilliance and creativity might even inspire your own.