Cleanliness is overrated 

Photo by Nicole Lee

A photo showing an example of the state of my messy desk.

My room is not the cleanest; in fact, my parents would probably say it’s the messiest room in the house. However, it’s not that messy. I probably have enough space in my room to organize everything neatly (with my two tables and three closets). It just so happens that some of my clothes don’t belong in the closet and some of my binders don’t belong on the table. I put it there on purpose, obviously. My room, you see, is best described as being in a state of orderly chaos.

According to no less a source than the Business News Daily, having a messy desk isn’t necessarily a sign of a cluttered mind; rather, it states that clean and messy desks reflect different personality types that all bring benefits to the workplace.

Messy desks can spur creativity, which is exactly what I think my room does for me. 

When you walk into the room, the first thing you will notice is that half of my total table space is already taken up by my computer and homework. On the other half, you would see an assortment of essentials (such as hand sanitizer, pencils, binder clips and possibly a textbook) and knick knacks, including cardboard from a project I’m working on or some worksheets that I temporarily put off doing.

In addition to this, I have a few places where I put my jackets and sweaters: on top of a box, on my chair or on the floor. Fear not, however, as I have a justification for every one of these seemingly “random” placements. 

The reason my jackets don’t belong back in my closet is that I have already worn them, and they’re likely a bit dirty, but more importantly, they are contaminated with outside germs. If I put them back in my closet, the clean clothes risk being contaminated. Thus, the only logical place to put my clothes is anywhere but my closet, leading me to resort to a large plastic box and the back of my chair as de facto clothing racks. 

Of course, this is not to say that I prefer to live in a messy room. As a member of civilized society, I do clean occasionally, around once every other month. I have to admit that afterward it is pretty nice having a clean room and being able to enjoy my free space, even though having a messy room doesn’t affect my ability to locate or lose things. 

Maybe one day I will find the motivation to (or end up living with a roommate who makes me) keep my room clean for longer than a few days. For now, though, the disordered state of my room is fine and dandy as is.