I cleaned my desk this week. I’d been thinking about it for months, so it was a little embarrassing to realize it took less than half an hour to tame all the stacks and piles. I even dealt with all the unfinished business the scraps of paper and notes represented in that short time. If I hadn’t been so sure it was a monumental task, I might have been enjoying a clean desk for months now.

As soon as I was done, I felt like throwing a party. My desk was clean! But even as I was tweeting my joy, I realized that other people might look at my desk and think I had more work to do. In the past, I would have thought so myself, because I keep a lot of stuff on my desk all the time.

I often admire the crisp, clean lines of a modern room that has minimal decoration and only the essentials present. The bare surfaces and empty spaces look so peaceful, I was sure I was missing out. When I visited someone with a clutter-free home, their stark, neat space felt cold and dead to me, and I didn’t like it. But I kept thinking I should.

Then I found this article about remodeling your office and learned how a person’s best mode for learning predicts the sort of environment they are most productive in.
Visual learners love color but need things tidy. Auditory learners are extra-clean, and prefer neutrals to strong colors. Kinesthetic learners care most how their space feels.

I learn most easily by seeing and doing, a mix of visual and kinesthetic modes. Knowing that, I look at my clean desk and see it fits who I am. I have the colorful things that make my desk feel like home, all tidy and in their place.

I like to have lots of books within easy reach, especially reference books, my reading journals, and my current notebooks. I also have toys and talismans to look at, things that make me smile. I keep my daily planner open on the desk because I value the ease of instant access to my schedule over having that space clear.

When the piles begin to grow, my Visual Learner gets cranky. But since my dominant Kinesthetic Learner doesn’t mind the mess, I put up with it for long stretches of time, until the sobbing of the Visual Learner finally gets to me. Then I take pity on her and spend a little time making things look neat.

What about you? What does your clean desk look like? Does the link between learning mode and preferred environment apply to you?