Scientists have found out that being
surrounded by clutter can promote creative thinking and stimulate new ideas. In
contrast, working at a clean desk may promote healthy eating, generosity and
conventionality.
The research
was conducted by a psychologist Professor Kathleen Vohs and fellow researchers
at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Each subject of experiments was assigned
to either a messy or a tidy room. The whole study was composed of several
tests.
For example,
the subjects were told to imagine that a ping-pong factory needed to think of
new uses for ping-pong balls and to write down as many ideas as they could. The
subjects in both types of rooms came up with about the same number of ideas,
which meant they put about the same effort into the task. Answers given by
"tidy room" subjects included using ping-pong balls for beer pong and
they were rated low in creativity. "Messy room" subjects’ answers
included ping-pong balls used as ice
cube trays or attaching them to chair legs to protect floors. On average, their
ideas were 28 percent more creative.
In another
test, participants were asked to fill out questionnaires in an office.
Afterwards, they had the opportunity to donate money to charity or they could take
a snack of chocolate or an apple on their way out.
Being in the
clean room encouraged people to do what was expected of them: they donated more
of their own money to charity. "Tidy room" subjects were also more
likely to choose an apple over a candy bar.
Personally, I
like to keep my desk as clean as possible. For me, unnecessary things are just
another distraction that prevents us from concentrating on goals that actually
matter. However, after looking at photos of workplaces of some creative minds, I
can say that they definitely prefer to work in a messy environment.
So maybe
there is a method in that madness?
Comments
if i would have any order in my space the only reason would be that I made a real change = between/after, I mean that the mess have to be really serious :) to made me a housekeeper.
Does keeping a messy desk make people more creative?
I don't think so. In my opinion the mess might be result of creativity.
About the research results - if there was a mess then I believe that there were a lot of things around the people who were working on the list of ideas. A lot of different things can provide some inspiration which may result in more creative ideas.
So, maybe I am not that creative as these creative minds are? :)
I would think it works the other way round. Some people don't care about the tidy desk, and others couldn't think clearly in a messy environment (I'm definately the second type ;)). I agree with some of the comments here, that a creative process can lead to a mess (opened books, scraps of paper, doodles, mind maps...), but not always, especially in the era of Internet.
I would consider myself rather a creative person, and my desk is almost always tidy. As Paulina, I have a small desk, but it's not the only reason - I clearly can't focus on anything if there's mess around me. Every day, before I work on anything, I must make my bed and gather all clothes or other things I left on the floor the previous day, otherwise I can't finish any assignment :)
STEP 1 - Select one of the weight loss plans for 5 to 7 days of meals.
STEP 2 - Overview your menu before ordering and pick the entrees you would like for each day and week.
STEP 3 - Order your diet plan online.
STEP 4 - Your meals are sent to your doorstep.
GET STARTED NOW - home delivery.