Does Messy Mean Creative? Nonsense!

I get it. You’ve probably read that article from Smithsonian magazine last year drawing upon a handful of studies (or at least the one they mention) correlating messy workspaces with more creative people. If you excel in a creative role like an architect, musician, or pretty much any position that includes the words creative or designer in the title, then I suppose you already do everything you can to boost your creativity and maybe you dont want to risk losing your edge by cleaning that junk off your desk I for one think thats fair. But if you are not making an effort to boost your creativity, (such as by following these steps offered by psychology.about.com), my guess is your unwillingness to clean up the area in which you work has nothing to do with the fear of inhibiting the flow of your creative juices. In fact, you may not be any more creative than the rest of us, especially if you are not a jerk at least thats what one writer with FastCompany might contend, ouch!

Messy Desk Nay-Sayers: Disorganization May Be Absorbing Your Precious Mental Energy

There are notable studies that lend to a contrarian view, and they were not all made up by personal organizers. Take this research report from the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Department of Psychology. The gist of the report is this: having lots of things in your field of vision is distracting. So, that empty coffee cup from last week and the array of post-it notes and business cards scattered about your desk are all competing for your valuable attention; attention that otherwise could be working to conjure up your next great idea. Eureka!

The Case for Improved Productivity: Untidy Workspaces are a Waste of Your Time & Money

If youre holding onto the messy-desk ideology try looking at it this way, productivity is important too and whatever ill effect a clean desk may have on your creativity it is probably outweighed by the positive effects it will have on your productivity. After all, time is money, and if you cant find anything because you dont keep organized you are flushing lots of it down the toilet on a daily basis. You might spend time searching for your keys whenever you need to leave the office, keep all of your important files saved haphazardly on your desktop, or you are made to purchase chapstick once a week because its continually lost in the abyss you call a work-station. I highly doubt misplacing things puts you into a creative mindset. Lets face it, you just whisper verbal pleasantries to yourself while making a bigger mess in the process of searching, like everyone else. If thats the case, set aside some time this spring to get your desk in order. You will be glad that you did and so will the people around you that have to look at it all day.

Ryan Weaver is a Marketing Analyst at Mentor Works. He has a BA in economics, an MSc in management, and several published works including two books. As Marketing Analyst at Mentor Works, Ryan enjoys communicating with business owners & executives about government grants and funding available to help overcome obstacles to growth. Connect with Ryan on Twitter, and visit Mentor Works to learn more about funding opportunities for Canadian SMEs.