Why a Messy Desk Isn’t So Bad Nathan was a great student. But most people that peeked into his bedroom would have guessed otherwise. His desk was a mess. It looked like a hurricane had blown through. I say a hurricane (not your traditional tornado) because his swim goggles and an empty fish bowl (recently vacated since the passing of Nathan’s trusty beta fish Maxamillian) were mixed in the mess. There were papers and pencils scattered about. He had about four books open with multiple makeshift bookmarks inserted here and there. But without fail, at the end of each semester – straight A’s. How was this possible? Let’s find out.
Clean Desks Most “how to succeed in college” blogs and articles talk about keeping your room (especially your desk) clean and organized. Cleaned spaces help keep you organized and on task. This is true. Clean desks equal order, responsibility, and focus. Experiments have shown that students asked to work at clean desks make more socially praised decisions. They are more focused, chose healthier snacks, and offered more to charities. However, there was one interesting hitch in the oh-greatness of clean desk power. It stifled creativity.
Messy Desks Apparently, messes have their uses. The same experiment mentioned above showed that students asked to work at messy desks were more creative. The mess seemed to open the mind to the chaos of inventiveness. Distractions, after all, are distracting because they foster diverse thought. Students that have learned to control those diverse juices and apply them to a given task can produce more innovative ideas. This, in its own way, creates better quality work.
Order in Chaos Not proven in controlled experiments, but experienced by many, is the principle of organized chaos. Have you ever cleaned out your desk, your room, your closet, or even your computer files and suddenly found yourself unable to find anything at all? Sure! This happens to almost everyone! What, to one looks like chaos, is complete order to another. Even the amazing Col. Hannibal of the A-team said, “Remember boys, no matter how random things may appear, there’s always a plan.” Just as long as it’s your plan or your chaos, you needn’t worry about what your mess looks like to others. As long as you know what’s going on, nothing else really matters.
Order in Order Of course, this is not to knock order. Order is great too. It has its advantages. Focus, order, and control are good for many lines of work. Some personalities require order Justas others prefer a unique type of chaos. A study suggested that a combination of both could prove very helpful for many people. They suggested that one start a project with a chaotic, messy desk (which allows for innovation, creativity, and unique thought) then slowly clean off the desk as the project begins to wrap up, which will encourage consolidating and finalizing a unified and complete project. This happens naturally for many people anyway. Who knew that there was science behind it? Moral of the story: If you are getting an online education and your messy desk works for you, that’s just fine. You have creativity on your side!