To think about: If a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind,
what does an empty desk signify??
David
To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas
which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical
To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas
which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.*--Thomas
**Jeff**erson*
On 10/17/2013 11:04 AM, [email protected] wrote:
from the site*:*
*Busy Building Things*
Why You Should have a Messy Desk
image source: time magazine
[ How in the hell did Steve Jobs get into my apartment for this photo
to be taken of him at my desk ? BR observation ]
Updated : October 17, 2013
Einstein: “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of
what, then, is an empty desk a sign?â€
Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein, and Mark Twain. What is one thing these
three visionaries have in common?
They all had very messy workspaces.
Mark Twain and his desk. Image source: Office Snapshots
<http://officesnapshots.com/2012/02/06/inspiration-the-messy-desks-of-einstein-jobs-and-twain/>
These three game-changers were never ones to follow the crowd, and
always enjoyed doing things their own way. We can see this by how
unconventionally disorganized their desks are. There was a method to
this madness: under the mass of papers, magazines, and various
objects, there is a sense of organization only the creator can operate
through.
Here are some other creative powerhouses that have messy desks:
Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook hard at work on product.
Tony Hsieh and his desk. Image source: Complex
<http://www.complexmag.ca/tech/2012/06/famous-tech-ceo-desks>
[very similar to the look of BR desk]
Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, with everything ranging from books on
culture to cowboy hats.
Max Levchin, co-founder and former CTO of PayPal.
Other notable creatives with astonishingly messy desks include
programmer and codebreaker Alan Turing, discoverer of penicillin
Alexander Fleming, as well as painter Francis Bacon.
Environments have historically played a major factor in how creative
our minds are. For example, when he was trying to create the first
polio vaccine, medical researcher and virologist Jonas Salk went to
the monastery at the Basilica of Assisi in Umbria, Italy
<http://www.psmag.com/culture/corridors-of-the-mind-49051/> and
explained in his later days that this environment change helped
contribute to the discovery. It doesn’t necessarily take such a
massive change to prompt creativity; rather, the key to a more
creative state of mind can be found right at our desks.
Recently, a study conducted by the University of Minnesota
<http://pss.sagepub.com/content/24/9/1860> found that people with a
messy desk were more prone to creativity and risk taking, while people
at cleaner desks tended to follow strict rules and were less likely to
try new things or take risks. Dr. Vohs and her co-authors conclude in
the study
<http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/19/what-a-messy-desk-says-about-you/>,
“Disorderly environments seem to inspire breaking free of tradition,
which can produce fresh insights.â€
Calibrating Creativity and Efficiency
Rather than leaving a desk in a state of constant messiness, it can be
helpful to modify the environment as it suits our needs. Think of
messiness and cleanliness as a spectrum that also has a corresponding
creativity setting.
The study in the University of Minnesota featured an experiment where
respondents with clean desks chose apples over candy bars, and
selected more established solutions over new ones. When you’re
generating ideas and concepts, it could help to have a messier desk.
However, when you’re trying to be productive, getting a specific
task accomplished, or simply need to execute on a creative concept,
cleaning your desk can “trade in†your creativity for efficiency.
In case you are trying to be more creative, here are some ideas:
instead of throwing out those magazines right after you’re done with
them, leave them hanging around your desk. Don’t shelf those books
yet. Keep anything that could potentially inspire you (including art
prints <http://bbt.gs/17dQU3L>). “There are two types of messy
environments,†Vohs said in an interview with NY Daily News
<http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/clean-desk-messy-desk-benefits-article-1.1419269#ixzz2ftnpUyDj>.
“One is unkempt and one is dirty. I don’t think these results
suggest leaving around banana peels and dirty dishes for a week.â€
Social Perceptions
This creativity comes with a social cost: as staffing firm Adecco
discovered, the majority of our colleagues and peers judge us based on
how clean (or dirty) our desks are. Should your desk be left in a
perpetually messy state, “They think that you must be a slob in your
real life,†says Adecco’s VP of Recruiting Jennie Dede in an
interview with Forbes
<http://www.forbes.com/sites/jennagoudreau/2012/03/27/the-dangers-of-a-messy-desk/>.
While remaining hygienic would minimize the possibility of this
scenario, here’s another reason not to leave your desk in a constant
mess. Adjust it along the spectrum between the ends of creativity and
efficiency. Be aware of the impression you may be giving to
colleagues, but don’t be afraid to explain your reasons for an
intentionally messy desk — you’ve got anecdotal and empirical
evidence right here.
Closing Thoughts
Starting at very early ages, we have been trained to clean up our toys
and make our beds. But perhaps our mothers had it wrong. As you can
see from the examples above, messy environments can enhance our
creativity by letting our lives get a little messy.
Albert Einstein and his desk. Image source: Stefan.com.au
<http://www.stefan.com.au/delightful-desks/>
============================
Make your messy desk look even better with some inspirational art
blocks from Busy Building Things <http://bbt.gs/1cWtzuz>. Or, join the
discussion by sharing photos of your tidy or messy desk on Twitter or
Instagram with the hashtag #busybuildingthings
<https://twitter.com/search?q=%23busybuildingthings&src=typd>
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