Messy Marvins and Sloppy Sallies of the World, Rejoice!

by Liberty on June 16th, 2008

Image details: Messy desk served by picapp.com

Some of the best news I’ve heard since drinking beer, wine, and hot cocoa, eating steak, and getting more sleep became practically medically necessary: Messy desks are da bomb! And yes, I just said “da bomb” in public. That’s how excited I am.

Though my desk borders on “catastrophic” rather than “messy”, I am encouraged by new research from Professor Eric Abrahamson, Ph. D., from the Columbia University Business School, which claims that most people work faster (and more efficiently!) when there is a bit of mess around. I wonder what he means by “bit of mess”? A teensy stack of receipts or perhaps a gargantuan pile of magazines which threatens to take out any innocent passer-by who so much as breathes a little too hard in its direction? Hmmmm.

No matter, Abrahamson also said that the Tidy Two-Shoes (my phrase, not his) of the world tend to take 30% longer to find important papers than messy folk. So yes, dear anal organizers, there definitely comes a point when one becomes too organized - and finding certain papers becomes both complicated and time-consuming.

So the next time I get the hairy eyeball from my spouse (or you get it from your boss), we shall proclaim the superiority of being a Messy Marvin or Sloppy Sallie, agreed? It’s about time we catch a break, right?

Are you a slob or a neat-nik? Will you make a change one way or the other? Let us know…