Saturday, January 13, 2007

Messiness Defended

Some Interesting News...



A new book by Eric Abrahamson and David H. Freedman, A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder, claims that a degree of disorganization is a good thing. The authors think that keeping things in perfect order reduces efficiency and wastes time. They also think a messy home is more nurturing for children.

"There are people who spend all day keeping things in their places who really wish they had time to do other things," Freedman says. "But they feel obligated to do this."

Source: Clutter: New book strikes a blow against the cult of über organization, an article by Valerie Finholm, The Hartford Courant


The quote above reminds me of a basic principle of organization that I read in some book: Always put every single thing on any project away, even if you are going to work on it again tomorrow. To me, that seems a perfect example of excessive neatness being a waste of time.

I appreciate the permission to keep various reference materials stacked around the computer, even if it does look messy to the unaccustomed eye. I think I had better continue to strive for some order in the house, though. The stacks would get pretty deep around here if I just embraced my messy tendencies.

If this topic speaks to you, you'll enjoy one of the interesting book reviews currently in the news: "Embrace the Clutter", by Penelope Green of the New York Times.

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2 comments:

Collagemama said...

I'm in tune with my messy inner child. Om....

Genevieve Netz said...

I hope I don't get in tune with mine. I remember what the floor of my room looked like!

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