1. I’m writing this article at my desk. It isn’t a tidy dask - there are lots of things on it (books, brochures, files, notepads and newspapers). There are six pens and some documents next to the Keyboard and there’s printer under my chair. It isn’t a problem, and there are a lot of desks like mine in The Economist’s offices.
2. But in many companies it’s very important to have a tidy office. Some companies say that workers can’t leave documents or paper on their desk at the end of the day. Employees put all the documents into filing cabinets or drawers. Experts say that a person who works at an untidy desk is not organised and spends about one-and-a-half hours a day looking for things. An organised worker always has a tidy workspace.
3. But is that true? Research shows that there are two types of worker. The first type is the filer. They receive a document and immediately file it. The second type is the piler. They have piles of paper on their desk. Who do you think can find things quickly? The answer may surprise you.
4. Workers who file everything have a tidy desk, but they file too much. There are two main problems with this. First, the files and filing cabinets take a lot of space in the office. And second, there are so many files that it takes time to remember where a particular document is.
5. Now let’s look at ‘pilers’ . They often have an untidy desk, but they aren’t always disorganized. Some experts say that a busy desk helps ‘pilers’ to think about current projects and makes it easy to find documents.
6. So next time you tidy your desk, stop and think. Perhaps an untidy desk makes it easier to find things!