辦公桌凌亂能讓自己更有創意?

All nine employees of in New York City have neat, clean desks -- except one.

紐約網上商業地產租賃與經紀公司九名員工的辦公桌全都整潔乾淨――只有一個人例外。

Co-founder Jonathan Wasserstrum's desk and the floor around it are strewed with paper, files, tech gear and old boxes. 'I like being near my stuff rather than fishing for it in a cabinet somewhere,' he says.

該公司聯合創始人喬納森・瓦塞爾斯特魯姆(Jonathan Wasserstrum)的桌子及附近的地板上四處散落着紙張、文件、科技設備和舊盒子。他說：“我喜歡東西放在身邊，不喜歡在櫃子中的某個地方找東西。”

Being near Mr. Wasserstrum's stuff is harder for Justin Lee, the company's other co-founder. At times, 'some of his crud will spill over onto my desk,' Mr. Lee says. Other co-workers at the online commercial real-estate leasing and brokerage company sometimes print new copies of documents to avoid handling food-smeared paperwork from Mr. Wasserstrum's desk.

對於該公司另一名創始人賈斯廷・李(Justin Lee)而言，坐在瓦塞爾斯特魯姆那一堆雜物附近更是難以忍受。他說，有時候“他的一些髒東西會蔓延到我的桌子上”。有時候爲了避免觸碰瓦塞爾斯特魯姆桌子上沾染着食物的文件，其他員工會重新打印文件副本。

With more employees working in open-plan offices and shared workspaces, look for more clashes over clutter. The average space allotted per worker has dropped as much as 21% since 1997, according to the International Facility Management Association in Houston. Storage space is shrinking too, and not everyone is keeping up with the push for a paperless office.

隨着越來越多的僱員在開放式辦公室和共用辦公空間中工作，因爲雜亂出現的衝突也越來越多。休斯頓國際物業設施管理協會(International Facility Management Association)的數據顯示，自1997年以來，每名員工分配到的平均辦公面積減少了多達21%。儲物空間也逐漸縮小，而且並不是每個人都跟上了無紙化辦公運動的步伐。

Just the sight of all the piles can stress out neat co-workers, distract them from work and even hurt their performance, research shows. Pressuring mess-makers to clean up isn't easy, however, and it can backfire if they take offense.

有研究顯示，單單是看到一堆堆雜物就會使愛整潔的員工心情煩躁，讓他們無法安心工作甚至有損於他們的工作表現。然而，迫使亂象製造者進行清理並非易事，而且把他們惹惱了還會產生逆反效應。

'It's very tricky,' says Judith Bowman, a coach and author on corporate etiquette. 'The appearance of your desk or work area is hugely important. But it's so personal. Criticizing someone's messy desk is like telling someone they're dressed sloppily or have a dirty house.' It is best to try to inspire by example, experts say: Make over your own desk, or hold an officewide de-junking day.

企業禮儀培訓師及企業禮儀作家朱迪絲・鮑曼(Judith Bowman)稱：“這個問題十分棘手。你的辦公桌或辦公區的外觀極其重要，但它又是非常私人的事情。批評別人的桌子雜亂就像對別人說他們的着裝邋遢或房子髒亂一樣。”專家建議，最好的辦法是嘗試去啓發：整理你自己的桌子，或者設立一個全辦公室範圍的大掃除日。

Messy people have many rationales. Some say they work too fast to stop and file things. Others say the clutter itself is an organizing system. Krista Lamp says her piles, including client paperwork and magazines she must read, serve as a visual to-do list. 'If it's out, I know I have to attend to it,' says Ms. Lamp, a San Diego public-relations consultant.

邋遢之人也有自己的許多理由。有些人說他們的工作速度太快了，停不下來將東西歸檔。其他人則稱那些雜物本身就是一個有組織的系統。聖地亞哥公關顧問克麗絲塔・蘭普(Krista Lamp)說，她那一堆堆雜物（包括客戶文件和她必須讀的雜誌）是直觀的待辦事項清單。她說：“如果這些東西變少了，我就知道我得注意了。”

One common explanation, that clutter can aid creativity, has some support in research. Researchers at the University of Minnesota found in a study of 48 students published last year that people working in a messy room came up with more creative ideas for new uses for ping-pong balls, compared with participants in a tidy room. 'Being creative is breaking away from tradition, order and convention, and a disorderly environment seems to help people do just that,' says the study, published in Psychological Science.

一個常見的解釋――凌亂的環境有助於激發創造力――得到了相關研究的支持。明尼蘇達大學(University of Minnesota)研究人員對48名學生展開了研究，他們發現與整潔房間中的受試者相比，在凌亂房間中工作的人想出了更多有關乒乓球新用途的創意。該項研究指出：“有創造力意味着打破傳統、秩序和常規，而雜亂無序的環境似乎有助於人們做到這一點。”該研究結果去年發表在了《心理學》(Psychological Science)期刊上。

Lucas Donat, chief executive officer of Tiny Rebellion, a Santa Monica, Calif., ad agency, regards his clutter as the mark of a busy, productive person. 'To me, it's a system,' he says.

加州 莫妮卡(Santa Monica)廣告公司Tiny Rebellion的首席執行長盧卡斯・多納特(Lucas Donat)認爲，凌亂的環境表明他是一個忙碌、富有成效的人。他說：“對我來說，它是一個系統。”

Amir Haque, the agency's chief strategist, who shares an office with Mr. Donat, admits he sometimes envies Mr. Donat's ability to perform well with a messy desk. Mr. Haque says he strives to keep both his email in-box and his desktop clear, and constantly tries to improve his organizing skills through reading and research. 'I do look at Lucas's freer style, and I'm sometimes envious,' Mr. Haque says. 'It's madness, in a mad-scientist way.'

該公司首席策略長、與多納特共用辦公室的阿米爾・哈克(Amir Haque)承認，有時候他會嫉妒多納特在一張凌亂的辦公桌旁也表現優異的能力。哈克說他會盡量使電子郵箱收件箱和電腦桌面保持整潔，並不斷嘗試通過閱讀和研究來提高他的組織能力。他說：“我也會觀察盧卡斯的自由風格，有時候我很嫉妒。那是一種瘋狂，一種瘋狂科學家式的瘋狂。”

Clutter can be hard on neat people. Kelly Giese, an account supervisor at Bailey Lauerman, an Omaha ad agency, says she knows the mess on and around the desk of her colleague Carter Weitz helps fuel the stream of new ideas he generates. Mr. Weitz, the agency's chief creative officer, says he writes ideas as they come to him, saves items that spark new thoughts, and tapes sketches on the walls. 'Clutter generates a sense of positive energy,' he says.

凌亂的環境會讓整潔之人難以忍受。奧馬哈(Omaha)廣告公司Bailey Lauerman的客戶主管凱莉・吉斯(Kelly Giese)稱，她知道同事卡特・韋茨(Carter Weitz)桌子上及桌子周圍的雜物激發了他想出的一個個新靈感。韋茨是該公司的首席創意長，他說他會在靈感出現時把它們記下來，保存激發新想法的物品，把草案貼在 上。他說：“凌亂會營造出一種正能量感。”

Ms. Giese, whose desk is immaculate, has no argument with that. Still, she can't resist trying to tidy up. She often arrives early for meetings in Mr. Weitz's office and covertly straightens up his conference table, putting paper in stacks and tossing empty soda cans and coffee cups. So far, she hasn't gotten caught.

吉斯本人的辦公桌整潔無比，但她對雜亂的桌面並無意見。儘管如此，她還是會忍不住設法去清理它們。她常常早早來到韋茨的辦公室參加會議，偷偷地清理他的會議桌，把紙張一堆堆放好，扔掉空汽水罐和咖啡杯。迄今爲止她還沒有被發現過。

Clutter can be damaging in other ways. Some 57% of 1,015 adults surveyed in 2012 by Adecco, a staffing and workforce-management company, have judged a co-worker based on the cleanliness of his or her workspace. Also, 28% of employers say they're less likely to promote someone with a disorganized workspace, according to a 2011 CareerBuilder survey of 2,662 hiring managers.

凌亂的環境會在其他方面造成損害。人力資源管理公司藝珂(Adecco)在2012年對1,015名成年人進行了調查，調查發現約57%的人曾根據同事辦公空間的整潔度來評價其爲人。此外，凱業必達公司(CareerBuilder)2011年對2,662名招聘經理進行的調查顯示，28%的僱主表示他們不大可能提升辦公區雜亂無序的人。

Ms. Bowman, the business protocol coach, says managers should step in if a colleague's mess hurts the team, causing lost documents or missed deadlines. Some employees haven't learned organizational skills. A more senior colleague might offer to mentor the employee, saying, 'I notice that you're a bit behind in your filing. I'd be happy to share my system,' she says.

商業禮儀培訓師鮑曼認爲，如果某員工的凌亂狀態損害了整個團隊，造成文件丟失或錯過最後期限的情況，這時管理者就應當介入。有些員工沒有學習過組織技能，她建議資深一些的員工或許可以提出爲這名同事提供指導，比如提議說“我注意到你的文件歸檔進度有些滯後了，我很樂意和你分享我的歸檔系統”。

Lindsey Coyle tries to 'lead by example' in hopes that her messier colleague, Grace Emery, will clean up. Ms. Coyle, an account director at a San Francisco public-relations firm, scrubs her own desk often with sanitary wipes and keeps it tidy.

林賽・科伊爾(Lindsey Coyle)是舊金山某公關公司的客戶總監，她希望通過“以身作則”來引導辦公空間雜亂的同事格雷絲・埃默裏(Grace Emery)進行清理。科伊爾經常使用衛生溼巾來擦拭自己的辦公桌，並使它一直保持整潔。

She draws the line when Ms. Emery's mess spills over onto her workspace, however, and gives her 'a gentle nudge,' Ms. Coyle says. Ms. Emery, an account executive at the firm, admits that 'lunch leftovers and piles of migrating paperwork' sometimes get out of control, and says Ms. Coyle's example is helpful. Ms. Coyle says she recently handed Ms. Emery a wipe to remove 'a really obvious' jelly stain.

科伊爾說，當埃默裏的雜物蔓延到她的辦公桌時，她會劃定一條線，然後“輕輕地推一下”埃默裏。埃默裏是公司的一名業務經理，她承認“吃剩的午飯和一堆堆位置不固定的文件”有時會失去控制，而科伊爾的榜樣是有幫助的。科伊爾說前不久她遞給了埃默裏一張溼巾讓她擦去“一處非常明顯”的果凍污漬。

A few employers hold annual decluttering days. At the Square Foot, Mr. Lee has started weekly cleanup sessions. Mr. Wasserstrum says he plays along, 're-stacking my stacks.'

一些企業會設立一年一度的大掃除日。在Square Foot公司，李發起了每週一次的大掃除時間。瓦塞爾斯特魯姆說他也會參加大掃除，“把我一堆堆的東西重新堆一遍”。

At the Motley Fool, an Alexandria, Va., provider of investment research and information, Managing Editor Eric Bleeker says his clutter -- porcelain rhinoceroses, sleeping bags, foam guns, Seattle Seahawks memorabilia, cellphones, tablets, computers and batteries strewed over his desk and floor -- makes work more fun. It provides fodder for conversation and play, he says. But if he wants to concentrate on a big project, he moves to a different room.

弗吉尼亞州亞歷山大市(Alexandria)投資研究與信息服務商Motley Fool的執行主編埃裏克・布勒克爾(Eric Bleeker)說，他的那些雜物――陶瓷犀牛擺件、睡袋、泡沫槍、西雅圖海鷹隊的紀念品、手機、平板電腦、電腦和電池散落在桌子和地板上――讓工作變得更有趣。他說，這些東西給談話和玩樂提供了素材。不過，如果他想集中精力做一個大項目，他會搬到另一個房間去。

Co-worker Joel South kids his colleague about the mess. He recently threatened to call Mr. Bleeker's wife to complain. For Mr. Bleeker's birthday next month, Mr. South, an editor, is planning a surprise gift -- something so large and useless, he teases, that Mr. Bleeker will 'have to move his chair out to make space for it.'

布勒克爾的同事、編輯喬爾・索思(Joel South)也會以此開他的玩笑，最近他還威脅說要打電話給布勒克爾的妻子進行投訴。索思說，他正爲布勒克爾下個月的生日準備一份驚喜禮物，他開玩笑說那是一件又大又不實用的東西，布勒克爾將“不得不把椅子搬走來給它騰出空間”。