What Can Einstein's Desk Teach Us About Creativity and Productivity?

There's a famous photo of Albert Einstein's desk taken on the day he died - papers scattered everywhere, books stacked haphazardly, and notes strewn about like fallen leaves. It's become something of a cultural touchstone, often used to justify messy desks everywhere. "See?" we say. "Einstein was messy too, and he was a genius!"

Photographed by Ralph Morse of Life Magazine, 1955

But here's the thing: Einstein also had an office at Princeton that was meticulously organized. Like many of us, he lived in the tension between order and chaos, structure and spontaneity. This duality raises an interesting question: what's the right amount of mess in our lives?

The Swedish might have an answer for us. They call it "lagom" - not too much, not too little, just right. It's the Goldilocks principle applied to life, and it might just hold the key to understanding our relationship with stuff.

Let's talk about clutter first. Recent research has shown some surprising benefits to a bit of mess. A 2013 study at the University of Minnesota found that people working in messy rooms came up with more creative solutions to problems than those in tidy spaces. The theory? Disorder can break us out of conventional thinking patterns, leading to more innovative ideas.

Dr. Kathleen Vohs, who led the study, suggests that while orderly environments encourage conventional behavior and choices, disorderly environments inspire breaking free from tradition, which can produce fresh insights. It's why so many artists and writers embrace a certain level of chaos in their workspaces.

But before you abandon all hope of organization, consider the other side. Marie Kondo didn't become a global phenomenon by accident. A 2011 study in the Journal of Neuroscience found that clutter can overwhelm the visual cortex, making it harder to focus and process information. The Princeton University Neuroscience Institute published research showing that multiple visual stimuli (read: clutter) compete for neural representation, essentially reducing our ability to focus.

Some have argued for a middle path, or a "functional mess" - areas of controlled chaos for creativity, alongside zones of strict order for tasks requiring focus and precision. It's remarkably similar to Einstein's dual-space approach, with his messy home office and organized university space.

This is where lagom comes in. The concept isn't about perfect balance - it's about finding what works for you. Maybe that means a messy desk but an organized closet. Perhaps it's about keeping your digital files meticulously organized while letting your physical workspace breathe a little chaos.

James Clear, author of "Atomic Habits," puts it well: "You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems." The key is creating systems that work with your natural tendencies, not against them.

Consider the 2023 study from the Tokyo Institute of Technology that suggested people work most effectively when they can control their own level of environmental order. The researchers found that imposed organization systems often failed, while personally developed systems - even if they looked messy to others - tended to stick.

So maybe the question isn't "Should I be messy or tidy?" but rather "What level of organization helps me thrive?" Einstein's desk wasn't just messy - it was his mess, organized in a way that made sense to him. The papers might have looked random to others, but to him, they represented a personal system of organized chaos.

The sweet spot - the lagom point - might be different for each of us. It's about finding that place where creativity flows but doesn't overflow, where organization supports rather than constrains. It's about creating spaces that work for us, not for Instagram or the in-laws.

As we navigate our own relationships with stuff and space, perhaps we can take comfort in knowing that even genius can thrive in apparent chaos - and that sometimes, the most productive path lies somewhere between the perfectly organized desk and Einstein's beautiful mess.

Remember: Your space doesn't need to look like a minimalist magazine spread or a creative's chaos to be perfect. It just needs to be perfect for you. And that's about as lagom as it gets.