Get Organized by Choosing the Best

November 4th, 2011 General Organizing Advice

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Italian economist, Vilfredo Pareto, created the 80/20 rule or Pareto Principle. Which is:

“The Pareto principle (also known as the 80-20 rule, the law of the vital few, and the principle of factor sparsity) states that, for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.” Wikipedia

20% of our activities account for 80% of our results
20% of our clients will account for 80% of our sales
20% of our tasks will account for 80% of the value of what we do

With this in mind, you can apply it to our stuff in our homes as well. Whenever I talk about cleaning out closets, I let people know that generally we wear 20% of our clothes 80% of the time. That means we tend to wear the same things over and over while having a lot of other clothes just hanging there taking up valuable space.

With that in mind, it’s important to look at what we are really using in our homes and determine whether or not we have a lot of stuff just sitting there while using the same items over & over. When you are ready to start the decluttering process, I suggest that you place all items of the same type together so you see the sheer volume of what you have and then choose the best ones to keep.

In your closet that may mean keeping only your best & favorite shoes & belts. In the kitchen that may mean only keeping your best and favorite coffee mugs. In the bathroom that may mean only keeping your best and favorite shampoos and perfumes. In the laundry room that may mean only keeping the cleaning products that work the best.

You too can declutter your home by keeping the best and letting go of the rest!

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