A Messy Workspace Isn’t Necessarily a Sign of Genius and Why Clean Desks Matter
Far too many narratives celebrate a messy workspace, but the clutter may have more insidious effects than you might know.
We see this quite often on the internet:
“A Messy Desk Is a Sign of Genius, According to Science”
Then names of geniuses such as Mark Twain, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, and Steve Jobs would be dropped — that they, too, have messy desks.
We get it. We’d like to be associated with those people.
But is a messy desk necessarily a sign of genius? And if so, will it make you more productive than a clean desk?
Let’s investigate.
Is a messy desk a sign of genius?
Experiments of Dr. Kathleen Vohs of the University of Minnesota-Carlson School of Management found out that working in a messy room helps people try new things and come up with creative ideas.
[T]he researchers asked 48 participants to come up with novel uses for a pingpong ball. Again, half the participants worked in a messy room and half in a neat room. The participants thought up the same number of ideas, but a panel of independent raters rated the messy-room participants’ ideas as significantly more creative.
There’s a reason why the experiments’ results have gained so much traction in mainstream media.
Dr. Vohs thinks it’s because “messy people feel vindicated big time.”
Although independent research from Northwestern University confirmed the results of the experiments — they found that subjects in a messy room drew more creative pictures and were quicker to solve a challenging brainteaser puzzle than subjects in a tidy room — it’s worth noting that when these experiments were conducted, the participants were assigned to these rooms.
That means they didn’t get to choose which room they’d be assigned in. Ultimately, this means that anyone can be labeled as “more creative” as long as they’re assigned to the “messy” rooms.
So, no. This specific research — which the media frequently cites — isn’t conclusive evidence of geniuses being messy people.
At best, what the research suggests is that messy desks can spark creativity and encourage people to break from social conventions. This helps them approach problems in new, innovative ways.
So, what now? What about me being a genius?
First, we should stop our obsession with geniuses.
The concept itself is old, driven by meritocracy, and the “tests” that determine geniuses have been heavily criticized as “deeply inaccurate.”
Instead, we should explore the ways to improve ourselves, given our unique capacities — how we can be more productive, more efficient in all our activities.
And if we should start with our desks, start with clean and organized desks.
Why is a clean, organized desk important?
This article from Harvard Business Review encapsulates the answer:
The physical environment of the workplace has a significant effect on the way that we work. When our space is a mess, so are we.
Clutter can affect us in more indirect ways. It can influence our cognition, emotions, and behavior — ultimately affecting our decisions and relationships with others.
It can also negatively affect our stress and anxiety levels, leading us to eat more, focus less, and sleep less.
Additionally, research from Princeton University Neuroscience Institute found out that our brains like order and constant visual reminders of disorganization — like messy desks and workspaces — drain our mind and hamper our ability to focus.
In short, when you reduce the clutter and start having a clean, organized desk, you’d be able to focus and process information more, and increase your productivity.
This is something that companies should take note of. Because this isn’t only limited to actual, physical workspaces.
What does this mean for companies?
Most companies now take their workspaces online — they gather, organize, and process information using digital workspaces to collect data from customers, share them with team members, and perform tasks, such as email marketing, using the data.
When deciding to get an online workspace, it’s highly recommended to use digital ecosystems (i.e. digital resources that are interconnected) so you won’t have to switch platforms when performing different tasks.
Digital ecosystems let you organize business-related data well, and help you make proper, data-driven decisions at the end of the day.
So yes, messy workspaces may activate the genius in you, but clean, organized desks — including digital workspaces — may offer as much benefit, if not more. They can help companies collect and process needed information to accomplish tasks and ensure their survival.
Let’s study one real-world scenario of how an organized workspace helped an immigration consultancy firm:
Case Study: Immigration Advisory
After international advisory firm Vision Consultancy used a digital ecosystem, they noticed that they were able to send timely updates now and easily endorse or share details with other team members.
Customer Relationship Manager & Coordinator Mubashira Pawaskar said:
Our most tedious tasks before involved paper-based work and manual intervention to maintain client data — that means, calling or emailing clients to ask them information to process the necessary paperwork. Now, we can quickly generate the data we need and maintain them through a CRM.
Immigration firms need to gather necessary documents to process their clients’ papers. And all this documentation can get messy when done manually.
With a digital workspace, not only are they minimizing the need to record things on paper, but they’re also making information easily available and accessible to other members and other departments. This helps companies streamline the task at hand — allowing employees to work together and get things done more quickly.
How can I get one?
Digital ecosystems are often provided by software companies. So it’s highly recommended to get a local software provider that’s known for their after-sales service. This helps ensure that you won’t have trouble adjusting to the new digital lifestyle.
Free demos are also one of the best ways for you to visualize how a software can help improve your business processes. So when deciding to get one, ask if the company can offer free demos in-person or online.
Good luck with your digital workspace journey!
