Mess makes us more productive economist Tim Harford says

When did we get so fixated with order and tidiness?

So keen are we on order that messy desks are often looked down on, we fear speaking in public without notes and being prepared has almost gained a moral value.

But sometimes, mess is good.

So says star economist Tim Harford, the Financial Times’ ‘undercover economist’, and presenter of Radio 4’s More or Less.

In this episode of the Big Money Questions, Tim tells presenter Rachel Rickard Straus about how mess can make us more productive, creative and sometimes more successful. 

This can be in the workplace – for example working with people who are different from us tends to bring greater success.

It can even be extended to our commute. We like to think we have our commute down to a tee, but a study involving data taken around a tube strike reveals otherwise.

A messy approach could also help improve the stability of the banks, Tim argues.

The power of mess even helped produce some of David Bowie’s best-ever albums – and helped Martin Luther King give perhaps the best speech ever made. 

Want to try it out?

Tim shares ideas on how we can unleash the creative and productive power of mess – without just tipping up the papers on our desks. 

Not as bad as it looks: Tim Harford explains how a messy desk could make us more productive