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Editor's Notes
People- friends, even- come into my office, look around and ask, "Do you ever clean up?" I have to admit, I have a messy desk and a messy office (and don't look in the backseat of my vehicle!). I have worried, a little, about my inability to keep my stuff straighter, neater and more organized but after watching a CBS Sunday Morning piece by Bill Geist I feel better about my mess (messes?). Geist interviewed David Freedman, the coauthor of a new book, "A Perfect Mess." Eric Abrahamson is the other author. Freedman told Geist, "Mess is good for a lot of reasons. First of all, you save a lot of time. Another reason is there is efficiency in mess. People who are really messy know where their stuff is. Because it reflects the way they work and think and in addition it's expressive." Wow. I didn't know all of that. It makes me almost proud of the mess(es) I generate. Geist and Freedman went around the CBS offices and found some truly remarkable messes.
Funny. I agree completely. My piles are arranged chronologically. The oldest newspapers are on the bottom- usually- and the newer ones are on top. Andy Rooney's office was a wreck. But I kind of expected that. Rooney explained that when something comes in that he wants to keep, he throws it in a box. I do the same. There's a closet in my office filled with cardboard boxes that are filled with stuff that I keep for reference, for sentimental value or for some reason that I've forgotten. Every decade or so I go through them and throw a few things away- but not much. I have so much great and interesting information coming through my office- newspapers, books, faxes, letters. I throw away a lot but I keep a lot too. "I need to write a story or a column on this," I think when I read something in one of the newspapers/books/faxes/letters. "I'll save it and do it in a week or so." And so I stack it up. The next day something else comes in and I think the same thing and I add it to the stack. See where the chronological order comes from? E-mails are a newer addition to the messy problem. I get dozens a day and I trash a lot of them for the junk they are. But I save some- to make a good story- you know. They pile up and my e-mail list and computer becomes a mess, too. About once a month- usually on a Saturday when no one is here- I come in and drag one of our big trash cans to my office and clean up. I throw away a lot but I save some stuff too. Come to think of it, I probably do more rearranging of my piles and stacks than actually throwing away. It's kind of like the way cooks save a bit of fermented dough as a "starter" for the next bread they are going to make. I save some of my "mess" to make sure I have a foundation to add more to. I'm not alone in the messy desk/messy office department. I know of a lot of others, some a heap messier than mine. I understand that Probate Judge Oatha Lee Biggs who just retired over in Monroe County was a champion in the department. The book points out that messes can indicate productivity and lead to significant accomplishments. Sir Alexander Fleming's dirty laboratory gave birth to penicillin, for instance. At least that's what the book says. The authors also surmised that employees with messy desks are 36 percent more efficient. I feel better about my messy office now. I had made a New Year's resolution to try and keep a neater office but I think I will let it go the way of those other resolutions- losing weight and exercising.
And since I printed out Bill Geist's article for reference for this piece, I'll add it to, let's see, this stack....
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