According to journalist and economist Tim Harford, disorganization can actually lead to higher success in reaching goals.

His new book, Messy: The Power of Disorder to Transform Our Lives, explores how rigid goals and structures can be detrimental to productivity and how unpredictability can have a positive effect on leadership and efficiency.

Harford goes on to explain that while messiness can make people feel anxious, strict cleanliness can be disempowering and damage productivity. In his book, he uses an example of employees who feel uncomfortable and constrained because they must always keep their desk clean. But what employers don’t realize is that disorganized desks and spaces are actually self-organizing because important things make their way to the top of the pile while unimportant things go to the bottom.

Harford’s concept does not only apply to the workplace, though. Students observed in an experiment, cited in his book, showed that strict schedules are not always conducive to good study habits. Students who had detailed day-to-day plans quickly became discouraged and their studying time was reduced. On the other hand, students who did not have detailed plans did significantly better by the conclusion of the experiment.

Overall, Harford argues that flexibility and improvisation can be invaluable attributes in the workplace and in school, and they just might make you happier in life.

To read the full article in the Washington Post, click here.