Work space: cluttered or neat?

"If a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind, what is the significance of a clean desk?"

— Dr. Laurence J. Peter

I'm sitting in the midst of another South Dakota blizzard.  For those keeping score, it's the second one this week.  YUCK!

To be perfectly honest, I hate the snow.  I hate the cold.

But, the weather has forced me to be inside and evaluate where I am.  Right now, I'm sitting at my desk, looking around, wondering if I should be cleaning instead.

I'll be the first to admit that my desk is a mess.  My office is a mess.  It's a bit of a dumping ground for everyone else's stuff, as well as my own.  Our house is small.  Seriously small when you consider there's me, my loving husband, our teenage daughter, three cats and one dog that lives inside.  Two other dogs are "outside mutts" until the temps become too cold for that.

I also key off the weather.  A lot.  When the sun is shinning, I seem much more productive.  When the snow blows, I don't seem to get much done.

So I'm sitting here at my desk looking at the clutter.  I have sticky notes all over my monitor and the shelves above.  They decorate my dry-erase board that hosts the outline of Ghost Mountain (a trick I learned from Bonnie Ramthun).    Various papers seem to erupt from who-knows-where.

Interestingly, I know where everything is.  I can find a note in this stack of paper within seconds.  I know what books are where (even if they are under a pile of other books!) and can find them easily when I need them.  What looks like chaos to anyone else is my creativity overflowing.

What about you?  Is your workspace clean or cluttered?  Can you find everything easily or must you search?  Does the clutter make you calm cause you stress?

Blessings!

Nichole