Do you look with horror at the rubble on your desktop? Relax. We've rounded up five reasons to rejoice in chaos.
Modern psychologists have long revised their views on the mess. new trend it sounds like this: if you scatter clothes, you are late for business meetings, and the devil breaks your leg on your desktop, then ... in some ways you can even give odds to pedants and neat friends. So, mess or working chaos...
... leads to wealth
Order rule:“If you don’t use a thing for more than six months, you don’t need it. Throw away without regrets!
Chaos rebuttal. Today, psychologists are not so categorical. For example, teachers at the Columbia University Business School, which has produced hundreds of brilliant businessmen, assure: “Your home must have a place for a thousand little things that you rarely use or don’t use at all. Not only will this save you time and energy, but it may even turn a profit one day. Fans of order often part without regrets with their children's collections of stamps and match labels, and then bite their elbows when they see how these simple collections grow in price over the years.
... teaches responsibility
Order rule:"The one on whose desktop things are scattered in disorder cannot be a responsible employee, since he is an optional person."
Chaos rebuttal.“... And the better is the one who spends a lot of time to add up all the information received file to file in alphabetical order and tremble at the sight the slightest speck of dust? psychologists ask. And they add: “Extremes are unacceptable in any form.”
Conclusion: the most responsible employees are not neat at all, but moderately disorganized people. It is they who are often more flexible, creatively active and effective than those who have everything laid out on the shelves.
... saves time
Order rule:“Accurate people always know where everything is, so they don’t waste time searching.”
Chaos rebuttal. Recently, Columbia University management professor Eric Abrahamson delivered a paradoxical conclusion to the public: people who support workplace in immaculate order, spend on searching required document or things an average of 35% more time than their slut counterparts. Why? The fact is that the "sluts" have their own logic. As a rule, those who have a mess on their desk subconsciously arrange documents in three piles: “urgent”, “less urgent”, “can wait”. As a result, the necessary papers themselves climb into their hands.
... makes Fortune smile
Order rule:“Be sure to schedule your work day. A clear schedule will not allow you to derail a project or miss an important business meeting.”
Chaos rebuttal. According to statistics, 70% of business and romantic acquaintances are made by accident. Alas, chance does not fit well into a rigid life schedule. The forced ordering of life deprives it of unpredictability. And if so, then pedants lose a lot of opportunities every day. Phenomenon by name Lucky case comes to them much less often than to their windy friends.
... makes happy
Order rule:“Mess on the desktop (in the house, car) signals a mess in the soul. Accuracy allows you to control your life, and therefore be in harmony with yourself.
Chaos rebuttal. From the point of view of psychology, the most harmonious people are small children. They are open to everything new, they are happy to explore the world, they make discoveries day after day, they are happy ... And at the same time they make a real mess around them.
The fact is that children, like all creators, are little attached to the small material details of everyday life. Creators discover, invent. And they are followed by those who develop and classify these discoveries. Of course, classification is also indispensable. But allowing yourself a bit of a mess is a way to return to a happy and carefree childhood.
No more templates!
We live in a very formulaic and predictable world. Almost everything in it is neatly packaged and systematized. Society is constantly striving to maintain order in everything and everywhere at all costs.
But all this is nothing more than an illusion.
We have been taught superficial notions of symmetry.
Life is indeed unpredictable and chaotic, although it seems to us that if everything is “organized”, then it will be much better.
But in reality it's the other way around. For example, you think that you need to buy a few more pants in order to have enough “for all time”. You buy. And then it turns out that all things no longer fit in the closet. And he's just doomed to mess. Thus, having created "order" in one place, you immediately create it in another.
You make a decision to throw away all unnecessary things in trash can. At home, it seems like “order” turned out, but the world as a whole has become dirtier.
Here is what the physicist Adam Frank has to say about this:
“It's a law of physics. harsh truth life is that the universe itself is chaos. How can you put things in order at home or in your life if it is contrary to the nature of the universe?
In fact, no matter how much we try to keep our lives in order, and the house in order, nothing comes of it. Disorder is always here and there.
What to do? To say yes to the chaotic nature of this world. Humble yourself.
People who always have a mess at home are stigmatized. To those around them, they seem apathetic and leading a “wrong” life. But that's just not true!
Disorganized people are better than everyone else. If only because they do not allow the false illusion of order to dictate their daily routine.
Jim Morrison spoke well on this subject:
“I am interested in rebellion, in chaos, in chaos. It seems to me that this is the path to freedom.”
This does not mean that every aspect of your life needs to be plunged into chaos. Being organized is sometimes important and even helpful. But you have no right to judge people who live in disorder. Believe me: order is greatly overrated.
People who have a constant mess at home are not lazy. They are creative and bold.
Common sense tells us that cleanliness is the key to efficiency and productivity, but this is not so.
“Clutter is not necessarily a sign of haphazardness. At a table on which everything is scattered, you can work more efficiently than at a clean one. When a person has a mess on the table, this does not mean that he does not work well. This means that he works so well that he simply does not have time to clean up.
In other words, clutter may actually be a sign of efficiency, not carelessness.
PhD from the University of Minnesota, Kathleen Vohs, conducted a study and proved that people who are prone to throwing things around and accumulating garbage are actually more creative than everyone else.
Within this scientific work Vohs conducted one curious experiment. She divided 48 volunteers into two groups and asked them to find original ways using a ping pong ball. One half of the participants in the experiment were placed in a clean, tidy room, the other half in a dirty one. Eventually both groups came up with equal amount ideas, but the second, according to the results independent evaluation other students proved to be more innovative and creative.
Vohs concludes:
“We all want to become more creative people, to experience insights more often. My advice to you: if you have a stupor, move to a dirty room. This will allow you to go beyond the usual perception and produce faster fresh ideas. Order is the result of our desire for security, chaos is the result of our desire for a creative rethinking of the world.
Clutter, of course, has long been closely associated with creative genius. Disorganization and messiness are condemned in society, but most of the great minds have lived in such conditions all their lives: Albert Einstein, Alan Turing, Ronald Dahl. Even JK Rowling can't clean her apartment!
They all achieved greatness, despite the fact that their whole life was full of chaos.
In general, if your parents punished you for not wanting to clean your room, then they made a mistake. Society ignores the hidden benefits of chaos.
It takes courage to break the rules and live in your creative mess.
Albert Einstein once remarked:
“If a mess on the table means a mess in the head, then what does it mean? empty table?».
Creative people see the picture of their life as a whole, and do not get hung up on its individual details. They go with the flow, not against the current. They easily adapt to changes. They know that the time resource is too limited to spend it on boring things like cleaning.
The simplicity and beauty of life is more important than visible "success" and artificial "discipline". Passion is better than boredom.
Life is a disheveled, unpredictable and wonderful gift. Enjoy the trip.
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If a messy desk means a messy mind, then what does an empty desk mean? Albert Einstein
Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein and Mark Twain. What do these people have in common, besides genius?
Mess on your desktop!
They did not go with the mainstream, rather, they themselves created it. They did everything in their own way. But how can you work when there is a pile of papers and a pile of other things on the table?
Let's find out from this article.
Clutter and Creativity
Some time ago we told you about the research of scientists Princeton University, which proved that clutter reduces concentration and, as a result, productivity.
Influence environment researchers at the University of Minnesota also became interested in working capacity. Their results scientific research are as follows: a cluttered desktop contributes creative thinking, helps to think outside the box, while perfect order, indeed, puts thoughts in order (sorry for the tautology), helps to concentrate.
A number of experiments allowed scientists to draw such conclusions. In one of them, some of the subjects were seated at tidied tables:
And the other part of the tables, littered with all sorts of rubbish.
The other part is in disarray Both were asked to complete questionnaires. It turned out that people who wrote at a clean desk tended to be more charitable. healthy eating and generally a “correct” life.
Cleanliness obliges people to behave appropriately. Kathleen Vohs, Research Director
In another experiment, subjects were asked to come up with creative uses for a ping-pong ball. People who were creative in a mess had more ideas.
Clutter around stimulates creativity. And it has great importance for the development of culture and art.
From childhood, we are taught: clean up the toys behind you, do not scatter things, make the bed. But, according to the conclusions of scientists, by accustoming children to cleanliness, parents, thereby, "dull" their creative vein.
However, the habit of disorder can make you an outcast in society. They are greeted by clothes, so when colleagues see rubbish on your desktop, they think: “What a slob, for sure, he treats work the same way!”.
Nevertheless, people who are truly in love with their work are able, without noticing sidelong glances, to arrange a destroy.
Alexander Fleming and other greats "dirty"
Sir Alexander Fleming was a British bacteriologist who discovered lysozyme and isolated the world's first antibiotic, penicillin.
Colleagues often laughed at Fleming: a scientist, but the devil will break his leg in the laboratory.
Fleming kept the cultures of microorganisms isolated by him for two or three weeks and, before destroying them, carefully studied them to check if some unexpected and interesting phenomenon had happened by chance. Further history showed that if he had been as careful as I was, he probably would not have discovered anything new.
This is an excerpt from the memoirs of one of the laboratory staff of the scientist. Surprisingly, it was the disorder that helped Fleming make 2 major discoveries.
In 1922 Sir Fleming caught a cold. Suffering from a runny nose, he brought nasal mucus into the Petri dish. In the part of the cup where it hit, the colonies of bacteria died. Fleming began to investigate this phenomenon.
It turned out that tears, saliva, particles of living tissue have the same effect on a solution with many bacteria. So Fleming discovered lysozyme, an antibacterial enzyme produced by the human body.
The accident and ... a mess in the laboratory also helped to isolate penicillin. In 1928, a colleague looked into the scientist's office. Fleming was sorting through moldy Petri dishes with old cultures.
“As soon as you open a cup of culture, trouble awaits you: something is sure to fall out of thin air…” Fleming complained to a colleague. And then he suddenly stopped and thought...
In one of the moldy Petri dishes, all the bacteria died. This marked the beginning of Fleming's mold research, which culminated in the discovery of penicillin.
About another great scientist, for whom disorder was part of the creative environment, Lifehacker is already. We are talking about the "mad scientist from Bletchley Park" Alan Turing.
It is also known that chaos reigned in the workplaces of the English expressionist artist Francis Bacon and American writer Mark Twain.
Here are some modern examples:
- Mark Zuckerberg - Programmer, Founder and CEO social network Facebook.
- Tony Shay - Entrepreneur CEO online clothing, footwear and accessories store Zappos.com.
- Max Levchin is a web developer and programmer, one of the founders of PayPal.
- Dennis Crowley is the founder of Foursquare.
What's going on on your desktop? ;)
They never followed the crowd. And this can be seen even from the organization on their tables, under a pile of documents, magazines and other items, everything lies in such a way that only the owner can figure it out.
Here are some more examples of creative clutter in the workplace:
Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, is working on the project.
Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, here you can find everything from culture books to a cowboy hat.
Max Levchin, co-founder and former CTO of PayPal.
Among the others famous people with a surprisingly dirty table, one can mention the cryptographer Alan Turing, the discoverer of penicillin Alexander Flemin, as well as the artist Francis Bacon.
The environment has always been the main indicator of the creativity of our brain. For example, when medical researcher and virologist Jonas Salk was trying to develop a polio vaccine, he went into a monastery. He later explained that the change of scenery helped him make the discovery. To push an idea, such drastic changes are not necessary at all, the key to creativity may be on your desk.
A recent study from the University of Minnesota found that people who usually have messy desks are more likely to be creative and risk-taking, while people with a tidy desk tend to follow. strict rules and don't like to try new things or take risks.
Setting creativity and efficiency
Instead of leaving the table in a constant mess, it would be useful to change the environment as needed. Imagine the state of "disorder-purity" as a spectrum with the corresponding parameters of creativity.
The University of Minnesota study involved an experiment where participants with clean tables preferred apples to sweets and traditional solutions to non-standard ones.
When you're coming up with ideas or concepts, a cluttered desk is more useful. But if you need to quickly complete a certain task, a cleared table will play in favor of efficient work.
In case you need creativity, here are some ideas: do not throw away old magazines, let them lie on the table, do not put books on the shelf, keep everything that can inspire you (including reproductions). "There are two types of disorder," Vos said in an interview with the NY Daily News. “Untidy and dirty. Creative mess does not involve banana peels lying around for weeks and dirty dishes.
social perception
Creativity goes hand in hand with social costs. According to HR firm Adecco, most of our colleagues and peers judge us by the cleanliness of our desks. If you leave your desk in a mess, "they'll think your life is a mess, too," says Adecco vice president Jennie Dede in an interview with Forbes.
Neatness reduces these suspicions to a minimum, here is another reason to clean your desk periodically. Adjust the spectrum of creativity and efficiency and be mindful of the impression you make on your colleagues, but don't be afraid to explain the reasons behind the deliberate mess. Now you know them.
Conclusion
From childhood, we are taught to clean up our toys and make our beds. But maybe our moms were wrong? The examples above showed us that clutter promotes creativity by disrupting the usual way of things.
The “dump” in the room brings chaos into your life, makes you lose control over life in general, reducing its quality. And what else happens to you when you "forgot" to clean the room? And why is the house always a mess? Judge for yourself.
#1 Decreased concentration
Chaos in the world of things does not allow our brain to fully process incoming information. That is why a person is constantly distracted by trifles and cannot concentrate.
No. 2 Increased nervous tension
Clutter leads to an accumulation of stress. With regular contemplation of chaos in our body, the level of cortisol rises.
Studies have shown that it is enough just to look at a mountain of unwashed things or textbooks piled in one pile. But as soon as you leave the room, the level of this hormone immediately drops.
#3 Eternal procrastination
The bigger the mess becomes, the less you want to clean it up. This exacerbates the state of procrastination.
How? Do you still not know what this concept means? Yes, this is the good old postponing of all affairs for later! That very state when, if you want to do something, there is at least the slightest hitch, as all passion immediately disappears.
And then we decide to move everything “tomorrow”. Result: Clutter makes us slower in making decisions and less organized.
#4 Lack of money
Because of the clutter in the workplace, we lose time. And time is money. Think for yourself: how much time do you kill trying to find the right notebook, abstract, textbook in this huge pile?
The disadvantages of disorder are obvious: if it were not for Lost time, you could learn, earn or build long term relationship and to develop useful professional contacts.
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#5 Deteriorating health
What's wrong with a mess in the house, if everything suits you? And the fact that dust mites appear and accumulate in a huge accumulation of things.
These creatures cause even healthy person allergic reactions, which can even cause asthma. So, as you can see, clutter directly affects your health.
#6 Overweight problems
It doesn't matter what causes the mess in the house. Be prepared for the fact that you will begin to have problems with weight. And we are not talking about its reduction.
Scientists from the American Health Associations conducted a lot of experiments, during which a direct dependence of weight on the order in the room was revealed.
Moreover: domestic chaos provokes the emergence of stress, which accumulates in the body. And this, in turn, leads not only to weight gain, but also to the emergence of bad habits.
Psychologists explain: the desire to eat more is a kind of the same disorder. It is harmful snacks and promiscuity in nutrition that speak eloquently about the chaos in the head.
#7 Not being able to live in the moment
If you are familiar with the concept of "Feng Shui", then you know it basic principle: disorder creates and accumulates negative energy, which provokes the appearance of negative emotions.
And vice versa: the more order in the room, the more positive and harmonious your life becomes. Practitioners say that main goal cleaning is a return to tranquility, natural state souls and bodies.
Are you ready to clean up the mess on your desk and make your life more successful and happier? And if you deal with this challenging task you are not given an incredibly large workload, then experienced specialists will be happy to provide
