What Does a Messy Room Say About You?

Your Mental Health
Having a messy room might be the result of a lot of factors. It might mean you are busy and have little time to clean and organize. It might be a sign that you have too much stuff. Or it might be the result of having young kids in the house who are usually not motivated to clean up after themselves.

But if your room is just habitually messy, does it say anything about the state of your mental health?

In some instances, the state of your room might be linked to a psychiatric condition. People with obsessive-compulsive disorder, for example, may become so preoccupied with keeping things clean that any amount of disorder can become a significant source of anxiety. In other instances, people hoard items to the point that they cannot part with even the most trivial objects. Their homes fill with years and years worth of useless items, from old newspapers to plastic containers.

Beyond these and other serious conditions, the psychology behind a messy room can hinge on a few key factors:

If having a messy room is a new phenomenon
If the mess is something that actually bothers you
If it is a sign of something deeper going on in your life
Messiness Might be Normal

Is your messiness habitual? Some people simply do not place a high priority on having everything clean, organized, and in its place. In this case, messiness is simply a normal state of affairs. If the house is cluttered and it’s just fine with you, then it’s probably more a sign of your personality and preferences.

Messiness From Feeling Overwhelmed

Does the mess bother you? If you are frustrated, angry, or overwhelmed by the clutter and disarray, then it’s a clear sign that something needs to be addressed. Sometimes a mess might be frustrating, but figuring out where to start and how to tackle the problem can seem overwhelming. This might mean eliminating some things, learning new organizational tactics, or getting other household members to help with the cleanup.

Messiness as a Sign of Depression

Is the messy room something new and unusual? If you are typically neat and organized, suddenly not caring about a messy room might be a sign that something is going on in your life. For example, messiness can sometimes be a sign of depression. Depressed people often feel too fatigued or hopeless to keep up with routine household tasks.

Depression can also make it harder to stay focused and have the energy to straighten up a room. If you struggle to stay on task, it can be hard to devote the time and attention needed to keep things tidy. So while you might notice that the room is messy and have intentions to clean it up, finding the concentration and energy levels needed to do the task can be difficult or even impossible.

If you suspect that your messy room might be a sign of problems in your life or a result of depression, don’t be afraid to reach out. Talk about what is going on with your doctor or consult a mental health professional to get specific advice for your situation. A counselor, therapist, or doctor can help you get to the bottom of what’s going on and assist you in coming up with a plan of action to address the problem.

Your Personality
So what makes tidy and messy people different? Are some people just born with personalities that prefer order while other thrive on chaos?

While some might suggest that a cluttered room is a sign of a cluttered mind, those who prefer this type of environment are not necessarily disorganized. Their desks might look like a jumbled mess, strewn with papers, envelopes, and files. Yet they always seem to know exactly where each and every item is when they need it. The famed psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud was once attributed as saying, “Don’t clean up the mess. I know exactly where everything is.”

In fact, some people seem to thrive in this type of environment. Some of the most creative and productive people seem to be incurable slobs.

If having a perfectly neat and tidy room is what inspires you and helps you feel productive and creative, it might mean that you tend to have more of what is known as a Type A personality. People with this personality type tend to be perfectionists. Having everything in its place helps fulfill their need for order and control.

But if you tend to be more laid back in your approach to housework and tidying up, it might mean that you have more of a Type B personality type. People with this personality type are more relaxed than their Type A counterparts. Rather than focusing on achieving perfection, they are more attracted to ideas, experiences, and creativity.

Advantages
And there is research that supports the idea that messiness also has an upside. Researchers found that while working in an orderly room encouraged behavior such as generosity and healthy eating, working in a messy environment actually led to greater creativity.

Increased Generosity

In the study, participants were asked to fill out questionnaires in a room. For some of the participants, the room was very clean and organized. For other subjects, they completed the questionnaire in a very messy, disorganized space.

As they left the room, participants were offered a few choices. First, they were asked if they wanted to donate money to a charity. Then they were offered a snack: either an apple or a candy bar. Those who completed the survey in a tidy room were more likely to donate more of their own money to a charity. They were also more likely to choose the apple over the candy bar.

Increased Creativity

The researchers believe that doing work in a clean and tidy space activates social norms encouraging people to do what is expected of them. Working in a messy space, on the other hand, relaxes that need and allows people to break free of social norms and expectations.

In a separate experiment, participants were again placed in either clean or messy rooms and then asked to complete a task, which involved finding new uses for ping-pong balls. The participants were in the messy room condition were rated by impartial judges as coming up with more creative and innovative ideas than those who are in the clean room condition.

Such findings may have implications when designing workspaces, particularly for professions that require a great deal of innovation and creativity. Employers might be encouraged to allow their workers to design and create workspaces that are more highly personalized, even if that means they might be less tidy.

Obviously, as the researchers explain, this doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone who is exposed to a messy environment will become more creative. Some people tend to work better in highly organized spaces while others work better in less organized environments. Personality and preferences are things that come in to play in such situations.

Forcing a person who prefers a tidy space to work in a disorderly environment, for example, might actually result in less creativity and lower productivity. And jobs that are focused on efficiency and fast decision-making might be better geared toward tidy workspaces, while those that hinge on creativity might be better suited to less tidy spaces.

So while orderliness might be the most aspirational quality, research has also shown that there are some advantages to being messy. If you tend to have a messy room, here are some possible advantages backed by psychology research.