Insecurity and Immediacy
I honestly never quite considered how much we take other's perception of us and how much it can indeed influence our time management. An example would be an unorganized desk, I am guilty of being able to be productive in a what may seem like unproductive environment. However, if someone mentions how it looks I may want to 'fix that immediately.' Though many other things need to get done, cleaning goes right to the top of the list. I noticed that happened a lot during exams while I was at UC Davis. There was a need to study, but even my own perception of my work space become more important and needed to be taken care of before I could feel 100% comfortable studying. Then again, as I read that it sounds like procrastination.
Well, there's "cluttered" where you know where everything is and can work well because you know your system by heart. Unfortunately, as far as perception goes, there are people who have genuinely messy desks/work areas not because they have a system, but because they just use their space as a dumping ground for pointless crap. This leads many folks to equate the efficient person with a "cluttered" desk with the inefficient hoarder, unfortunately.
Lara,
You just read my mail,I could have written your post. I'am also very productive in my work with a very cluttered (organized mess) desk top. Others do percieve us as being unproductive at first glance. Remember procrastinator are people who do their best work under pressure!
