What if you could use statistics to declutter your home, office and life, and keep it organized forever?
The Pareto Principle, also known as the 80/20 rule was developed in 1906 by Vilfredo Pareto, an Italian economist and sociologist who observed that 80% of land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population. Since then, we’ve learned the idea of the 80/20 rule has relevancy in almost every area of our lives: business, time management and usefulness of everyday objects. As as a hands-on professional organizer, we refer to these principles when working with clients. The principles are relevant whether you're organizing Los Angeles, New York City, or Italy!
Impressive statistics:
- We wear 20% of our clothes 80% of the time;
- We read 20% of our magazine subscriptions 80% of the time;
- Our shelf space holds 80% clutter and junk you’ll never use;
- We spend 80% of our attention reviewing 20% of our mail and paperwork;
- We use 20% of our kitchen gadgets 80% of the time;
- We clean 20% of the house and it takes 80% of our time to clean it;
- We will use 20% of our loose recipes to make 80% of our meals;
The Pareto Principle gives us an excellent opportunity to look at the usefulness of daily clutter in our lives. Just because you have the space to store something, doesn’t mean you necessarily need to keep it. Because according to the 80/20 rule, you may not be using it! You can make the rule work for you by understanding the importance of priorities.
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Have you heard of the Pareto Principle? How could you use it to declutter your home and office? Let us know here in the
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image above courtesy Time Management HQ.
This
original topic first appeared in an edited version on Perezitos,
Perez Hilton's lifestyle site featuring celebrity families and advice from
pediatricians, parenting, lifestyle experts and professional organizer John Trosko. Click here to check out the original piece.
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