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| Copyright © 2006-2007 Organized Visions. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy |
| The 80/20 Rule and You |
You may have heard of the 80/20 Rule. It has a lot of other names like the Pareto Principle or
the Vital Few and Trivial Many Rule. Essentially, you can interpret it to mean that only about
20% of your items (papers/time spent, etc) is valuable while 80% isn’t.
Another way to look at it could be that 80% of your efforts will yield 20% of your results, or
in the case of things owned, you only use about 20% of the things you have.
It doesn’t mean that you throw out the things that fall under the “80%”, but you should
evaluate what items or tasks are productive or useful for you. Understanding how the 80/20
rule works in your life can help you to tackle your clutter—be it paper, time or just stuff in
general.
Over-owning
To consider that we only use about 20% of our items is staggering. The number might be off a
bit, but it is more likely the case that we have more than we need. We’re a society of over-
achievers and we all like to have nice things, but try to apply the 80/20 rule even a little bit to
weed out those things that you truly don’t use.
Clothing
The truth is if you look into your wardrobe you probably wear the same clothes over and
over again. Most of it probably doesn’t fit or it’s not in style or season. Sort out what doesn’t
fit, has to be repaired, or you don’t like. You don’t have to clean our 80% but trim the fat.
At Home
Mail
the Vital Few and Trivial Many Rule. Essentially, you can interpret it to mean that only about
20% of your items (papers/time spent, etc) is valuable while 80% isn’t.
Another way to look at it could be that 80% of your efforts will yield 20% of your results, or
in the case of things owned, you only use about 20% of the things you have.
It doesn’t mean that you throw out the things that fall under the “80%”, but you should
evaluate what items or tasks are productive or useful for you. Understanding how the 80/20
rule works in your life can help you to tackle your clutter—be it paper, time or just stuff in
general.
Over-owning
To consider that we only use about 20% of our items is staggering. The number might be off a
bit, but it is more likely the case that we have more than we need. We’re a society of over-
achievers and we all like to have nice things, but try to apply the 80/20 rule even a little bit to
weed out those things that you truly don’t use.
Clothing
The truth is if you look into your wardrobe you probably wear the same clothes over and
over again. Most of it probably doesn’t fit or it’s not in style or season. Sort out what doesn’t
fit, has to be repaired, or you don’t like. You don’t have to clean our 80% but trim the fat.
At Home
- Pick a room...any room...one that needs to be organized. Now pick a day....one where
you can devote at least 3-4 hours. - Find 3 boxes or baskets and label them: Keepers, Donors & Goners.
- Keepers are things you want to keep and will use.
- Donors are things you have no use for and can give away
- Goners are things that can't be used by anyone or that need to be tossed away.
- Find a good home for the Keepers (or store them away neatly)
- Send the Donors off to their new owners
- Get rid of the Goners.
- Sort your mail right away into four piles:
- To Pay
- To Read
- To File (includes papers that need to be reviewed or kept on file
- Junk Mail: throw it away or set it aside to shred it
- Set up a Mail Station
- PutPutfor your paper.
