There are three main types of people when it comes to office organization- the “it’s a giant pile of papers, but I know where everything is” type, the “it’s spotless on the surface, but please don’t open the drawers” type and the “I have to have everything placed at a 90 degree angle on my desk” type. There is no superior type, but studies show that your brain is an extremely organized circuit board, and when there is no organization put into place, the human brain has to work much harder to decipher disorganization, according to personal development expert, Jonathan Fields.

Because the disorganization outside of the brain is not systematic as the interior of the brain, the prefrontal cortex is over worked and because that is the part of the brain that processes willpower and keeps anxiety, fear and impulse under control, when it is over worked, it’s “energy,” so to speak, is squandered. When this happens, your brain doesn’t keep anxiety, fear and impulse under control, and the brain gives in and becomes distracted. The brain also becomes resistant to the types of mental processes required to innovate, create, or perform simple business tasks as it gives in to fear and impulse.

There are ways to refocus your prefrontal cortex, like using technology to organize your ideas (like Evernote.com or AskMeEvery.com) or a physical organization of your work space or personal space so that the brain is not taxed by the disorganization that surrounds it.