Welcome To My World – Messiness & Creativity

Hello World!  If you took one look at my home office, you’d know I was a creative person – yes, I’m saying I am messy, but it’s what I call “my organized mess.” I know where things are and that’s what ‘s important. I clean up a pile but it always seems to reappear in a few weeks. Does anyone else have this issue? Do you ever wonder where all this “stuff” comes from or do you say “Who cares?”

Messiness May Breed Creativity

Cleaning,

it’s a never-ending chore. You make your bed every single day, only to

turn it into a twisted pile of pillows and blankets again that night. You tidy your desk, only to let it re-clutter a few minutes in to your next project. Keeping a tidy living and work space is considered proper, right?  However, the perpetual cycle of cleaning-and-cluttering can be exhausting and mundane.

Does everything really need to be in perfect order all the time? It seems like there are surely benefits to your being clutter-free. While working at a prim desk may promote healthy eating, generosity and conventionality, it appears that messiness potentially offers greater benefits to those of you trying to generate new and interesting ideas.

While no one is advocating

for us all to become hoarders, some clutter and messiness in your life can

actually improve your mind—namely, your creative output. According to a small study conducted by a University of Minnesota professor, being in a messy environment can encourage you to have more highly creative ideas.

Splitting volunteers into two separate rooms, she asked them to think of new uses for ping pong balls. While both groups generated around the same number of ideas, those brainstorming in the cluttered room generated ideas that were significantly more creative and inspired than those thinking in the tidy room.

What does this mean for you?

If you need to be creative, you don’t have to obsess about tidying your

works pace. In fact, obsessing about a clean work space could cause you to lose a precious creativity boost and valuable time.

Think about it: does spending two hours of your life clearing out the clutter in your office result in two hours of increased productivity? The time spent cleaning doesn’t always pay off. They may just be two hours lost to needless tidying. Of course, if messiness makes you incredibly anxious, do what you need to do. Only you know what works best for your work habits.

We can all learn to better embrace the beauty and creativity of the disorder in our lives. That doesn’t mean you have to exist in squalor, but relaxing a little may just give you a more creative mindset.

This is so interesting to me as my home office is almost always messy, but I always know where everything is so it’s good for me. What is your good? Are you a creative person that would rather be “creating” than cleaning? Let me know by leaving me a message below…

Have a great healthy creative day!