
About 15 years ago, I taught myself to be organised.
For me, it’s one of my biggest achievements because of the positive impact it has had on my life (and career!).
The challenge was looking at my mindset and changing my way of thinking when it came to ‘stuff’.
Using the 80/20 rule helped me evaluate my belongings and really think about what I was keeping.
Pareto’s Principle states that for many phenomena 80% of consequences stem from 20% of causes. It is an economic principal used by businesses to streamline operations and produce higher results. By understanding this rule, it can also be used to streamline our personal lives.
So if we apply it to a business around 20% of clients usually bring in 80% of revenue.
If we apply it to the wardrobe, on average most people wear 20% of their clothes 80% of the time. In the kitchen we use 20% of our plastic containers 80% of the time and so on.
By embracing this concept and identifying and focusing on the 20% that really matters to us, it puts it into perspective and helps deal with the 80% that is not as important.
The 20% will be different for each of us as our lives and circumstances are different.
It’s not about getting rid of everything; it is about determining what is truly important to us and what is just taking up space.
The other 80% can be made up of things we use occasionally, but there will also be items in there that fall under a clutter category that we need to look at and really think about why we are keeping them.
- Prioritise your belongings, what do you use on a regular basis? What do you sometimes use, which items are never used?
- Are there items from a past life? Have you changed career or started a family. Are you keeping items because you think you will ‘get back to it’…how long has it been?
- Memorabilia – these items pull at our heart strings, but how much are you keeping and do you actually look at or enjoy having them?
- Just in case – how often do we think something might come in handy one day!…has it actually come in handy?
- Monetary value – are you holding on to something because of its perceived worth? How much is it making you by sitting in your home or office unused? How much is it costing your peace of mind?
- Be realistic. If you put everything together that holds the same value, how long have they sat unused or not looked at? Consider the impact these items have on your space and mind and DECLUTTER.
Don’t delay, start today
Sara