We have long suspected that messy people have a little more oomph in the “creativity chamber,” or at least that is what I always tried to convince my mom. No longer am I alone in trying to convince her of this. There is actual science to back me up! Study these reasons and have them at your disposal for the next time your mom (or anyone else) gets on your case about being messy. I’m going to give you 7 Reasons why messy people are creative.
Spoiler: One of the reasons is not going to be that we write articles that say we are more creative and therefore we are. I debated it, but it seemed that it might not be as convincing…
They Try New Things
We can be honest amongst ourselves for a minute here, right? Ok, so there are day I return to my room and it’s like I don’t even recognize it. It looks like a whole new environment every day depending where I leave off doing what I’m doing. What I’m getting at is what is trying a new smoothie flavor when we show up to this everyday? Nothing. And that is just what the study by Kathleen Vohs, PhD, of the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management found when they studied it.
They Know How To Improvise
Sometimes we misplace things. No shame in that. We have skills to get through it. Missing the tape, quick grab that twine and rig it up to the window like the MacGyver you were born to be. Studies proved our abilities to improvise by testing what a group of “neat” people and a group of “messy” people did with ping pong balls. They were graded and team messy pulled the win!
They Aren’t Easily Cowed Into Decisions
We are independent thinkers. This was illustrated in the study when the researchers suggested an independent donation to charity from the test subjects. The neater group was more likely to donate to charity. Typical. I mean sure charity is a good thing, but we do things because we thought of them. We don’t need to be asked.
They Know That Life Can Be Short
We live it up sometimes. This was proven when researchers had the subjects pick out a snack after the experiment. The choices were an apple and candy. No brainer, right? Apparently neat people actually took the apple. What? I don’t get it either. We know that you have to take some joy here and there. Also if I make it through a research study, I get to have a reward.
They Have The Likes of Albert Einstein On Their Team
We all know the saying (or do now): “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, then what are we to think of an empty desk?” This came from the man himself: Albert Einstein. I’m pretty sure he knows what’s up and he agrees with our way of life. (See mom, Einstein)
They Have Steve Jobs To Aspire To
We probably could have guessed this, but Mr. Jobs had quite the disaster area for an office. Makes sense. This handy phone gadget sure does help organize at least part of my life.
They Have to Be Able Communicate Effectively
What they call madness, we call methodical. They say Tomato, we say Potato- you know? We have a way of organizing that allows us to function optimally. Our system may not work for anyone else. That is a little thing we like to refer to as job security. Kidding. We have to be able to communicate our ideas and methods clearly to others because we know that they will not be able pick up on our system without assistance. Especially if they are one of the “neat.”
Please check out these links for more information in regards to the messy creative genius theory.
