LONDON, March 22 -- It's often said that dogs end up looking like their owners, and in the workplace, the workstation may also reflect its occupant. Every desk has its own personality, and some attract more attention than others, especially messy ones. With scattered papers, dirty mugs and tangled cables, their appearance is a shock to those who prefer order. And yet, judgments aside, studies show that this chaos could be detrimental to collective productivity. Could a tidy workspace be synonymous with productivity?

Many of us use the transition from winter to spring to do some deep cleaning - and our workspaces should not be excluded from the process. However, tidiness (or rather the lack of it) can be a sensitive subject in the workpla...