Messy Cubicle Equals Organized Mind

An MSNBC.com article by Linda Carroll reports a university study that claims "messy desks may lead to clearer, more organized thinking". The study, by researcher Jia Liu at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, placed student volunteers in cubicles that were either messy, neat, or in between. They were asked personality questions while they were in the cubicles and given a sorting test. The volunteers in the messy cubicles came up with simpler sorting systems. The study's authors reported that "Opposite to conventional wisdom, we found that participants working at a messy desk displayed simpler cognitions. This is because messiness induces a need for simplicity."

I think the study conclusions overlook the fact, when evaluating the sorting systems the test subjects devised, that the messy cubicles weren't created by the test subjects. They were placed into someone else's mess. However, the study does acknowledge the effect that being placed into someone else's mess likely is responsible for the test subjects' desire for simplification. So your messy cubicle may, or may not, say anything about your organizational skills, but it is likely to cause your neighbors to clean up their cubicles.

I don't believe either a clean desk or a messy desk is right. What matters is whether your degree of messiness makes you more effective, as discussed in the article What's Wrong With A Messy Desk?