A new study emerging from the University of Florida has confirmed that having a messy desk is not a sign of disorganization, but rather an indicator of having creative excuses for the messy desk.
“There’s this widely held belief that a messy desk is a symbol of a creative mind,” said Lead Researcher Jenna Reerdan. “This is not true. I’m pretty sure people simply did not read the full sentence and jumped to their own conclusions. A messy desk is merely an indicator of having creative excuses for the mess you made and could have cleaned up.”
The study found that people with messy desks are able to come up with really inventive stories to explain why their desk is messy, while organized people – when faced with a messy desk – have literally no clue where to begin.
“Why would having a messy desk be a sign of a creative mind? That literally makes no sense,” Reerdan continued. “It’s just a sign that they’re about to B.S. some reason why their desk is messy. One time, someone with a messy desk told me it was messy because she was ‘disillusioned with the predominant culture that values organization above results.’ Girl, just say you’re messy!”
The study found that people who have a messy desk were 90% more likely to say it’s because they’re “working on something really big,” but when pressed on the details, reply that “it’s actually top secret.” They were also 50% more likely than their counterparts with clean desks to change the subject by pretending to smell a fire.
“We saw some really creative excuses among the messy desk crowd,” said another researcher, Sandra Phillips. “One person said their desk was so messy because someone had broken into their house and rearranged their things. Another claimed to be an alien inhabiting their body for the first time, fundamentally unable to comprehend what a ‘desk’ even was. Really awesome stuff.”
Meanwhile, when members of the clean desk control group were asked to come up with reasons why their desks looked like that, they got super quiet and basically shut down.
“Really tough to see,” Sandra said of the group. “Really no adaptability, no pizzazz, no heart whatsoever.”
“Is having a messy desk a sign of a creative mind? No,” Jenna continued. “But it’s a sign of a chiller. Someone who can hang. Someone who can convincingly lie. These are all traits I look for in a good friend.”
