How order or disorder at the desk influences the work itself, what experts say and studies show.
There's this picture of Albert Einstein's workplace. Taken on the day of his death, April 15, 1955, it shows the desk of the father of the theory of relativity - or rather the chaos in the center of which the theoretical physicist pursued his research. Einstein's Office chair marks the center of various concentric circles made of stacks of paper, loose leaf collections, piles of books and notebooks. The shelves in the background appear makeshift and hastily arranged - more like temporary storage than permanent order. On a slate behind his desk chair there are formulas and thoughts written down in white chalk. A common assumption is that a brilliant mind needs creative chaos to function. A study by a psychologist from the University of Minnesota would support this thesis. Unfortunately, various bosses often see things completely differently and understand one's condition desk preferably as a business card for an employee. Your thesis that notorious workplace slobs are disorganized, sloppy and generally weak in character is also supported by studies. An approach to the truth, somewhere in the middle.
- One theory: Creativity comes from chaos
- The other theory: Messiness inhibits productivity
- The middle? Hard okay!
One theory: Creativity comes from chaos
There are many examples of the assumption that creative minds also have, let's say, a creative work environment. A recording that Apple mastermind Steve Jobs took at his home, for example workplace shows a striking resemblance to Einstein's desk - except for a huge iMac in front of him instead of a blackboard behind him. Even the book shelves on the back wall are “sorted” according to Einstein’s filing model. The American "Daily Show" mastermind, the comedian, actor, writer and director Jon Stewart, obviously likes things wild and colorful: a notebook in the middle, a fixed calculator to the left of him and various utensils such as a candy jar, construction helmet, soap dispenser and drinks can are stored on wildly piled up stacks of paper. Things also look colorful at Karl Lagerfeld - but very structured. Colorful fabric samples are stacked meters high, meticulously divided into stacks of equal height on a clearly structured shelf.
Of course, there are also counterexamples: John Lennon, for example, apparently needed nothing more than the corner of a table for his work - on which there was a notepad, a pen and a glass of wine. The guitar case in the background combines with a floor lamp, a chair and an amplifier to create an overall calm picture that could be used as a template for a still life - while his wife Yoko Ono, true to the artist cliché, fills an entire side of the table with notepads, books and pieces of paper.
If you believe the study by a professor from the University of Minnesota, not only people's jobs are as different as their owners themselves. Kathleen Vohs wanted to prove that wild chaos even fuels the mind. The psychologist asked a group of test subjects to do an experiment and asked them to find uses for table tennis balls outside of sports. She sent half of the test participants to a neatly organized office, the other half to a pretty messy one. The result was clear: While both groups came up with roughly the same number of suggestions, those from the team from the chaos office were much more original. Through this and other experiments, the scientist came to the conclusion that a tidy environment is more likely to lead to a traditional work output, and a messy environment is more likely to lead to an unconventional or less conventional work output.
The reason for this is apparently a psychological phenomenon: people fundamentally strive for order. If there is not enough time to create order because other tasks are taking place or the disorder is simply too great, the brain switches and looks for the shortest possible solution. In short: Thoughts also follow short paths - but are inspired by the chaotic environment to choose unusual paths.
The other theory: Messiness inhibits productivity
However, Kathleen Voh's studies also revealed another finding. With further studies, she found that untidy workers are stingier than tidy ones and often eat more unhealthily than their orderly colleagues. Of course, this plays into the hands of those who have always suspected that a messy work environment is just the symptom of one of many character weaknesses. This rule of thumb remains consistent, especially in supervisor circles, often followed by statements like: “…and by the way, a disorderly person spends more time searching than working.” There also seems to be some truth in this, as a study by the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology and Automation shows.
His research revealed that chaos in the workplace actually costs a lot of working time. The official reason shouldn't surprise anyone: messy desks require more time to search for missing or unnecessary work materials than tidy ones. By the way, this also applies to a chaotic file storage system on the computer. What is remarkable, however, is the amount of working time wasted in this way: on average, around 70 working days a year are spent searching at untidy desks - the institute calculates this to be 10 percent of total working time.
That in the middle? Hard okay!
The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. Of course, not every colleague who sits on an untidy pile of loose sheets of paper and thousands upon thousands of Post-its is a creative genius - and on the other hand, even the tidiest workplace can be someone who is extremely unmotivated and inefficient. But one thing is also clear: you can exaggerate anything. If the mess is so big that it hinders the flow of work, even the most inveterate desk mess has to clean up. And on the other hand, the neat fanatic should not spend more time on tidying the desk than on the work itself. The experts agree that the best thing is a regularly scheduled, concerted, quick action that clears both the desk and the mind.
Expert tip: Declutter your desk
Get started with concentration!
So that you have a chance to work as effectively and undisturbed as possible, your work table should be as empty as possible. Only place the things here that you really need and want to do soon.
Things that have been stored there unattended for years can be safely disposed of. Items that you need often should be within easy reach.