Let's talk about messiness. What's your threshold for disorder? Just how
many socks can pile up on the floor before you reach your boiling point? Would
it cool your jets a bit to know that a messy brain may be a more creative and
efficient one?
First, a bit of background on these musings: I'm tidy, not crazy-person
clean, just normal, everyday, surfaces-clear-dishes-washed neat. My live-in
boyfriend is not. He's much more, well, relaxed than I am
about basic household chores. He doesn't mind dirty dishes in the sink or
clothes on the floor. Actually, it's more than just not minding — he truly
does not see the problem. He looks at a mess the same way I look at any
inanimate object: he acknowledges its existence and is totally fine with it. I
look at a mess and grit my teeth.
So I got to wondering: how is his brain so different from mine, and what
creates our opposite reactions to the same situation? Surprisingly, I found
very little information. Of course, we've covered messiness here at Apartment
Therapy. We're full of suggestions to fix your messy desk, accept a messy entryway and even figure out if you're
chronically disorganized.
But what I really want to know is why some people are
just messier than others. And for that matter, what's so wrong with it?
The New York Times argues that it's nature, not nurture, that makes us slobs;
messiness is a trait that we're born with, not a habit that's developed. That
makes sense. I've yet to meet anyone who grew messier with age, and I can
easily see how a messy person who does clean up his act may actually be working
against his nature in order to fit in with the demands of society or (more
likely) his neater significant other.
It occurs to me that suggestions and tips about organizing and
de-cluttering always imply that being messy isn't the ideal state. But for my
boyfriend it is. He's perfectly able to relax in a messy room, work at a
messy desk and cook in a messy kitchen, all things I could never dream of
doing. We (the organizers of the world) assume that everyone wants to be organized,
but they just don't know how (hence the plethora of tips). I'm not so sure
that's accurate.
Author Roald Dahl at his messy (and productive)
desk.
Take a messy desk, for example. Einstein famously had one. So did Roald
Dahl. They both accomplished a lot. Traditional thinking tells us that a
clean, organized desk leads to more productivity and efficiency. But this Daily Mail article says it's just the opposite. A messy desk creates more creativity
and better problem-solving. Their description of clutter sounds a lot like the
concept of white noise: it blurs distractions and allows the brain to focus on
one task and make clear choices.
Then there's the controversy about "clean desk" policies in some offices, which imply
that there's a right and wrong way for employees to work. With the vast array
of ways that creative people think of and develop ideas, limiting how they
choose to do that work seems counter-intuituive to the idea of hiring creatives
in the first place.
You know what? My messy boyfriend is extremely creative (for a living)
and, while I have to pause to clean up before I can accomplish anything, he's
productive whenever and wherever he chooses to be. Will all this make me
less exasperated with socks on the floor? Probably not — I'm pretty set in
my ways. But my way, it seems, isn't the only right way to be.