The Art of Being Messy

CONGRATS, MESSY FOLK: YOUR UNKEMPT ROOM IS MAKING YOU MORE INTELLIGENT AND CREATIVE

Nah, don't bother making your bed today.

- BY ELLEN SCOTT for ELLE Decor

It's always the people with perfectly organized desks and meticulously arranged kitchens that receive all the praise. They're more successful. They get up at 5 a.m. every day to be productive. They have perfect lives and they're just so perfect and great. Ugh.

Which explains why us messy people feel a lot of pressure to conform and start being naturally tidy people.

But it turns out we shouldn't. A study from The University of Minnesota found that it's actually messy people who are more intelligent AND more creative. So we are just as productive and brilliant as the people with a laundry system, just in a different way. So there.

The study found that messy and tidy people generated the exact same number of ideas, but that those who worked in a cluttered setting (think of your room, with clothes strewn about the floor, or your desk, covered in bits of paper) tended to come up with more creative and interesting ones.

The researchers also found that when participants were given a choice between an established product or an interesting new one, people in a messy room were more likely to choose the new one— showing an openness to think outside the box and try new things. Which is nice.

All that being said, it was discovered that those in a clean room were more likely to do the 'right' things, like giving money to charity and eating an apple instead of a chocolate bar.

So basically, if you're working in a tidy room you're going to be a better person, sure. But you won't be any more productive, and a messy room could help you think a bit more creatively.

Go on, then. Un-make your bed. Throw your socks on the floor. It's for your own good.

 

 

 

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