Packed bench tops are very common among design folks, IMO really a reflection of their personality and work habits.
I agree but it's a poor way to work because frustration is never far away if you need to introduce something into the work area and there's nowhere to put it.
At my place of work we briefly 'got it right' a few years ago where engineers were encouraged to only use what test gear they needed for a particular task. Obviously some types of test gear remained on the bench full time but stuff like parts and most tools were not stored on the benck or the shelves. The work area and potential space should be 'owned' by the designer and the stuff being worked on and not the test gear and parts and tools.
Sadly, the bean counters and health and safety people went too far in recent times and lots of things were banned from workbenches. They got too heavily into '5S' making it very impractical to do creative stuff because the beancounters wanted the labs to look like something from a catalogue in order to impress important visitors.
Basically, what I am suggesting is that if you leave engineers to their own devices they will end up working in a cramped and frustrating and stifled work area. Apply the basics of 5S and you can really make a positive difference. But overdo the 5S principles and it quickly becomes very bad.
For years I used to do the same as everyone on here. I'd plan my work bench to try and accommodate all my test gear and parts and tools leaving sod all space for me or the projects or for any flexibility. But I found out a number of years ago that there's a better way to work than this.