That?

There is a fascinating story about the “broken windows theory” in a New Yorker Malcolm Gladwell magazine article (see gladwell.com, June 3, 1996, article titled The inflection point). Stanford University psychologist Philip Zimbardo parked a car on a street in Palo Alto, California, where it remained intact for a week. After a week, as part of the experiment, Zimbardo smashed one of the car’s windows with a mallet. Within hours, the car was dismantled by vandals. Later, Gladwell wrote a book on the subject, also titled The inflection point. In the book, he expands on this idea by recounting a similar theory developed by criminologists James Q. Wilson and George Kelling. Wilson and Kelling applied the same theory to neighborhoods and communities in decline and ravaged by crime. Wilson, Kelling, Zimbardo, and Gladwell conclude that chaos is contagious. Here is an excerpt from Gladwell’s book:

“If a window is broken and not repaired, the people who pass by will conclude that nobody cares and that nobody is in charge. Soon, more windows will be broken and the feeling of anarchy will spread from the building to the street in the one that faces, sending a signal that anything goes. “

There are many applications for this theory. As a person who wants to stay focused, organized, and productive, it teaches you to pay close attention to the little bits and pieces of clutter so they don’t turn into big piles of clutter. Like chaos clutter is contagious.

And that?

It might not seem like a big deal to toss that sheet of paper into a pile in the corner of your desk. But batteries turn into batteries, and batteries become a very distracting, energy-consuming, stress-producing mess. When things are a mess, you are less likely to care if a few more items are thrown into the piles. If things are in order, you are more likely to keep them that way. In terms of clutter, I need to sweat the little things. And it is such an easy step if you want to live an organized and orderly life.

Now what?

Here’s a simple two-step solution to help minimize or eliminate clutter:

1. Have a designated place to put things.
2. Get in the habit of keeping things where they belong … in their place.

The steps work well together. People often don’t put things away because they don’t know where they belong. In this situation, it is usually easier to throw it somewhere nearby. And throwing things somewhere nearby creates clutter. The best first step if you want to get rid of clutter is to designate a place to put things … a permanent home. Draw a sketch of all your desk drawers, filing cabinets, and other storage places. Decide where everything should go and start to form the habit of putting things away when you’re not using them.

Have a place for everything and put everything in its place.