As defined by Mayo Clinic, “hoarding is the excessive collection of items, along with the inability to discard them. “  Symptoms include: cluttered spaces, inability to discard items, moving items from one pile to another, without discarding anything, difficulty organizing items, excessive attachment to possessions, including discomfort letting others touch or borrow possessions, limited or no social interactions. (Although the last one is a stereotypical trait, that many misinformed people associate with scientists.)

Note: Compulsive hoarding is a very serious mental health condition that we have seen exploited, in recent years, on reality TV. I don’t mean to make light of that condition, but I do want to have a little fun here.

If you have ever walked through a research lab you have probably seen most of these symptoms piled on lab benches and consuming storage space.

1. Your lab bench is 10 feet long, but you only have two feet of work space.  You have every possible reagent or kit out on your bench, including solutions you used five projects ago.  All of these items must be out on your bench (instead of in cabinets and drawers) so you can see them and access them instantly when inspiration strikes. Besides, they wouldn’t fit in the cabinets even if you tried to put them there.

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