David Kirsh, a cognitive scientist at the University of California San Diego, studies the working styles of ‘neats’ and ‘scruffies’. For example, how do people orient themselves after arriving at the office or finishing a phone call? Kirsh finds that ‘neats’ orient themselves with todo lists and calendars, while ‘scruffies’ orient themselves using physical cues – the report that they were working on is lying on the desk, as is a letter that needs a reply, and receipts that must be submitted for expenses. A messy desk is full of such cues.* A tidy desk conveys no information at all and it must
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