The Statistics of Clutter

The purge continues. Out out! Glass jars and various flotsam from the kitchen.

While surfing I found this article at: Becoming Minimalist.

• The US department of energy reports that one-quarter of people with two-car garages have so much stuff in them that they can’t park a car.
  
• According to the National Soap and Detergent Association, getting rid of clutter would eliminate 40 percent of housework in the average home.
  
• The National Association of Professional Organizers says we spend one year of our lives looking for lost items.
  
• Harris Interactive reports that 23 percent of adults say they pay bills late (and incur fees) because they lose them.
  
• One in 11 American households rents a self-storage space, spending over $1000 a year in rent.
  
• It costs an average of $10/square foot to store items in your home.
  
• In a 2008 NAPO survey of 400 consumers nationwide, 27% said they feel disorganized at work, and of those, 91% said they would be more effective and efficient if their workspace was better organized. 28% said they would save over an hour per day and 27% said they would save 31 to 60 minutes each day.
  
• Stephanie Winston, author of The Organized Executive, estimates a manager loses one hour/day to disorder, costing the business up to $4,000/yr if earning $35,000/yr – or $8,125/yr at $65,000).
  

I don't know about anyone else but we seem to be able to find inconsequential things, but never important things. While the receipt for a $12.00 trip to a local burger joint last March is safely in the file (why?) the receipt for the purchase of an expensive appliance which is under a year old (and is now trying to die) is nowhere to be found.

I find looking for things I should be able to find easily frustrating and exhausting. This entire process of clearing things out is going to be one of layers. Clear up one layer and go on to the next. My goal is to have nothing that I do not love, or need to function on a daily basis.