Comments on: Review: A Perfect Mess

By: leadhyena

leadhyena — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:03:20 +0000

It’s too bad there’s no quantification of messiness mentioned in the book. This was the first problem computer scientists tackled, the question of sorting. Nowadays we all know that the limit to sorting is O(n log n) time, meaning that essentially the time to sort something is proportional to the number of items times the number of digits in the number of items.
Searching is the other side of the coin. To look for something in an unorganized pile, you take O(n) time looking for it, or an amount of time proportional to the number of items in that pile. But if you look for something in a sorted pile, it takes O(log n) time, proportional to the number of digits in the number of items in that pile, a significantly less amount of time.

The point is that sorting a pile doesn’t pay off with one search. It takes a number of searches to pay off, but that threshold is quite low and will easily be hit within a couple of weeks. Of course there is utility to sorting and it seems to me that this book is as other people are saying an enabler for some rather inefficient living.

By: Jen

Jen — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 16:55:16 +0000

What looks like messiness in art is usually as carefully constructed as any “traditional” piece. I would argue that, rather than tossing out structure, “messy” pieces simply employ a different kind of structure. The creator makes a distinct and deliberate choice based on the desired effect.

By: Jules

Jules — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 16:14:37 +0000

I agree that we all need some mess in our lives. Just a question, if you do have a “praire-like” lawn, wont you increase your fire risk?

By: Michael

Michael — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:46:01 +0000

This book is a mess, and not the good kind. The logic here is really poor. I hope they aren’t selling very many books.

By: ubi

ubi — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 06:15:15 +0000

Boy oh boy, Trent, I could use this book as an enabler in some exceptional garbage in my life. I’m going to just pretend I didn’t see this and continue waging my battle against my own worst organization habits.

By: antiSWer

antiSWer — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 05:29:28 +0000

My messiness drives my wife crazy. There is a method to my madness, though. I know where things are, I’m not wasting my time sorting things, and in all honesty, I like the mess. It almost makes me feel productive…like something is happening.

anti-socialworker.blogspot.com

By: prodgod

prodgod — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 03:58:19 +0000

Where has this book been all my life? LOL!

By: Ronnie

Ronnie — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 02:57:18 +0000

I think there’s definitely a balance involved. I’m definitely too messy, and I’ve struggled with this all my life. It bothers me and my boyfriend. My boss, not so much. I defended a deposition for a client at the opposing attorney’s office, and she told me that she fired associates who didn’t keep their offices in perfect order, because she could not abide the mess. This doesn’t make her or her associates better attorneys (we’re all highly capable), but it certainly makes them a little OCD about minute details. I’m not sure if the payoff is worth it, at least not in the cases I’ve had with them. A little disorganization allows me to not feel stifled, but I confess to struggling mightily with keeping my house and workspace in order.

By: Kristen at The Frugal Girl

Kristen at The Frugal Girl — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 01:00:35 +0000

CV, I think that’s the key word…balance.(and doesn’t it seem to be the key in almost every area of life???) There’s a happy place for each of us somewhere on the messyneat continuum, and we all have to find the balanced spot that works for us.

By: cv

cv — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 22:15:58 +0000

I read this book a while ago, and I found it to provide some nice balance to all the books, magazines and blogs out there that say productivity and happiness come from having all your photos in neatly labeled albums, all your clothes hanging in color-coordinated sections, and all your shoes in special plastic boxes neatly stacked. There are downsides to being too organized, including lost time invested in setting up and maintaining organizing systems. I still like being pretty well organized, but this book helped me find some balance.

By: Andy

Andy — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 21:50:28 +0000

Eh, sounds like he’s just trying to be contradictory for the sake of being contradictory. Books for organization are obviously aimed at people with a life too disorganized to be productive enough. I don’t think they say every little thing has to be perfectly organized. Of course there is a tradeoff between having an organized system and not, but that’s just seems like common sense.

By: A Dawn Jornal

A Dawn Jornal — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 21:26:49 +0000

I have seen a CBC television program which talks about the same thing – how being messy can be good thing. They featured and showed many famous writers’ and artists’ living places and work stations. It’s hard to believe (unless you see it with your own eyes) how people can live and work like that. I do not buy this argument. I enjoy living a neat and clean life and I perform best when I am in a tidy environment.
Cheers,
A Dawn
http://www.adawnjournal.com

By: over the cubicle wall

over the cubicle wall — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 21:18:28 +0000

As someone who has always been ‘sort of’ messy, I really enjoyed this post. It’s amazing how many places I have worked that try to blanketly force everyone to be organized rather than focus on the individual productivity of an employee and make suggestions for change accordingly. Thanks for bringing this book to my attention. I am definitely going to check it out.