PAN Blog

My desk is a royal mess, I have paperwork, magazine and newspapers piled everywhere except on my laptop, phone and lamp (my picture frames are like bookends though). My system of management is simple, those piles closest to my right hand require immediate attention those farther out represent coming work and those at the farthest reaches are long term plans. On my left is the creative pile. Here lay a stack of ideas representing all my clients in no particular order. This stack is the least organized but the richest in content; it's next to the phone. Farther out is just junk I never get around to tossing because I feel like there is good idea in there somewhere.

This style of information management, or filing, reminds me of Andy Rooney from CBS' 60 Minutes. He's a notorious clutter bug and pack rat. I think once a year he does a special on his style of filing; it's always amusing TV. ("Being Messy Has Its Perks")

Anyway, a lot has been said about the types of people who maintain a clean desk versus those that are messy. As a member of the messy group I've got to say there is a system to my untidy madness.

Not really my desk, but it feels like it: