I used to work with a woman who never had a thing on her desk — except maybe a coffee cup and a box of tissues. She was a newspaper editor. The only time you’d see page proofs littering her desk was on press day. When she left each night, you looked at her workspace and wondered if she’d quit. Her desk was bare, like she wasn’t coming back.
I’d imagine that leaving behind a clean desk every night would set you up for great mornings, chock-full of the spirit of new beginnings. You probably wouldn’t even need coffee to get energized, once you saw that vast expanse of laminate wood stretching before you.
But I am a freelance content writer. I have a messy desk most of the time.
I’m constantly trying to communicate core messages on clients’ websites, Facebook pages and marketing emails in creative, new ways. I save links to news items that I can weave into their company’s story, to keep copy fresh and relevant. I have scribbled notes with content ideas and background information.
The need for marketing is constant. You can’t just deliver a message once, like a newspaper can print a story. Finding new approaches to communicate the same message and engage a target market over the long term is a challenge, and why I have a messy desk.
Or at least that’s what I tell myself.