Roughly one in four people say they feel disorganized at work. And if we used the correct organizational tools we could improve our time management by 38 percent, according to Mobile Technology Products. There's no denying that clutter costs us big-- not only in lost productivity, but also by impacting our budgets. Don't worry-- there is good news hiding under those massive piles of papers. Experts say you can completely clear your clutter in just five minutes a day.

The Cost of Clutterclutter

Don't think your state of disorganization is costing you anything? Think again! Check out these statistics that prove the high cost of clutter:

  • The US Department of Energy says that about one in four people with two-car garages have so much stuff stored in there, they can't park their car in the garage. Leaving your car outside in the elements means that pricey investment isn't being well-protected.
  • The National Association of Organizers reports that on average we spend one year of our lives looking for lost items. Now think about how much you earn in a year!
  • According to Harris Interactive 23 percent of adults say they pay bills late and get stuck with penalty fees because they lose their bills.
  • The storage facility business is a $154 billion industry in which 1 in 11 American households are a part of. The average renter spends over $1000 a year housing extra stuff.

Too Much Stuff, Too Little Time

Professional organizer Tracy McCubbin says it's difficult for most of us to stay organized because we have too much stuff and too little time. McCubbin grew up in a family of hoarders, leading her to understand that the impact of living surrounded by extreme disorganization goes beyond simple frustrations of having too much stuff. Tracy believes anybody can be organized or cursed with clutter-- whether you live in a tiny studio apartment or a sprawling estate.

Staying Organized is Like a Dietcluttered drawer for Life

McCubbin equates staying organized with a healthy diet you can stay on for the rest of your life-- you have to stick with the plan to see the results. She says in as little as five minutes a day you can stay organized by reducing clutter and getting rid of excess. The first step, according to McCubbin, is purging. That means you need to get rid of the excess and ditch the stuff that's simply taking up space. "Recycle or shred old papers, donate clothes or toys that aren't used anymore," she says. "If you clear out the items that are just taking up space then there will be fewer things to organize and the process will take less time."

Five Minutes a Day Keeps the Clutter Away

Every night before you go to bed, spend five minutes on clearing clutter. This includes simple tasks like picking up around the house and doing the dishes. McCubbin says it's important to tackle the flow of mail on a daily basis. She also suggests making a point of putting dirty laundry into the laundry basket-- something that should just take seconds. "If you can do these things every day, you'll be amazed at how less cluttered your home looks," she says. Here are some room-by-room tasks that could each take about five minutes. Start putting one of these on your daily to-do list  and soon you'll be organized and clutter-free:

General Home / Kitchen
  • Return 5 items around the house to their proper homescluttered room
  • Clean out your purse
  • Throw out 3 expired food items from your fridge
  • Toss all expired coupons
Home Office
  • Move 5 miscellaneous files on your computer desktop into their proper folders
  • Test pens or markers and throw out the ones that don’t work
  • Shred that stack of “to be shredded” that’s next to the shredder
  • Pick 5 old files from your file drawer and toss or shred
Bed & Bath
  • Refold sweaters or t-shirts and stack by color
  • Pick 5 items from your closet or drawers and put them in a bag to be donated
  • Put one pair of shoes that hurt your feet into the donate bag
  • Shampoos or body washes you don’t use, toss out (recycle bottles if you can)
  • Toss out any expired medicine, sunscreen or vitamins from medicine cabinet

Clearing Clutter Can Be Extremely Lucrative

McCubbin has helped over 500 clients get organized. She says during almost every single job clients uncover something valuable they forgot about or that they thought was lost. "Lots of clients have found un-cashed checks in the piles we've been organizing," she says. "Lost money is the worst!"

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