Slog - Comments on Nobody Tell Charles Mudede http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/nobody_tell_charles From the New York Times' #1 most emailed article right now: Studies are piling up that show that messy desks are the vivid signatures of people with creative, limber minds (who reap higher salaries than those with neat "office landscapes”). Charles's desk, to jog your memory:... Copyright 2008 Fri, 22 Dec 2006 16:21:41 -0800 Sat, 23 Dec 2006 17:10:43 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by Gryph Unfortunately, my offices always end up looking this way. I must be super creative!

]]> Gryph http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/nobody_tell_charles#c577890 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/nobody_tell_charles#c577890 Fri, 22 Dec 2006 17:38:34 -0800 Comment by beneluxboy It's the so-called 80-20 rule in action: the stratum on my desktop is well below the results-producing 20%.

]]> beneluxboy http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/nobody_tell_charles#c577932 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/nobody_tell_charles#c577932 Fri, 22 Dec 2006 20:54:43 -0800 Comment by N in Seattle So why the hell am I not rich and famous? My whole life is that messy.

]]> N in Seattle http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/nobody_tell_charles#c577944 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/nobody_tell_charles#c577944 Fri, 22 Dec 2006 23:01:32 -0800 Comment by Margaret L. Journalists who jump to conclusions about cause-and-effect should be whapped on the nose with a rolled up newspaper. A much more likely explanation is that people who earn higher salaries can get away with being messy. How long would a secretary last with a desk that looked like that? But the CEO can get away with losing things and then stomping around blaming other people.

]]> Margaret L. http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/nobody_tell_charles#c577988 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/nobody_tell_charles#c577988 Sat, 23 Dec 2006 05:35:31 -0800 Comment by chuckles thank you margaret!

]]> chuckles http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/nobody_tell_charles#c578014 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/nobody_tell_charles#c578014 Sat, 23 Dec 2006 09:35:00 -0800 Comment by Jamey The difference: A secretary's JOB is to be neat and orderly. That is their entire function. A writer doesn't have to be so neat.

And if you read the article you'd find that it actually celebrates being messy, and explains how some folks can find things instantly even through all the mess. There's no stomping around and blaming people.

I loved this article; thanks for the tip!
My favorite line:
"Consider that desks, our work landscapes, are stand-ins for our brains, and so the piles we array on them are cognitive artifacts, or data cues, of our thoughts as we work."

And-- Einsteins oft-quoted remark, "If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk?"

]]> Jamey http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/nobody_tell_charles#c578015 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/nobody_tell_charles#c578015 Sat, 23 Dec 2006 09:43:43 -0800 Comment by Gomez Piling on (HAHA GET IT). My desks always turn out messy.

]]> Gomez http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/nobody_tell_charles#c578110 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/12/nobody_tell_charles#c578110 Sat, 23 Dec 2006 17:10:43 -0800