QOTD: cubism

question of the day: do you think that if people have a messy cube it means that the rest of their life is disorganized too? how much can you tell about a person from how they keep their cube?

No, a messy cube doesn’t mean anything other than someone is busy or likes to give the illusion of busy. Lots of people have messy looking cubes but can find something the instant someone asks for it. Now if there is rotting food and day old meals on the desk that is an entirely different story. That is a total disregard for hygiene.

i think its a sign of how busy they are. my cube is messy cuz i get slammed with work and have NO TIME to organize it in my day. ppl who have time to organize it all, must have more time and less work than i do. When i do have a half hour, you'll find my desk cleaned up.

Since my cube is organized 50% of the time, and disorganized the other 50%, I would say that my life at home can not be viewed in this manor. But in reality, my life at home is 50% of the time organized and disorganized the other 50%...

well, my desk is usually dirty, and i like my hookers dirty, so i guess so.

My cube is pretty neat and tiday. My box is a mess though. Not sure what that says about me.

i think cubes are actually very telling of a person. people who have very bland cubes tend to be more private, quiet, and to a point 'boring'. those who have more in their cube tend to be more outgoing, forward, and lively.

i don't think it means anything....hey, are you threatening me?

not all the time but in some cases I am sure the way an individuals cubicle looks it a good representation for the rest of their life. Yikes! I wonder what that says about my life.

I suddenly feel compelled to clean my cube! Hmm...don't know, but maybe I'm saying that b/c my cube is disorganized. Or it was...

are you saying I have a messy cube? So what if my life is spiraling out of control and I've lost everything. I don't think that is any of your business and who are you to judge me on the contents of my desk!?!?! most of these papers are worthless from stupid meetings that mean nothing!!! Stop killing trees to clutter my desk!!!

i don't necessarily think person with messy cube = person with messy life. but there are tons of articles saying that people who keep tidy cubes are percieved as more organized and are more likely to recieve tasks and perhaps promoted than an equal with a messy cube. and as for how they keep their cube, i think people ought to have to have fun cubes with toys, things on the wall, whatever... you are at work for a majority of your day...make it fun. people with NOTHING in their cube dissapoint me. where's the creativity???

A messy cube just means that you are TRYING to look busy, as oppossed to ACTUALLY being busy.

You can tell everything about a person by the way they keep their cube. People who have a disorganized cube are usually disorganized about their work (papers everywhere), so I assume their homes and cars look the same. Then, the next thing you know, they're digging up corpses just to punch them in the stomach.

The naked shots of [male coworker] in [male coworker]'s cube makes me wonder about their private life!!

A desktop is a dynamic thing. Looking at it once, taking a "snapshot" if you will, doesn't capture the dynamic elements of the organization. People like me with "messy" desktops know where everything is; there's usually a method behind the madness. Here's a good guide: messy + dirty = disorganized person; messy = person with dynamic organization; clean = mildly obsessive need to have one place for everything. There's nothing wrong with the "clean" desk, it's just not for everyone. However, the desk/cube does speak clearly to the rest of their lives.

I'm not sure I've ever really known enough about a co-worker's life to be able to answer this question. I can say that my cube is usually kind of messy, but I try to keep my house neat.