Why You Should have a Messy Desk

Einstein: “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?”

Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein, and Mark Twain. What is one thing these three visionaries have in common?

They all had very messy workspaces.

Mark Twain and his desk. Image source: Office Snapshots

These three game-changers were never ones to follow the crowd, and always enjoyed doing things their own way. We can see this by how unconventionally disorganized their desks are. There was a method to this madness: under the mass of papers, magazines, and various objects, there is a sense of organization only the creator can operate through.

Here are some other creative powerhouses that have messy desks:

Mark Zuckerberg and his desk. Image source: Tiphereth

Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook hard at work on product.

Tony Hsieh and his desk. Image source: Complex

Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, with everything ranging from books on culture to cowboy hats.

Max Levchin’s desk. Image source: Complex

Max Levchin, co-founder and former CTO of PayPal.

Other notable creatives with astonishingly messy desks include programmer and codebreaker Alan Turing, discoverer of penicillin Alexander Fleming, as well as painter Francis Bacon.

Environments have historically played a major factor in how creative our minds are. For example, when he was trying to create the first polio vaccine, medical researcher and virologist Jonas Salk went to the monastery at the Basilica of Assisi in Umbria, Italy and explained in his later days that this environment change helped contribute to the discovery. It doesn’t necessarily take such a massive change to prompt creativity; rather, the key to a more creative state of mind can be found right at our desks.

Recently, a study conducted by the University of Minnesota found that people with a messy desk were more prone to creativity and risk taking, while people at cleaner desks tended to follow strict rules and were less likely to try new things or take risks. Dr. Vohs and her co-authors conclude in the study, “Disorderly environments seem to inspire breaking free of tradition, which can produce fresh insights.”