# data[].attributes.body
III, Mario. "Students And Faculty Examine Procrastination Cures - The Pitt News". The Pitt News, 2020, https://pittnews.com/article/138722/news/students-and-faculty-examine-procrastination-cures/.
"Social Media Icons Set Logo, Social Media Icons, Social Media, Social Media Logo PNG And Vector With Transparent Background For Free Download In 2020 | Social Media Logos, Social Media Icons, Media Icon". Pinterest, 2020, https://www.pinterest.com/pin/391039180143374844/?lp=true.
"Why A Messy Workspace Undermines Your Persistence". Harvard Business Review, 2020, https://hbr.org/2015/01/why-a-messy-workspace-undermines-your-persistence.
"7 Signs You’Re Too Much Of A Perfectionist | Psychology Careers". Waldenu.Edu, 2020, https://www.waldenu.edu/online-masters-programs/ms-in-psychology/resource/seven-signs-you-are-too-much-of-a-perfectionist.
"Multitasking Vs. Single Tasking:  Which Is More Effective?". Talkroute.Com, 2020, https://talkroute.com/multitasking-vs-single-tasking-which-is-more-effective/.
Keepinspiring.Me, 2020, https://www.keepinspiring.me/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/procrastination-quotes-3-min.jpg.
"5 Habits Highly Organized People Never Have". Inc.Com, 2020, https://www.inc.com/melissa-lamson/5-things-organized-people-never-do.html.
Greenberg, Andy. "Turning Off Your Iphone Won't Stop NSA Bugs, But This Will". Wired.Co.Uk, 2020, https://www.wired.co.uk/article/nsa-bug-iphone.
"Doing My Best: One Task At A Time". Amber-Allen Publishing, 2020, http://www.amberallen.com/uncategorized/best-one-task-time/.

# data[].attributes.body
Be organized, but not a perfectionist. Being organized can help a leader set task out and keep them in order and in place, doing this allows a leader to carry out task in an efficient manner. Being organized can ensure that when you need something you'll know exactly where and how to find it.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Part of the secret to success for a global business consultant is to be organized. Different countries, multiple time zones, and a myriad of clients and cultures mean it can be pretty easy to get mixed up and miss important appointments. And, admittedly, I did so once in a while in the beginning of my career.

But after some practice and some help, I became a pro at balancing time zones and diverse cultures and climates. It's been a game changer for me personally and professionally. It feels good to be organized and know that wherever I am in the world, things will run smoothly.

So, in the spirit of spring-cleaning, I'm doing a two-part post on the secrets of getting your life organized.

First, I want to share five things you'll never see organized people do:

1. They don't wear pajamas (or exercise clothes) all day.

There's a trend among organized people. They start every morning the same way--no matter if they're going to work or staying home. They get up, eat a good breakfast, shower, and get dressed. This simple act of getting ready for the day no matter where it may take you can change your perspective and help you be more productive. It's the simple knowledge that you're prepared for anything--inside or outside the house.

2. They don't rely on their memories.

Sure, we live in an age where pen and paper is antiquated, but writing is a great way to remember things. Write out checklists, and savor the triumphant feeling you have when you get to mark things off. For important dates and errands, feel free to use your smart phone. But no matter what, write (or type) a to-do list somewhere. It does no good floating around in your head.

3. They don't procrastinate.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but procrastination only adds to stress--and disorganization. The longer you wait to do something, the harder it will be to get the task done (plus, you'll likely do a worse job because of the pressure and time constraints). Getting things done as soon as you can nixes the feeling of having something hanging over your head. Try it! It can be liberating!

4. They aren't perfectionists.

Organized people have the image of being perfectionists, but the truth is, they aren't. It's just the illusion they've created because they have the space and time to do what's important well. If you feel like you must do everything perfectly, you're not going to get anything done. So try to do the best you can for the most important stuff, and be OK with "good enough" for the others--or ask for help. This will help you combat procrastination and free up your time.

5. They don't take on too much.

One of the perks of being really organized is freedom from being really stressed and overwhelmed. And freedom from being really stressed and overwhelmed demands that you not have too much on your plate. Really organized people know how to delegate. If you find that your plate is overflowing, prioritize and consider dropping or delegating the less important tasks. It's OK to cancel plans so you have time to think. Or even just to breathe.

Start with these five actions and you're already on your way to getting yourself organized. Next, I'll share the top five secrets of the highly organized.

The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
5 Habits Highly Organized People Never Have

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Part of the secret to success for a global business consultant is to be organized. Different countries, multiple time zones, and a myriad of clients and cultures mean it can be pretty easy to get mixed up and miss important appointments. And, admittedly, I did so once in a while in the beginning of my career.

# data[].attributes.body
Turn off electronics. Turning off your electronics allows you to carry out tasks in an efficient amount of time without being distracted by the phone. Turning the phone off allows a leader to focus on their tasks and the people who are working on the task with a leader.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Just because you turned off your phone doesn't mean the NSA isn't using it to spy on you.

Edward Snowden's latest revelation about the NSA's snooping inspired an extra dose of shock and disbelief when he said the agency's hackers can use a mobile phone as a bug even after it's been turned off. The whistleblower made that eye-opening claim when Brian Williams of NBC Nightly News, holding his iPhone aloft during

last Wednesday's interview, asked, "What can the NSA do with this device if they want to get into my life? Can anyone turn it on remotely if it's off? Can they turn on apps? "They can absolutely turn them on with the power turned off to the device," Snowden replied.

Snowden didn't offer any details on this seemingly magical feat.

But a group of particularly cunning iPhone hackers say it's possible. They also say you can totally and completely turn off your iPhone so no one -- not even the NSA -- can use it to spy on you.
Your phone is playing dead
Like any magic trick, the most plausible method of eavesdropping through a switched-off phone starts with an illusion. Security researchers posit that if an attacker has a chance to install malware before you shut down your phone, that software could make the phone look like it's shutting down -- complete with a fake "slide to power off" screen. Instead of powering down, it enters a low-power mode that leaves its baseband chip -- which controls communication with the carrier -- on.

This "playing dead" state would allow the phone to receive commands, including one to activate its microphone, says Eric McDonald, a hardware engineer in Los Angeles. McDonald is also a member of the Evad3rs, a team of iPhone hackers who created jailbreaks for the two previous iPhone operating systems. If the NSA used an exploit like those McDonald's worked on to infect phone with malware that fakes a shutdown, "the screen would look black and nothing would happen if you pressed buttons," he says. "But it's conceivable that the baseband is still on, or turns on periodically. And it would be very difficult to know whether the phone has been compromised."

After Snowden told Williams his powered-down phone could be used as an eavesdropping tool, security consultant Robert David Graham immediately responded with a blog post arguing the trick is impossible. He soon amended the post to concede the NSA could, in fact, alter a phone ahead of time to enable that ultra-sneaky bugging. Its methods could range from a web exploit, like the 2011 Jailbreakme hack that disassembled the iPhone's security restrictions when users visited a carefully crafted webpage, to actually intercepting shipped phones before they reach users. That latter possibility might have sounded apocryphal until journalist Glenn Greenwald published photos last month showing the NSA opening boxes of Cisco routers to insert backdoors into the gear. "With physical access, they could change the chips, the memory, the ROMs, the power system, anything they want," Graham says.

But paranoid users seeking temporary privacy from NSA uber-hackers needn't resort to Snowden's famous precaution of putting phones in the fridge. Instead, McDonald suggests users turn off their iPhones by putting them into device firmware upgrade (DFU) mode, a kind of "panic" state designed to let the phone reinstall its firmware or recover from repeated operating system crashes. In DFU mode, says McDonald, all elements of the phone are entirely shut down except its USB port, which is designed to wait for a signal from iTunes to install new firmware. "It's like an innocent little kid in kindergarten," says McDonald. "It doesn't know how to turn on the lights or the sound, it only knows how to turn on the USB port."

Don't worry: It's easy to get your phone out of that state with no ill effects.
Total radio silence
To enter DFU mode, plug your iPhone in any power outlet or computer USB port. Then hold the power button. After three seconds, start holding the home button, too. Keep both buttons pressed for 10 seconds, then release the power button while continuing to hold the home button for another ten to fifteen seconds.

That intermediate step of holding the power button and the home button together, McDonald says, sends a "hardware reset" to the phone's power management unit that overrides any running software, including any malware designed to fake a shutdown. "It's a feature burned into the hardware," says David Wang, another iPhone hacker and member of the Evad3rs. "As far as I know, there's nothing that can stop that hard power-off."

If you've successfully entered DFU mode, the phone won't turn on when someone holds the power button, nor will it power up when the phone is plugged into a power source. With your phone in this temporary undead state, you can go about your private conversation with the closest thing possible to full assurance that your phone isn't listening. To power the phone back on, hold the the power button and home button together until the Apple logo appears.

Here's a video tutorial on putting your iPhone into DFU mode:

In order to see this embed, you must give consent to Social Media cookies. Open my cookie preferences.

An easier way of entering complete shutdown, says Wang, is a straightforward hardware power-off -- simply hold the home and power buttons simultaneously for 10 seconds without the DFU button sequence. "If the phone is in such a low-level state, I don't see how it's possible for anything to interact with the baseband," he says.

But McDonald cautions that unless you go into DFU mode, the phone partially reboots before turning off, as shown by the Apple logo appearing before the screen goes dark. During that brief window, the bootloader -- a portion of the iPhone's software that loads before the operating system -- awakes for a second or so, long enough that any highly advanced malware might be able to take over, spoof that dark screen shutdown and leave your phone vulnerable. "If you're going to be paranoid, you might as well be super paranoid," McDonald reasons.

Of course, McDonald and Wang both caution that if you enter DFU mode incorrectly -- say, by screwing up the timing of the shutdown procedure -- it's possible for malware to detect your intention and fake even that obscure state of semi-death. But if the button sequence is performed correctly, no malware will be able to override it. And even imagining malware clever enough to anticipate and impersonate DFU mode starts to stretch credibility, says McDonald. "At that point" he says, "you're talking about a countermeasure to a countermeasure to a countermeasure."

Countermeasures against countermeasures are exactly the stock-in-trade of the world's best hackers. But even paranoia has its limits. At some point, it may best to give up the game and leave the phone at home -- or in the nearest fridge.
This article originally appeared on Wired.com

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Turning off your iPhone won't stop NSA bugs, but this will

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Just because you turned off your phone doesn't mean the NSA isn't using it to spy on you. Edward Snowden's latest revelation about the NSA's snooping inspired an extra dose of shock and disbelief when he said the agency's hackers can use a mobile phone as a bug even after it's been turned off.

# data[].attributes.body
Focus on one task at a time. Focusing on one task at a time allows a person to work on the task efficiently and allows you to complete task faster. This helps your leadership abilities because it allows a leader to work on one specific task at a time and that task will be done more effectively.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Doing My Best - One Task at a Time

In our frenetic digital world it is easy to become swamped with emails, texts, FaceBook, and voice messages, on top of whatever tasks we have to maintain our home, work, and social life.

Sometimes I feel like I'm drowning in a sea of communication-not-handled and to-do-tasks-unfinished with no life raft in sight. Other days I feel happily adept at navigating the waters of whatever the spring of life bubbles up.

A game I play with myself to help me stay centered and present during choppy waters was inspired by the fourth agreement, Do Your Best. It started with me becoming aware of how fragmented I would get trying to do multiple tasks at once.

I love the feeling of multitasking, when the pieces come together perfectly so I can accomplish two or more things at once. I feel like a ninja warrior at the peak of my skill. But it is a dangerous path to constantly attempt to scale tall mountains while talking on the phone, answering an email, and brushing your teeth.

So I gave myself a new assignment: to do my best, one task at a time.

At first it felt like my quick hare nature was being dragged backwards by a glacial tortoise. Only do one thing at once? How would I ever get all the things on my list done?

But I could see that I wasn't able to do my best at anything when I was trying to do everything. It took a week or so to break the habit and to bring all of my self present to each task at hand. I would notice myself wanting to fly off in several directions at once, and I would then ask: "What is your best for this one task?" Each time I asked the question I'd take a deep breath and come back into the present moment. Then I would put all of my focus on the current action.

One place that was an extra challenge was on the internet. I'd go to grab a piece of information on a website or post something in a group on FaceBook, and a 1/2 hour later find myself way down the rabbit hole of what my friend's were up to, videos of cute animals, and articles on people doing strange things I didn't really care about. Whoops.

So in order to do my one task I would say out loud to myself: "I am now going Facebook to remind my group about the upcoming call." Then I would take a breath and cut through the circus of information and distractions with my mind clear on my one task. As soon as the task was done I'd close the page and return to what I was doing. Sometimes I felt like Indiana Jones, running the gauntlet with my sword, focused only on the light at the other side.

After bringing my full attention to each task at hand and doing my best to avoid the abundant distractions and always present temptations, I became more calm and focused. And I found I had more time, even though it felt like I was doing less. I started eating meals without also trying to answer one more email. I worked on tasks I had been avoiding. I cleared my inbox.

I also started setting aside specific times to play in FaceBook land or on the internet. I called these my roaming times. I would set a timer and then follow a thread of information and see where it would lead me. I practiced doing my best being engaged fully as I checked out what friends or strangers were posting or watched a popular news story video. I let my brain wander without purpose, and usually found something I loved or that inspired me.

I still slip and lose track of time, or end up doing tasks that are more distraction and avoidance rather than really holding my attention on where it would best be utilized. And I've learned the value of setting loving boundaries with myself, and supporting my best, one task at a time.

__________________________________

Heather Ash's apprenticeship with don Miguel Ruiz, author of The Four Agreements, began in 1994, and she now teaches with the Ruiz family. She is the author of The Toltec Path of Transformation and founder of Toci, The Toltec Center of Creative Intent. www.toci.org

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In our frenetic digital world it is easy to become swamped with emails, texts, FaceBook, and voice messages, on top of whatever tasks we have to maintain our home, work, and social life. Sometimes I feel like I'm drowning in a sea of communication-not-handled and to-do-tasks-unfinished with no life raft in sight.

# data[].attributes.body
Putting off an easy thing makes it hard. Putting off a hard thing makes it impossible. - George Claude Lorime

This is my favorite procrastination quote because it shows that putting off easy task makes those task hard. It also shows that putting off hard task only makes it more difficult. Putting off tasks means less time to work on the tasks and will only make those task more difficult.

# data[].attributes.body
Postponing or waiting to do harder tasks. Waiting to do harder tasks can waste your time because you try to put it off for as long as possible. This affects leadership because as a leader you will be forced to complete and lead very hard tasks, that you will not be able to put off.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Everyone has done it. One look at the crowds in Hillman Library during finals week is all the proof anyone needs.

Cramming, the art of procrastinating until right before a final exam, followed by trying to stuff as much information into your head as possible in those last few hours, is a time-honored tradition at every college. But why do it, especially when many experts believe it is an ineffective way of studying?

Psychologically speaking, it's a combination of several factors, according to Scott Fraundorf, an assistant professor of psychology at Pitt.

"One reason we may procrastinate in studying is that we often judge our learning based on what feels easy right now, so we don't recognize how ineffective it is to cram the night before an exam," Fraundorf said in an email.

Another rationale is that it is difficult for students to plan for the future. In psychological terms, this is called perspective taking, according to Fraundorf.

"It's easy to say 'I will have plenty of time to do that assignment later' when the due date is weeks away," he said in an email. "It is hard to anticipate all of the distractions (hanging out with friends, sleeping in, etc.) that might come up later and how compelling they will feel in the moment."

It might be too late for this semester, but Fraundorf recommends that students who are accustomed to cramming change their studying habits as soon as possible and instead take up the method of "distributing practice."

"In the long run, spreading your study over time - what psychologists call 'distributed practice' - is more effective than cramming. Distributing practice over time requires a lot of effort, so we don't realize how much we would learn from it. It doesn't feel like we are learning," Fraundorf said in an email.

For students like Nick Yerger, a sophomore studying emergency medicine, the technique of distributed practice is something he tries to observe, but ultimately gets put on the backburner until there is only time left to cram. Yerger was studying for his organic chemistry final on the first floor of Hillman Saturday. Because there is no instant gratification from studying, it is tough for the sophomore to get started.

"The fact that there isn't a crunch time made me feel that it was OK to push [work] off. I tried to fix the problem by allowing myself one hour to study and then a 15 minute break to be on my phone, but even that eventually led me to cram material when it came down to the wire," Yerger said.

Many Pitt students, like Yerger, gravitate toward the library during finals week. For a multitude of reasons, such as the open atmosphere, big tables and lots of room to work, many consider it the best place to cram on campus.

"What I really like about the library is that it minimizes my distractions," Yerger said. "In my room, I have countless different options that prove themselves much more interesting than getting work done."

He has plenty of company, especially during finals week. Behind midterms it is the second busiest time of the semester, according Diana Dill, the University Library System's instructional designer.

On average, the library saw 5,010 visitors a day this semester, Dill said. On Tuesday, Dec. 4, there were 8,474 - nearly a 70 percent increase.

With her office in the library, this overwhelming week transforms the normally sedate environment.

"Just as anecdotal evidence , I have seen people come in with pillows because they were staying so long," Dill said in an email. "Also, on the second floor, where I am, the levels of sound really pick up during finals week, especially in the afternoon."

This busy time in the library does not go over well with all students. Some, like John Kelly, a junior studying mechanical engineering, steer clear of the overpacked library in favor of other, quieter places to get their work done during finals week.

"There are too many people in one room for me to focus, it never really made sense to me," Kelly said. "Why would I go study in a room full of people when I have my own room to myself at home, or can find somewhere smaller like Benedum or Posvar where there is not so many people in one room?"

Kelly still procrastinates and ends up cramming for tests though - it just doesn't take place in the Hillman Library.

"I generally start studying early a little bit, but don't really have any sense of urgency so I don't focus well. As deadlines and exams approach, it gets more urgent and I start to focus. Ideally, I would study earlier," Kelly said."I try to, it just doesn't work out."

Although cramming isn't the best method for real, long-term learning and retention, it may have some benefits.

"Cramming can help when you only need to retain information for a very short span of time," Fraundorf said in an email.

If students do fall into the perpetual loop of procrastination, Fraundorf has advice to get you through the toughest week of the year - though ultimately, he still frowns on cramming.

"My best recommendation is not to cram - space your studying out over several days," he said. "But, if you are going to cram, it is best to do right before your exam."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Students and faculty examine procrastination cures

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Everyone has done it. One look at the crowds in Hillman Library during finals week is all the proof anyone needs. Cramming, the art of procrastinating until right before a final exam, followed by trying to stuff as much information into your head as possible in those last few hours, is a time-honored tradition at every college.

# data[].attributes.body
Constantly checking messages and social media. Constantly checking social media or messages can cause you to be unable to complete a task in a good amount of time. This affects your leadership abilities because when trying to complete a task it can take up to five times longer to complete.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Social Media Icons Set Logo, Social Media Icons, Social Media, Social Media Logo PNG and Vector with Transparent Background for Free Download in 2020 | Social media logos, Social media icons, Media icon

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Jan 10, 2020 - Download this Social Media Icons Set Logo, Social Media Icons, Social Media, Social Media Logo transparent PNG or vector file for free. Pngtree has millions of free png, vectors and psd graphic resources for designers.| 3588882

# data[].attributes.body
Wanting to be a perfectionist ins't always a bad thing. Being a perfectionist can actually help a person with assignments and keep them organized. Although, being a perfectionist can make you want to do everything a certain way every time and this can affect your leadership abilities because you wont be able to complete many tasks in a given amount of time, one will try to continue working on one task in order to perfect it.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
More than 90% of Walden graduates responding to our survey say that they are very satisfied or satisfied with Walden.*

* Source: www.WaldenU.edu/DATA, 2013-2014

Read how Dr. Shawna Charles '13 took psychology to the boxing ring

10 Surprising Facts About Online Degrees

Read more

How Do I Know If an Online University Is Right for Me?

Read more

10 Things You Might Not Know About Online Career Services

Read more

Whether looking for information on programs, admissions, or financial aid, we're here to help.

Whether looking for information on programs, admissions, or financial aid, we're here to help.

Talk to your personal enrollment specialist for more information today. Please use our International Form if you live outside of the U.S.

Talk to your personal enrollment specialist for more information today. Please use our Domestic Form if you live in the U.S.

Close

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
7 Signs You're Too Much of a Perfectionist | Psychology Careers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
More than 90% of Walden graduates responding to our survey say that they are very satisfied or satisfied with Walden.* * Source: www.WaldenU.edu/DATA, 2013-2014 10 Surprising Facts About Online Degrees Read more How Do I Know If an Online University Is Right for Me?

# data[].attributes.body
Trying to multitask. When multitasking a person tends to focus on one task more than the other task that they are doing. This affects your leadership capabilities because you want to multitask in order to get things done but doing this can actually slow you down and cause you to be unable to focus on your tasks.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Virtual Phone System for Business | Talkroute

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Do you consider yourself a multitasker? Just about everyone does, and none of us are afraid to brag about it. But you have to ask yourself, are you actually multitasking? Not only that, but we have to consider whether or not it's a good thing, in the first place. Here, we'll take a closer look at this method of working and see if it holds water.

Why do we want to be multitaskers?

Anytime someone questions if we can handle the things we're working on, we immediately tell them, "I'm a multitasker." We're proud of this because we feel that this ability somehow makes us superior beings, smarter than others. But are we really doing multiple things, at the same time?

There is no such thing.

Jim Taylor, Ph.D. comments on this misconception in his article, Technology: Myth of Multitasking (Psychology Today). He says, "There is no such thing as multitasking," and goes on to explain that while people think they are doing multiple things at once, what they are actually doing is serial tasking.

You're not multitasking; you're serial tasking.

Dr. Taylor defines serial tasking as "shifting from one task to another in rapid succession." So when you say that you're multitasking, what you're doing, in reality, is typing part of an email, then stopping that and switching to your phone to read a text, then stopping that and answering a business call, and so on..

So, can people multitask?

Yes, it is possible to engage in two tasks at the same time, but the catch is that you can only do this when the tasks are executed using different parts of the brain. For example, you can drive a car while listening to music, but your brain is not very good at typing a text message while talking on the phone and watching a video-at least not effectively. You're just not going to retain much if you do that.

While we claim that we can do multiple things simultaneously, it's just not possible. This is a fallacy because our minds can only effectively give conscious attention and focus to one task of the same type at a time.

Our multitasking hinders productivity.

If your concentration is being constantly broken and redirected to different tasks, this costs more energy, and ultimately more time to complete tasks. Single tasking is far more productive and healthier for your brain because you don't have to endure the mental stress caused by perpetually stopping and starting tasks.

Find the link at the end of this article to see for yourself how detrimental and inefficient multitasking actually is.

Single tasking? Is that a thing?.

Those who are familiar with the concept of single tasking already understand its value, but the idea is becoming increasingly discarded because we are rewarded for "multitasking". Here is how you can reduce your stress and be more productive with single tasking:

Prioritize your tasks and projects.

Frantically moving back and forth between texts, calls, emails, and everything else, does not make you more efficient-in fact it's quite the opposite. This flies in the face of how we are compelled to think, but the truth is that there is great virtue in concentrating on one thing at a time. If you are still not convinced that single tasking is more productive, try it for a week-it might just change your mind.

We hope that you will continue to join us on our journey as we help you Grow Your Business! Our blog is 100% free and you don't have to be a Talkroute customer to benefit from our materials. However, if you would like to try Talkroute's Virtual Phone System for free, you can sign up for a trial here. See you in a few days.

1. Jim Taylor, Ph.D., "Technology: Myth of Multitasking," The Power of Prime, Psychology Today, https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-power-prime/201103/technology-myth-multitasking

2. "Multitasking: Switching Costs," American Psychological Association, March 20, 2006, http://www.apa.org/research/action/multitask.aspx

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Multitasking vs. Single Tasking: Which is More Effective?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Do you consider yourself a multitasker? Just about everyone does, and none of us are afraid to brag about it. But you have to ask yourself, are you actually multitasking? Not only that, but we have to consider whether or not it's a good thing, in the first place.

# data[].attributes.body
Having a mess and unorganized working environment. Not being organized and not have a clean work space can only slow you down when complete tasks, because you can't find things or you lose things easily. This affects leadership because as a leader you have to know where all of your work is and all of the people you work with, having a messy and unorganized work area can affect this.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The disorganized accumulation of papers and coffee cups scattered across your desk may help you project the impression that you're working at full throttle, but in fact it's probably dragging you down. We've found that people sitting at messy desks are less efficient, less persistent, and more frustrated and weary than those at neat desks.

But wait, you may say. No one who has worked in a busy office for more than a week can possibly keep a neat desk - the work comes at you too fast. Or you may say that you like your mess, that it's as comforting as a little nest. To which we say yes, it can be challenging to keep a desk neat. And yes, a mess can be comforting, even freeing, in a sense: You don't have to worry about things becoming disordered, because they're already disordered.

But look at the data:

In one of our experiments, more than 100 undergraduates were exposed either to an uncluttered space or to a work area where papers, folders, and cups were scattered over shelves, a desk, and the floor, like so:

Then, in a separate room, they were asked to undertake what was described as a "challenging" - actually, it was unsolvable - task that consisted of tracing a geometric figure without retracing any lines or lifting the pencil from the paper. Those who had been exposed to the neat environment stuck with the task for an average of 1,117 seconds before giving up, more than 1.5 times as long as those who had been exposed to the messy space (669 seconds). Other experiments produced similar results.

Persistence in a frustrating task is a classic measure of what's known as self-regulation, which is essentially your ability to direct yourself to do something you know you should do. Self-regulation can be undermined by depletion of mental resources, and that's exactly what we think was going on. The mess posed a threat, in a sense: It threatened participants' sense of personal control. Coping with that threat from the physical environment caused a depletion of their mental resources, which in turn led to self-regulatory failure.

The evidence for this chain reaction comes from another aspect of the experiment: If participants wrote about their personal values, an exercise known to restore mental resources, the disorganized environment had no effect on their persistence on the fiendish task.

So even though it can be comforting to relax in your mess, a disorganized environment can be a real obstacle when you try to do something.

And although we don't have data to back this up, we conjecture that a mess of your own creation may affect you even more strongly than a mess that's been imposed by someone else. A self-created mess can become overwhelming because it serves as evidence that you're unable to control your environment.

We're aware that other researchers have found there's a benefit to a disordered environment: It seems to help people break from convention and be more creative. A team led by Kathleen D. Vohs of the University of Minnesota found that people in a room where papers were scattered on a table and the floor came up with five times more highly creative ideas for new uses of ping-pong balls than those in a room where papers and markers were neatly arranged.

The two sets of findings aren't necessarily contradictory. In fact, it could be that the depletion effect of disorder caused people to engage in primarily affective or divergent thinking, which enhanced creativity.

In any case, our research has made us think about other factors at work that may deplete employees' mental resources and therefore undermine their self-regulation and persistence. One possibility that comes to mind is extreme self-consciousness - ruminating about others' perceptions. Employees might find it depleting to wonder: What do people think of me? Of my work quality? Of my appearance? It's very possible that this kind of thinking hurts performance.

It can be challenging to turn off rumination. In comparison, solving the messy-environment problem is relatively easy. Because of our research, both of us have become more aware of the value of an ordered environment. We both keep our desks neat, and one of us (Chae) makes sure to maintain an orderly home. The reasoning: A neat environment at home allows her to head into work on Monday morning feeling fresh and restored.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Why a Messy Workspace Undermines Your Persistence

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The disorganized accumulation of papers and coffee cups scattered across your desk may help you project the impression that you're working at full throttle, but in fact it's probably dragging you down. We've found that people sitting at messy desks are less efficient, less persistent, and more frustrated and weary than those at neat desks.