Use the 80-20 Rule For Clutter Control

By Katie Hoffman

Too much stuff makes for stress, guilt and wasted money. You have stress because you can't find anything and your living quarters are crammed to the brim. You have guilt because you know you have too much stuff but you are resisting getting rid of it because you do not have enough time or energy. You are wasting money by the boatload if you are paying for storage, and you are wasting more money because you are probably buying things you do not need because you already have them, but you have so much stuff you can not find the original items.

There is a very simple rule that can be applied not only to your clutter, but to how you handle getting rid of your clutter. It is called the 80/20 rule, or the Pareto Principle, after the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto who realized that 20% of inputs tend to result in 80% of results. In other words, about 20% of your efforts create 80% of your results. Applied to your stuff, you use about 20% of your stuff 80% of the time. Conversely, 80% of your stuff is used only 20% of the time.

The Pareto Principle is not set in stone. In fact, in many cases it is more like the 90/10 rule, or, in the case of the party dresses that have been hanging in your closet for the last five years, the 97/3 rule. Whatever the situation and whatever the portions, there is a clear trend in life that some actions create way more results than others. Some periods of time are way more productive than others. Take work: what periods of time at work do you accomplish 80% of your work?

By using the Pareto Principle with clutter, the whole howling chaos becomes much easier to tame. Begin with the simplest of the clutter rules: one drawer at a time. Then apply 80/20 to every item. If you use it a lot, keep it, but if you use it let than 20% of the time, put it aside.

Granted, some things that you rarely use will have to be kept, but they do not have to be kept under your nose. Storage was made for the things you do use and need, but do not use and need frequently. Your living space was made for the things you use constantly. Goodwill was made for everything else.

This invokes another fantastic rule of clutter control. If you can not bear to toss it, put it in a box, date the box, and come back to the box anywhere from one to three months from now. When you open the box again, most of the items you see will no longer make you think "oh, I need that" because you know you haven't needed them in three months. This makes it easy to give away most of what is in the box, but allows you to grab one or two things you still want three months later. No more emotional agony. No more unnecessary clutter. No more throwing things out you wish you had kept.

About the Author:  Katie Hoffman is a reformed pack rat. She lives in a small but uncluttered apartment that has indoor storage benches in the kitchen and the living room and a shoe storage bench in the entryway and in the bedroom closet.