What is Your Clutter Tolerance Level?

This is not me!

 

I can tolerate an unmade bed or dishes in the sink. But piles of papers, books, and clothes muddy my thoughts and inhibit my creativity. I'm not OCD, but I do like a fairly neat environment, or I become distracted and find it hard to concentrate.

Plus, taking thirty minutes to find a bill or a set of keys distracts me from what I consider my true purpose: to love God an others.

Not everyone is wired like that. My husband likes his piano cluttered with music and books, so that people will see he's a working musician and that our piano is not simply a showpiece. Another genius worked at the desk below:


Wanna guess who's this is?

How much clutter can you tolerate? Does it distract you, make you crazy, or do you operate just fine with a desk like the one above? If you guessed it was Einstein's, you were right!

Messy Desk contest

A prize for a messy desk? You’ve got to be kidding. Well, I'm not.


When I blogged about messy desks Wednesday, my friend Caroline asked if I’d give a prize for a photo of the messiest desk sent to me. I know she was joking but it’s just the kind of zany idea I love!
Here are the rules:

1. Email me a photo of your desk or workspace (kitchen table, TV tray, bunk bed, corner booth at the coffee shop, whatever). It must be yours, not someone else’s. My email is: jeanettelevellie(at)gmail(dot)com.

2. You may not straighten or remove any items before taking the photo.

3. The photos may not include people. Pets are fine, as long as they don’t take up the entire desk. I need to see what kind of mess you’ve made.

4. Deadline is noon, October 16, 2010, National Bosses’ Day. I will post the photos of the winner(s) on Sunday, October 17, 2010.

The winner(s) will be chosen based on my selection of the best messy desk(s). This may include anything from fun to colorful to the variety of items on the desk. I won’t know what I’m looking for ‘til I see it, like shopping for a new purse. If I can’t narrow it down to just one, I will pick two.

The prize(s) will be the Love Inspired novel, A Forever Christmas by Missy Tippens and a craft book, Just Write! By Susan Titus.

Are you jazzed? Get to clicking!

If you're one of those admirable non-messies, please tell us HOW you stay organized. In the future, I may want to have a neat desk prize!!

Messy Desk? Sign of Failure or Success?

I once heard a preacher say that he could tell if a fellow minister was going to succeed in ministry by looking in his top desk drawer. If it was messy, the man was doomed to failure as a pastor. If it was tidy, he would succeed. Because this was a Bible teacher I trusted and admired, his assessment scared me a little. My husband, a pastor, has a messy desk. Although I keep my desk at my paying job tidy, my writing desk at home cannot seem to stay clean for more than a week. Does this mean we are destined to fail at our careers? Or that I can succeed at managing an office, but not at writing?

Recently I saw the photo below, and was greatly encouraged.

Can you guess whose desk this is? (I'll tell you at the end of this post)

 

 

I also read the list below, and was further encouraged:

FAMOUS MESSY DESK PEOPLE:

• Albert Einstein
• Abraham Lincoln
• Sigmund Freud

source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/managing/clean-or-messy-what-your-desk-says-about-you/article1222663/

According to David Freedman, co-author of A Perfect Mess, “Some people claim that having a messy desk is a sign of being a more creative person. I don't think it's true that someone who has a very neat desk is necessarily an uncreative person, and I've seen accountants with very messy desks and artists with extremely neat desks. But it's true that creativity is largely about making surprising connections, and a messy desk is certainly a way of mixing and matching things in sometimes interesting ways.”

So, if you have a messy desk, take heart. You can succeed at your chosen career. Just like Albert Einstein, the man whose desk is in the above photo.

If you keep a tidy, clean environment, I applaud you.

And if you think you are so messy you qualify for major help, you may find it at Messies Anonymous.

How does your desk look today? Do you have areas of your life that are messy, and others neat, like me? What do you think this says about us?