Using the 80-20 Rule
to Organize Life, Inside Out

You may have heard of the 80-20 Rule, also called Pareto's Principle.

It essentially states that 80% of results come from 20% of effort.

So if you're not happy with the results of how your home is organized, just change 20% of your efforts and see the difference.

By applying the 80-20 rule to organizing your house and your life, we can identify where we should spend more or less time and energy.

Here are some ways Pareto's Principle applies to most people:

• 80% of disorganization comes from 20% of our actions.
• If you look around your home, 20% of the objects cause 80% of the clutter.
• 20% of the house takes 80% of our time to clean and organize.

  To cut down the time, I recommend setting a timer for 15 minutes and trying to organize or clean as much as possible in this amount of time. It keeps you focused and on-task. If you really do need more time, you can always re-set the timer again.

• We use 20% of things 80% of the time.

  For example, most people only wear 20% of the clothes they own on a regular basis.

• Changing 20% of your habits could positively affect 80% of your results.
• Limiting tasks to the 20% which are most important can shorten the time spent organizing.

  For example, the 20% I consider most important would be clearing the mental and emotional blockages to getting organized by using Inside-Out Techniques, identifying your intentions for the space, and then cleaning, decluttering, and simplifying.

Quality Over Quantity

The 80-20 rule also applies to how we value the items we own. The truth is that we value 20% of what we have more than the other 80%.

• If you look around at your possessions, what 20% do you REALLY love, enjoy, and use regularly?
• If there were a fire and you only had time to grab the most important 20%, what would you choose?
• If you lost EVERYTHING in a fire or flood, which items would you try to replace?

Most people would only try to replace about 20% of the items with something identical.

The 80-20 Rule Applied to Shopping

Take a good look at what you actually spend your discretionary income (spending $) on each year. This gives you an idea of what you truly value. You'll see that typically you spend 80% of that amount on your favorite 20%.

For example, my favorite 20% last year included:

• Laptop computer
• iPod
• Digital book reader
• Travel
• Stylish 3-season black coat
• Favorite blue jeans
• Artwork
• A flattering black dress
• My favorite little purse

Your 20% list will be different. The main point is that there are some things worth paying a little bit more money for because they are of good quality. I believe I actually save a lot more money by not buying cheaper items more often.

It's easier to part ways with the other 80%. Once you identify what you really value using the 80-20 rule, make an effort to decrease, donate, eliminate, sell, or otherwise get rid of that 80% which is cluttering up your home organization.

See if you can apply the 80 20 Rule to to other areas of your life, such as your habits and behaviors. Identify the few, important actions that really make the most difference, and focus your time, energy, and money on them.