What were they in common Pablo Picasso, Albert Einstein, Ray Bradbury, Francis Bacon and Umberto Eco? That besides being geniuses in their disciplines, they were messy. Looking in photographs of your studies is to witness An absolute chaos of papers, books, documents, pictures and boxes. And maybe there, in that chaos, you can find part of the key to its enormous ingenuity. It is that contrary to what has been proclaimed in recent years, a current has emerged that praises its opposite and recognizes benefits.
Functional or dysfunctional
If there is a figure that demonized the disorder, it was Marie Kondo. The Japanese, Guru of the World Organization and Bestseller with her book “The Magic of Order” (Aguilar), became famous with his own method to order the house and, consequently, life. The success was such that in 2019 Netflix launched “to order with Marie Kondo!” But in 2023 the Japanese softened her approach: she admitted that, after having children, she no longer follows her method so strict.
“Physical disorder may be associated with emotional and cognitive or personality factors. But not all messy people have a psychological problem. There are those who do not perceive it as something negative, while for others it can be a source of stress, ”says Clinic Psychologist Silvana Weckesser, author of“ Recalculating: to be an adult you also learn ”(South Leaves). Thus, one can talk about a functional disorder, in which the person is comfortable in that mode; and of a dysfunctional, when it generates anxiety or overwhelms.
The latter is the case of TOC, Compulsive Obsessive Disorderswhere the meticulous order is a search to control what you feel internally. At the same time, depression can bring with it a modality of disorder and disinterest in the house, food or routine in general.
But when disorganization is simply a lifestyle, it can also be a trigger for creativity. “There are those who under an order situation feel more restricted, and when they are disorganized they connect with other ideas and resources. Creativity many times arises when conventions break, ”says Weckesser.
In this way, Duncan Wardle, former head of Innovation and Creativity of Disney, argues that creativity is not an exclusive talent of some, but a possible ability to train. Consider that a too structured environment limits us, and disorder, in terms of diverse stimuli, a mixture of unexpected ideas or interruptions, can generate new connections. It is that if everything is too rigid, we usually solve problems in the same way and again. Instead, a little chaos forces the brain to look for more creative solutions and get out of the usual patterns.
Creative freedom
Some specialists also believe important distinction between creativity and creative freedom. This is the case of Omar Hein cognitive and family therapist: “I don’t believe that disorder is synonymous with creativity, I do think that the freedom to choose, The freedom to follow stereotypesthe freedom to respect one’s own thoughts and values is highly favorable to create. ” He points out that the free individual does not feel barriers to express himself or have to cover expectations of others to feel valued, so he can create without seeking.
Although here another distinction comes into play: freedom is not doing anything. “In sport, the athlete must be creative, but hold on to rules that each game presents. Messi was and remains a highly creative player, but he does not take the ball with his hands, because the rules do not allow it ”, Marca Hein.
Thus, although many creatives seem messy, for the expert they are not, but follow their own rules (and for a structured society that may seem disorder). “The healthy will always be the balance between internal and social rules.” In addition, it indicates that to be creative it is important not to be improvised, but flexible to the unforeseen events.
From science
Science has also investigated the beneficial effects of disorder. In his last book, “The science of (good) ideas” (21st century), the scientist and writer Diego Golombek He approached the premise that a little desprolijidad stimulates and feels good. He did it by recounting the work of Kathleen Vohs, from the University of Minnesota, called “physical order produces favorable options, generosity and conventionalism, while disorder produces creativity.” In three experiments it was discovered that while in a room ordered the participants chose healthier food options, in a messy they were more creative in the laboratory tests that were presented to them. At the same time, the participants of the orderly room chosen options cataloged as “traditional.”
The author also proposes that one of the best ways to seek creativity is to let the mind wander, literally dream awake. “There are various techniques to help with this dream distraction. Among them, although it sounds anti -intuitive, looking for small distractions, including noise, micro tasks, entertaining in the letterheads of the leaves … ”. The idea is that if our possibility of distracting us is finite, by filling it with these hobbies at some point the concentration will come. It is like the “theory of the noisy bar to work and concentrate”, in which many people serve the white noise to read, write or devise.
And a final clarification: creative people can be messy, but not all messy people are creative. The order of the factors does alter the product.
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