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Messy desks and creative thinking

G

garbage

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Here's a thing:

Why You Should Have a Messy Desk
Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein, and Mark Twain. What is one thing these three visionaries have in common?

They all had very messy workspaces.

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.

[...]

Recently, a study conducted by the University of Minnesota 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, “Disorderly environments seem to inspire breaking free of tradition, which can produce fresh insights.”
[...]
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). “There are two types of messy environments,” Vohs said in an interview with NY Daily News. “One is unkempt and one is dirty. I don’t think these results suggest leaving around banana peels and dirty dishes for a week.
I think we're all aware of the "method to the madness" phenomenon, but I hadn't thought about messy desks actually providing inspiration.

What sayeth TypoC? Does your disorganized desk make you a creative genius? Do you keep a clean desk or a messy one?
 

PeaceBaby

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Messy, messy desk ... let's hope the project I am working on is affected accordingly.
 
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I cannot concentrate with a messy desk. I don't think I've ever written anything worth a damn while sitting at a messy desk.
 

badger055

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My room always looks like a hurricane hit it and I like it that way. Makes me feel more mentally comfortable for some reason I think I like the chaos.
 

five sounds

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My room always looks like a hurricane hit it and I like it that way. Makes me feel more mentally comfortable for some reason I think I like the chaos.

Second that.

What they said about keeping anything around that could inspire you I relate to a lot too. Also, just the Ne way of unlikely combinations is so much better facilitated when all the things are surrounding you. I feel cut off from things when they're filed away. The energy it takes me to realize I want something, neatly unpack it, and bring it to my workspace is enough to kill my flow. And I usually don't even know if I wanted it until I have it out and can try it first. Then I gotta put it back away neatly? And then something new comes up and I might want to try it out again? Oh no no. Cannot flow like that.
 

prplchknz

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Hah! I know this isn't a desk, but I hate the saying "messy bed, messy head" it's bullshit. I'm not making my fucking bed except after I've washed the sheets. or it's in such disarray that i can't get the blankets correct.Also I use my bed as a desk, always have I used to sleep with scissors in it and other sharp objects
 

Kasper

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This is something claimed by messy deskers to feel good about working in squalor! :dry:
 

Jaq

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My desk is organized, just in a way only I know.
 

Halla74

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I'm a whack job "Perceiver" when it comes to orderliness/tidiness of my desk/office/etc.

My German Mother drilled the age old expression...

"Ein Platz fur Alles, und Alles ins Platz" --> (aka "A place for everything, and everything in it's place.")

...into my head by the age of 6.
Since then my bedroom and desk/office have been designed and maintained by that creedo.

HOWEVER - my garage (aka "woodworking shop") looks like a fucking hurricane hit it as my projects evolve from their inception through their completion.

There is a good article I read recently regarding the pros/cons of "neat" vs "messy" workspaces. (I will post the link here when I have a moment to locate it)
In short, it said that for non-creative work (aka "administrative tasks, repetitive tasks, etc.") that a neat work space is ideal.
And - for creative work a workspace that the comfort of the artist is key and that whatever state their studio/workspace is in so the artist's maximum productivity is realized is best.

This is an interesting phenomena to ponder on because I have worked with so many people over the years who were massively productive and damn good at what they did, and the range of "neat" vs "messy" for all their respective workspaces has been vast indeed. Kind of cool, IMHO. Another tribute to the diversity of the human spirit.

:solidarity:

-Halla74
 
G

garbage

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I cannot concentrate with a messy desk. I don't think I've ever written anything worth a damn while sitting at a messy desk.
Same. Every thing on my desk screams "HERE'S A THING TO DO" to me. A colleague of mine once remarked that a desk as vacant as mine would make him nervous. ;)

I know where everything I need is, though, on demand. The problem may arise, then, that there may not be things that I "know" that I need since they're not staring me in the face. It's a tradeoff, for sure.

Most of the ol' idea gestation occurs internally for me anyway. When I'm working on a thing that randomly reminds me of some other thing, I'll know where to find it.

"Messy -> creativity" for me comes in the form of opening up a bunch of files or browser tabs. I get a general idea of a thing and delve onto and all over the Internet. Before I know it, "middle clicking" the mouse (which opens a link in a separate tab) has given me about a billion browser tabs that I bounce back and forth between.
And then I close it all back down when I'm done. :popc1:

This is something claimed by messy deskers to feel good about working in squalor! :dry:
And this is, in turn, a thing that I would like to claim about messy deskers :(
 

five sounds

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I know typing famous people is subject to a lot of error, but it seems pretty widely believed that Twain, Jobs, and Einstein were Ne users. I really feel like Ne is what makes me work best this way.

Furthermore, a super organized environment makes me feel weighed down (inferior Si). Just two more cents from my direction.
 

Halla74

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I know typing famous people is subject to a lot of error, but it seems pretty widely believed that Twain, Jobs, and Einstein were Ne users.

I agree that typing famous people, especially those who are deceased, is subject to a wide margin of error. :yes:
All we have to attempt typing them are the artifacts of their personal lives, careers, academic achievements, etc, right? :thinking:

I really feel like Ne is what makes me work best this way.

And this is a good thing, IMHO, because knowing what works for YOU and YOUR MIND is essential if you are ever to get a lot of good work done over the long run of time. :hifive:

If you never figure out what works for you with regard to what type of work environment best suits your mind's workflow, then you will inevitably waste countless hours each time you work tweaking whatever part of your environment is bothering you at that time. :BangHead: :shock:

Furthermore, a super organized environment makes me feel weighed down (inferior Si). Just two more cents from my direction.

Just out of curiosity, is the work you do most often more creative in nature? Or more methodical/administrative/etc. in nature?
I'm curious because both types of environments ("messy" vs "neat") work for me, depending on what the nature ("creative" vs "administrative") of the work is. :happy:

Cheers!

:cheers:

-Halla74
 

Totenkindly

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I've found a balance between "cluttered messiness" and "creative messiness."

The first type doesn't help my mental organization at all and makes it hard to find things; it also typically represents a mindset where I can't discard anything, so I become completely trapped in a bunch of disconnected items and details.

With the creative messiness, there's still an organization to it and I know what's there and it's less about hoarding and more just keeping things around that I know will prove valuable.

I've realized that if I file a lot of ideas, things out of sight eventually drop out of mind when there's a lot of "things" in play. For the book I want to start finishing again, I've dedicated my spare bedroom to being my "work room" and I'm going to be hanging maps, post-its, and other data around on all the walls. It won't be the prettiest room, but it's kind of like being inside that big star map in "Prometheus," where all that data is right there visible in front of your face and you can see it in connection with each other while standing within it all. I think it will help me.
 

Eruca

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What a weirdly ass-backward way of looking at it.

Messy desk --> Creative approach
Creative approach --> Messy desk

I'm pretty sure its the latter if there is any real connection between the two at all. I'm imagining, and hoping this has no occasion in reality, naturally tidy people now messing up their desks in a rather silly attempt to induce creativity.

*edit* "Individual" approach would better fit those three, actually, or independent
 

prplchknz

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I just don't like society's expectations and sayings. I refuse to have a desk, if you make me get a desk i'm using it as firewood, and I'll make sure it's super messy before I set it on fire. take that society!
 

animenagai

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What a weirdly ass-backward way of looking at it.

Messy desk --> Creative approach
Creative approach --> Messy desk

I'm pretty sure its the latter if there is any real connection between the two at all. I'm imagining, and hoping this has no occasion in reality, naturally tidy people now messing up their desks in a rather silly attempt to induce creativity.

*edit* "Individual" approach would better fit those three, actually, or independent

THANK YOU.

This study, as it is presented, is unadulteratedly conflating correlation and causation. I expected more from you, type C.
 

Falcarius

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Falcarius desk at home is a mess but his work desk is tidy. It probably has more to do with not wanting to be embarrassed with having a messier desk than his academic colleagues, than keeping it clear to maximise efficacy.:dry:
 
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