 Many managers promote ‘clean desk’ policies for the purpose of boosting work efficiency and productivity.  And it is true that conventional wisdom would suggest that a disorganized and messy environment can clutter one’s mind and complicate one’s judgments. But a recent study challenges this conventional link between a messy environment and a messy mind.
In a series of linked studies, German researchers found a messy desk can actually lead people towards clearer thinking. The study found that visual and mental clutter forces human beings to focus and make clear simple choices and that messiness induces a need for simplicity.
 Writes Jia Liu of the University of Groningen in a paper published in the Journal of Consumer Research, ‘Messy desks may not be as detrimental as they appear to be, as the problem-solving approaches they seem to cause can boost work efficiency or enhance employees’ creativity in problem solving.’
 So… what’s on your desk?
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