Paper, paper, paper!  It spreads out on my desk, buries more important paper and breeds secretly at night to create still more paper.   

There’s a pile of paper by my printer that’s been untouched for two weeks.  What’s in it?  I know there’s a MAPS Journal (it’s the red book toward the bottom) and my insurance card is there somewhere between the sheets.  There are blog ideas, half-written letters, a few bills and a recipe or two…I think.
Calendars, To-Do Lists, articles to read and miscellaneous technology tools are strewn haphazardly across my work space.

Is it a bad thing to be disorganized?

Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs and Mark Twain all had messy desks, yet they were some of the most creative thinkers of all time.

In a 2010 study commissioned by Brother International (an office products company) the cost of our collective messy desks and time spent looking for misplaced items cost corporate America $177 billion annually.

Additionally, nearly a third of office workers failed to get reimbursed for a travel or business-related expense because they misplaced or lost a receipt.

Employees with messy desks are docked when it comes to raises too.  One executive said, “An organized desk sends the impression you’re on top of things.  A messy desk says the opposite.”

So is it a bad thing to be messy or a sign of creativity?  I’m not sure.  One thing I do know for sure is I’m going to tackle my mess a few papers at a time until I can see the top of my desk again.  That will make my Virgo heart sing.