Comments on: A messy desk undermines your career

By: December is the Time For Getting a Raise | Quicken Personal Finance Blog

December is the Time For Getting a Raise | Quicken Personal Finance Blog — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 17:44:12 +0000

[...] (I'm not making this stuff up — researchers actually study offices. Here's a summary of why you should have a clean desk.) [...]

By: Office Furniture Center » Are Clean Desks Signs Of Productivity?

Office Furniture Center » Are Clean Desks Signs Of Productivity? — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 16:07:18 +0000

[...] “When people have a clean desk it looks like they get things done and they are productive,” career coach Kelly Crescenti said in a blog post. [...]

By: How to Weigh Two Less-than-Perfect Job Offers « RecruitersNation

How to Weigh Two Less-than-Perfect Job Offers « RecruitersNation — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 20:47:15 +0000

[...] boss’ desk is clean. The messy-desk people get upset about this statement. But the truth is that people judge you by your desk. And if you have a messy desk, people think you’re incompetent. It’s not fair, maybe. It’s [...]

By: What does your mess say about you? | Everything Closets

What does your mess say about you? | Everything Closets — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 15:52:31 +0000

[...] go together." says Columbia University Business School professor Eric Abrahamson, over on Penelope Trunk's site. How to change it: In the same article, Illinois-based career coach Kelly Crescenti suggests [...]

By: What Your Mess Says About You (and How to Change It) – Shelterpop

What Your Mess Says About You (and How to Change It) – Shelterpop — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 01:48:46 +0000

By: Realtors, class up your desk with modern desk accessories – hot find

Realtors, class up your desk with modern desk accessories – hot find — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 05:05:53 +0000

[...] is a mess and it can push you right off your path of productivity."Counselor Penelope Trunk writes, " If you keep a messy desk, it's probably inadvertent, and you will have to change [...]

By: Val Howard

Val Howard — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 07:59:37 +0000

This article is good .. nice to see a messy desk is a struggle for others..I'll have to try organizing at the end of the day…Why I don't? I guess, slowing down to organize, is like morphing from a jack rabbit to a tortoise.. So I just forge ahead.. but by the end of the week… I'm buried in chaos. I'm the rabbit that got somewhere fast but can't find the finish line! So I often go in circles and finish late…
End of the day clean up … I'll try it

By: MissAnon

MissAnon — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 21:06:31 +0000

Ah the desk may be slick and clean, but what about the drawers ;-)

By: Mark W.

Mark W. — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 15:29:08 +0000

This post is good for those people who need to or should project a positive image through their personal space.
However, there are many people who have desks where image doesn't need to be or should be a primary concern. Their desk is a very personal domain for them and the level of clean/orderliness will vary depending on their needs, mood, or whatever.
There's a nice, short (6 minute) video on desks at http://vimeo.com/3239496 which explains (among other things) why the physical desk will be with us for a while longer.

By: Programme Manager

Programme Manager — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 17:24:03 +0000

I am an unapologetic messy-desker. I always have been and I may well be actually incapable of keeping a desk tidy. However, this terrible ‘career affliction’ does have its compensations:
1. Only invited visitors get to sit in my office because I keep all chairs and all potential alternative seating areas covering in piles of paperwork. If you haven’t been invited, you stand (and leave much faster than if I’d given you a seat!)
2. Uninvited guests almost always get given something to do that helps me and irritates them – I always have something at hand in the numerous piles of paper to give them!
3. I work in the happy knowledge that my “3D physical mind-map” is a constant irritation to all those sanctimonious neat-freaks who are too busy trying to look organised and efficient to actually be productive (you know who you are!) …actually I get a nice warm fuzzy feeling every time I see self-righteous neat-freak involuntarily shudder as they pass my office.

On a more serious note, I have worked with tidy-desk people and messy-desk people in both the Private and Public sectors. The only helpful conclusion I have drawn from that experience on messy verses tidy is that you need both types of people on your team. Yes, it’s true, untidy desks don’t look good but, excluding extreme cases, most of the time that’s really not important – it’s what people achieve that makes the difference to the organisation and to the individuals career. Any senior manager worth their salt knows that.