Meet the Most Organized Man in the World, Ursus Wehrli

Who is Ursus Wehrli?

Ursus Wehrli is a comedian, live performer, and freelance artist whose book, The Art of Clean Up, shows what happens when a tidy person tries to add order to life’s natural chaos. Like here…

“There’s an order in everything.”

“I am always fascinated by the structure of things, why do things work this way and not that way.” Left: Alphabet soup before Wehrli got his hands on it.

“What happens if you change the point of view?”

“I like to turn things upside down, to watch pictures and situations from another perspective.” Left: Alphabet soup, Wehrli-style.

“Our everyday lives are filled with complex decisions.”

“We long for simplicity and ordinariness.” Left: Laundry hung in its natural random state.

“Tidying up is very satisfying!”

“One way to organize your thoughts is to tidy up, even if it’s in places where it makes no sense at all.” Like the laundry line.

“I often get asked if I’m a neat and tidy person myself.”

“I’d love to be a tidy person, but my place is a chaotic mess. I love to make lists and that’s the reason I get nothing done.” Left: The parking lot as created by humans.

“I do bounce between being totally chaotic and very orderly.”

“It’s great to sit in a pile of ideas scattered around me, but there comes a point where my workshop, my desk—and my head—need to be clear and plain again.” And perhaps even the parking lot.

For more fun with Wehrli, watch his 2006 TED Talk: