Time is money; it really is! We’ve all heard that phrase, but it’s true. You probably just thought, “do I have time to read this blog post?” If a friend asked you on a Saturday if you could spare four hours to help him/her move, you’d probably think about it for at least a few minutes — depending on how close you are to that person of course among other things — and you’d probably think about what you already have planned for that day or what you had hoped to accomplish around your home. Our time is important; we don’t like wasting it. When we wait in line at a store, we feel impatient, and we think about things we need to get done. Where is she going with this? I’m sure you’re thinking that now as you think about your time reading this post.
Stay with me for a minute…think about your time. Now place a dollar value on it per hour. It might be what you get paid at your job or a random amount (e.g., $50, $100, $200). Now think about the time you spend looking for things in your home (e.g., sunglasses, keys, cell phone). That’s in a sense money wasted. Right? You value your time at say $100 an hour, but if you spend an hour looking for something in your home, you’ve just devalued your time. You’ve “spent” an hour or $100. For some of you this is a bit of a stretch, but if you think of your time in this way, it really drives home the point that it’s important and easily wasted. If you own your own business, you might think of it as time that you could be spending meeting potential new clients or building your website or networking. Instead of wasting money, you could be making money.
Having a home that is clutter-free and organized, and for some “minimal,” can help you to save time and money. When you have a place for everything, and when that place is not jam-packed with stuff, then getting things out and putting them back saves you time. Also, when you only keep those things that are important and meaningful to you in your home, and discard or donate the rest, then you can really put your time into the things that you love.
Now think for a minute of your dream home. Is it full of stuff? No, of course not. It’s probably clutter-free, clean, relaxing, and welcoming. If you can get your home to look like your dream home or at least closer to it, then you can spend time doing what you love. Once you have a system for where things should live in your home, and if that system is logical (e.g., medicine is kept in the medicine cabinet; items that you use most are kept on a shelf that is easily-reachable), then maintaining a clutter-free home is pretty easy. Of course there are always other factors: children and other family members living with you; a busy life; more than one job; renovations. But thinking about how important time is in your life can really motivate you to organize your home in an intuitive way so as to not waste time and money looking for things on a regular basis.
Cheryl Russo
July 2017