Messy People
David Freeman argues in “A Messy Desk Means Something’s Getting Done,” that although we often admire neat-freaks, it’s often the disorganized who are

the most productive. He says, “About two out three people in the U.S. feel shame or guilt over their messiness, and almost all of us think poorly of

messy people and highly of the neat and organized.” He continues Sure, most of us are messy, but only moderately so, and we do just fine with it —

other than feeling bad about it or getting grief from others. Once people start thinking about it, they realize there’s often a good side to their

messiness. Moderately messy people don’t spend two or more hours a day straightening up, the way some of their neatnik friends and colleagues do.

Their houses and cubicles feel friendlier, lived in and personalized. They’ve got the stuff they like at hand. They make serendipitous discoveries

when they excavate through their piles. And, surprisingly, they usually know where everything is. Messy people let things spread out and stack up in

ways that naturally suit the way they work and think. There’s evidence that messy people are more improvisational, maintain more impressive workloads

than their neatnik colleagues and reap other benefits from their relaxed sense of organization. *
Are you naturally disorganized or a neat freak? Do you know someone who desperately needs to clean up a mess? Are you often criticized by an overly-

organized friend? Do you wish you could change your organizational habits? In a well-organized essay, discuss Freeman’s thesis that messy people are

more productive than neat people. Do you agree or disagree? In answering this question, you may want to describe your own organizational habits, and

those of people you know. Specific details will probably make your essay more interesting and your argument more persuasive. *Freedman, David H. “A

messy desk means something’s getting done.” Los Angeles Times 29 Jan. 2007: A20.