Does your desk look like this?

Alan (California Radiant) Forbes

http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17jynv62x2hf0jpg/original.jpg
https://secure.i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02637/messy-desk_2637008b.jpg

Steamhead

Worse.

Alan (California Radiant) Forbes

I think mine's worse than yours.

Erin Holohan Haskell

Is that top one Albert Einstein's office?

Sal Santamaura

An older former colleague of mine, who'd been in engineering probably 20 years longer than I had, told the tale of a draftsman he worked with long before CAD came on the scene. This person enjoyed reading newspapers and magazines when he should have been completing drawings. To facilitate that, he had a "busy kit" consisting of a mylar with some lines and symbols drawn, as well as various drafting tools glued into place in typical locations. That was kept rolled up to the side while he read.

When a supervisor approached, he'd quickly unroll the 'kit' and assume a pose consistent with the 'work' he'd been 'doing' on that drawing. Although they couldn't be rolled up, the desk pictures Alan attached resemble several engineers' desks I saw. In those cases, the center drawer held non-work-related material. It was kept slightly open for reading and, when a supervisor approached, slid closed, followed by shuffling of "stuff" on the top surface. In no case I was aware of did the supervisor catch on.

This may have been somewhat poetic. Engineering managers in large corporations tended to frown on clean desks, certain such orderliness indicated employee sloth.

Solid_Fuel_Man

@Sal Santamaura wow sounds like a high school cheat sheet to pass the class! A bit sad in a career I'd say.

STEVEusaPA

Organized desk...organized mind...organized life.

GroundUp

If I have 1 sheet of paper that doesn't align with the one underneath or on top of it, I will tear the whole thing apart and organize it again. The only thing that upsets me more than clutter in my workspace is someone who chews with their mouth open. Nice, neat, clean, and organized. I had an old journeyman tell me when I first started, to always follow the 7 P's.

Prior
Proper
Planning
Prevents
Piss
Poor
Performance

Alan (California Radiant) Forbes

Period!

Larry Weingarten

Hi, This exemplifies the conundrum created by the difference between what should be and what is. Kids are taught ideals and then grow up to how it really is. No wonder there are a few cynics in the world.

Yours, Larry

ps, To Erin's question, here's an Einstein quote that may not actually be relevant, but it fits the desks: "Confusion of goals and perfection of means seems, in my opinion, to characterize our age."

STEVEusaPA

Although that desk would drive me crazy, what really looks horrible (unprofessional) to me, is when a dashboard of a work truck looks like that. My van is reasonably organized, depending on the season, but nothing ever on the dashboard.

Alan (California Radiant) Forbes

I hear you on the dashboard! But to tell you the truth, if I didn't have a desk, dashboard it is, fair game.

mars_6

My desk. I aint
.

mars_6

That was supposed to say ain't complaining.