This Digi-Key blog article has some really interesting takes on the question of a messy desk for a design engineer. The messy desk fits the popular stereotype of the non-technical general public, but most of the time it leads to worse productivity, especcially when dealing with high-frequency circuits. Nevertheless, there are a few notable exceptions. The legendary analog design engineer Jim Williams who worked at Linear Technology was famously known for having a super messy desk? His response when asked about it? He likes to work that way, and besides, he found it discourages coworkers from “temporarily” borrowing tools off of his desk. Another interesting viewpoint on the caveats of having a super clean and organized desk in the corporate world, it can send subliminal messages to management that the engineering team is “almost finished.”
Oh, and the final thing in this article, it mentioned a quote from Albert Einstein. Paraphrasing, if a cluttered desk indicates a cluttered mind, what does an empty desk indicate?
20201201/https://www.digikey.com/en/blog/even-einstein-can-be-wrong