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People actually thought more clearly when all around was chaos,
as they sought to simplify the tasks at hand
Managers and office busybodies might be keen on a clean desk - but it seems that in terms of productivity, they could have it all wrong. A messy desk can actually lead people towards clearer thinking, say researchers from Germany.
The researchers found in a series of linked studies - using a messy desk and a messy shop front - that people actually thought more clearly when all around was chaos, as they sought to simplify the tasks at hand.
Visual and mental clutter forces human beings to focus and think more clearly. Famous thinkers and writers such as Albert Einstein and Roald Dahl have been notorious for their untidy desks.
'Messy desks may not be as detrimental as they appear to be, as the problem-solving approaches they seem to cause can boost work efficiency or enhance employees' creativity in problem solving,' say the authors.
Oddly, the effect seems to work most on conservatives - political liberals are less liable to be worried about mess in the first place, say the researchers. 'Business and government managers often promote 'clean desk' policies to avoid disorganized offices and messy desks, for the purpose of boosting work efficiency and productivity,' write lead researcher Jia Liu of the University of Groningen in a paper published in the Journal of Consumer Research.
'This practice is based on the conventional wisdom that a disorganized and messy environment can clutter one's mind and complicate one's judgments.' 'However, not all evidence supports this conventional link between a messy environment and a messy mind.'
The scientists tested people's response in various 'messy' environments - including a messy shop front, a disorganized desk, and even a work environment where a language task 'reminded' people of messiness.
The authors found in the series of six studies tended towards simplicity in their thinking. 'They categorized products in a simpler manner, were willing to pay more for a t-shirt that depicts a simple-looking picture, and sought less variety in their choices,' said the researchers.
高管和办公室的好事之人也许对办公桌干不干净很上心，但如果从工作效率来看，似乎他们都错了。 德国的研究人员日前表示，凌乱的办公桌其实可以让员工思维更清晰。 研究人员通过一系列的相关研究发现，员工在身处凌乱的环境中时，在试图简化手头的任务时，其实思维更清晰。研究人员使用凌乱的办公桌或者店面进行了调查。 视觉和心理的杂乱会迫使人们集中精力，而且更能厘清思路。 阿尔伯特•爱因斯坦和罗尔德•达尔等著名思想家和作家都以桌子的凌乱而“著称”。 研究报告的作者说：“凌乱的办公桌也许并没有看起来的那么不利，它们所激发起的解决问题的方式可以提高工作效率，或者增强员工处理问题时的创造力。” 研究人员称，奇怪的是，这种效果对保守派人士最为有效，政治自由主义者更不容易首先担心脏乱问题。 研究负责人、格罗宁根大学的刘佳（音）在发表在《消费者调查》期刊上的文章中指出，“商业和政府领导经常推广‘干净的办公桌’政策，避免杂乱的办公室和凌乱的办公桌，想以此提高工作效率和生产力。” “这种行为基于一种传统观点，也就是无组织的和凌乱的环境会扰乱人们的思维，使人们更难做出判断。” “但并非所有的证据都支持传统上人们所认为的凌乱的环境和混乱的思维之间的联系。” 科学家在多种“凌乱”的环境中测试了人们的反映，包括混乱的店面，杂乱的办公桌，甚至是有语言任务总让人们想起“杂乱”的办公环境。 研究报告作者发现，在一系列的六项研究中，被调查者的思维都趋向于简单。 研究人员说：“他们会按照更简单的方式给产品分类，愿意花更多钱购买印有简单图案的T恤衫，并且简化选择的种类。” | 
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