The Japanese organizer and cleanliness advocate Marie Kondo rocketed to international fame a decade ago on the strength of her method of tidying up and organizing one’s living space and workspace. It’s often said that “cleanliness is next to godliness,” and in Kondo’s view, ensuring that everything is in its place and that we keep nothing that lacks purpose or fails to “spark joy” enhances the pleasure of living and our efficiency and productivity in every part of our lives. Her method, known as KonMari, involves gathering all of one’s belongings by category and then sorting what to keep and what lacks purpose. At the height of her fame in 2019, she had a widely viewed Netflix series that became a global sensation.
The psychological principles behind organizing one’s living space and workspace revolve around the satisfaction we get from a clean, organized space and the efficiencies we see when everything is easily accessible and in just the right place.
In this article, we’ll take a look at the psychology of organization and how keeping your workspace organized can boost your productivity.
What Is the Psychology of Organization?
The psychology of organization, also known as industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology, is the study of how people behave in the workplace. According to Harvard University, “The specialty of industrial-organizational psychology addresses issues of recruitment, selection and placement, training and development, performance measurement, workplace motivation and reward systems, quality of work life, structure of work and human factors, organizational development and consumer behavior.”
Thus, within organizational psychology, practitioners place an emphasis on how workplace structures, culture, and even personal workspace organizations impact motivation, productivity, and overall well-being. Within the field of I-O psychology, some experts specifically study the impact that organizational design practices, such as methods for keeping a workspace tidy and organized, like high-quality tool organizers, have on the productivity of workers.
How Neatness Impacts Productivity
Neatness and a tidy workspace play a powerful role in shaping workers’ productivity. There are two major ways to think about this, the first being its impact on our mental state and the second being how the level of tidiness facilitates or hinders productivity.
Organization and Mental States
A cluttered workspace creates a number of challenges that negatively impact a worker’s mental state. For instance, a cluttered environment creates a serious burden on workers’ cognitive loads, which refers to how much effort it takes to process information. The more chaotic a workplace, the more effort it takes to focus and process information. By contrast, a clean workplace promotes faster intellectual processing and a reduced cognitive load.
Disorganization also increases workers’ stress and anxiety levels, and this isn’t just because it’s harder to find the tools and materials one is looking for. It’s also because clutter sends signals to the brain that there are too many competing needs and too many tasks to manage, making workers feel more overwhelmed. On the other hand, tidy workspaces have a calming effect and can make workers feel less anxious and more relaxed.
Similarly, tidy workspaces can help workers feel that they have more control over their environment and thus are more in charge of their work and their lives.
Tidiness also promotes mental well-being, emotional regulation, and the ability to focus without distraction on the task at hand. Workers who have a clean and tidy workspace often experience lower levels of frustration, confusion, and emotional fatigue. Their higher levels of emotional stability enhance their overall performance.
Tidiness as a Productivity Booster
A tidy workspace offers a number of benefits to employees’ mental wellbeing, but it also helps to improve their overall productivity. As we mentioned, workers in tidy workspaces tend to feel more focused. That focus can turn into enhanced productivity when the worker is able to zero in on the task at hand without clutter distracting them and pulling attention away from essential work. Thus, work gets done faster. Similarly, tidiness in the workplace helps workers manage their time better because they spend less time looking for the right tools or other supplies to complete a given task.
However, one of the lesser-appreciated benefits of a tidy workspace is the boost it can give to your workers’ creativity. A clean environment helps to promote a clear mental space for innovative thinking, so your workers can approach tasks from fresh perspectives without being distracted by visual clutter.
A tidy workplace promotes a level of professionalism and confidence that serves to encourage positive work habits and can create a positive spiral of improving productivity.
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