Your messy desk has more disadvantages than you are aware of.

At a time when almost everything is digital, there is little reason to let mounds of papers, files and notebooks clutter your office space. To be productive, you need to keep things organized — a clear desk or workspace means a clear mind when approaching work tasks.

According to CallDrip, a study by the National Association of Professional Organisers found that cluttered workspaces can lead to a company’s financial loss equivalent to 10% of a manager’s salary.

Revealing Statistics

How surveyed workers said clutter affected them.

• 77 percent – Productivity
• 65 percent – State of mind
• 53 percent – Motivation
• 40 percent – Happiness
• 38 percent – Professional image
• 20 percent – Relationships
• A new CareerBuilder.com survey finds that 16% of workers say their desks are 75% or more covered with work and other materials. Some 38% say more than half of their desktop is covered.
• According to CareerBuilder.com, this messiness is bad news for us, as nearly 2 in 5 employers say that a messy desk gives them a negative perception of a person, and 28% say they are less likely to promote someone with a messy work space. Statistics being what they are, this could mean that 72% of employers are more likely to promote a person with a messy desk, but probably not.
• 41% of those we surveyed said they believed a tidy workspace makes people more productive; 21% admitted that having a cluttered desk has somehow increased their workload, while 20% said a workmate’s messy space has had a negative impact on how much they were able to get done in their working day.
• 40% of the office workers we talked to said that they thought a messy desk must mean that their workmate was disorganized, and, when it comes to their perception of junior colleagues, the stat shot up to 75%. That’s bad news for those just starting out in their career who want to make a good impression on their team, but just can’t seem to keep their clutter under control.