“80/20” Philosophy
Often a space can feel cluttered or disorganized because there are simply too many items in the space. Ideally, a space is made up of 80% thoughtfully organized items with 20% of the space available, allowing the space to breath and for temporary items to ebb and flow in and out of life.
Space to breath.
Ever look at a cupboard has way too many things in it and feel the claustrophobia set in?
Consider these ways to create “20%” available space:
Containing like items into bins is one of the easiest ways to create some breathing room in a cupboard. There should be enough space in between each container that the container can easily slide in and out. The space between each container will instantly give the shelf or drawer some breathing space.
When I fill a storage bin, I leave some space in the bin. I don’t have to take everything out of my winter accessories bin to find that one hat I’m looking for, as there is available space to move items around. This also leaves some room for new hats or gloves to go in until I have a chance to sort through at the end of the season and get the bin back down to a 20% capacity, or consider a larger bin moving forward.
Adding more shelves to a cupboard can mean items don’t have to be stacked onto of each other, giving the items more breathing room.
Even my work day calendar benefitted from 20% available space. A colleague introduced me to the 50-minute meeting productivity technique, and I never looked back!
Space for temporary items.
Ever wrap a birthday present a week early and think, where the heck am I going to put this so I don’t have to look at it for 7 days?
Consider creating a temporary space for items like this:
Purse or Daily Bag
Gifts and Items that need to be returned
Ongoing Projects (Ex. Knitting, crafts, and other hobbies)
These temporary spaces look like a shelf in my front closet, the bottom drawer of a cabinet, and even a bin in my basement storage room. The space near the front door is great for things that are on their way out (think birthday presents, tucking away my purse, or items I am returning). Ongoing projects stand the best chance of getting tucked away if their temporary space is in the area I am most likely to be working on them.
The catch? 20% can feel like a lot of space to give up to nothingness. It’s less about giving up a 5th of my storage space, and more about the feeling that comes when I have a space to tuck something away temporarily or when I look into a cupboard and I can see and access everything in it without having to move too many items around.