"A messy  desk can actually lead people towards clearer thinking", say researchers from Germany. The researchers found in a series of linked studies----using a messy desk and a messy shop front ----that people actually thought more clearly when all around was chaos, as they sought to simplify the tasks at hand.  Visual and mental mess forces human beings to focus and think more clearly. Famous thinkers and writers such as Albert Einstein and Roald Dahl have been well-known for their untidy desks.  "Messy desks may not be as harmful as they appear to be. As the problem-solving approaches they seem to cause can increase work efficiency or improve employees' creativity in problem-solving," say the authors.  "Business and government managers often promote 'clean desk' policies to avoid disorganized offices and messy desks, for the purpose of improving work efficiency and productivity," writes lead researcher Jia Liu from the University of Groningen in a paper published in the Journal of Consumer Research.  "This practice is based on the conventional wisdom that a disorganized and messy environment can clutter  one's mind and make one's judgments difficult." "However, not all evidence supports this traditional link between a messy environment and a messy mind."  The scientists tested people's response in various messy environments----including a messy shop front, a disorganized desk, and even a work environment where a language task "reminded" people of messiness.   The authors found in the series of six studies tended towards simplicity in their thinking. "They categorized   products in a simpler manner, were willing to pay more for a T-shirt that shows a simple-looking picture, and sought less variety in their choices," said the researchers. From the passage we can infer that_.
managers often promote "clean desk" policies people tend to make clearer and simpler choices at a messy desk people find it hard to organize time at a messy desk people dislike a T-shirt with a simple-looking picture