What?

There is a fascinating story about the "Broken Windows Theory” in a New Yorker magazine article by Malcolm Gladwell (see gladwell.com, June 3, 1996, article titled The Tipping Point). Stanford University psychologist Philip Zimbardo parked a car on a street in Palo Alto, Calif., where it sat untouched for a week. After a week, as a part of the experiment, Zimbardo smashed one of the car's windows with a sledgehammer. Within a few hours the car was stripped by vandals. Later, Gladwell wrote a book on the topic, also titled The Tipping Point. In the book, he expands on this idea by relating a similar theory developed by criminologists James Q. Wilson and George Kelling. Wilson and Kelling applied the same theory to crime-ridden, declining neighborhoods and communities. Wilson, Kelling, Zimbardo and Gladwell all conclude that chaos is contagious. Here's an excerpt from Gladwell's book:

"If a window is broken and left unrepaired, people walking by will conclude that no one cares and no one is in charge. Soon, more windows will be broken, and the sense of anarchy will spread from the building to the street on which it 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 small bits and piles of clutter so they won't become big piles of clutter. Like chaos, clutter is contagious.

So What?

It may not seem like a big deal to toss that piece of paper in a stack on the corner of your desk. But stacks turn into piles and piles turn into highly distracting, energy-draining, stress-producing clutter. When things are a mess, you are less likely to care if a few more items are tossed in the piles. If things are in order, you are more likely to keep them that way. In terms of clutter, you do need to sweat the small stuff. And it's such an easy step if you want to live an organized, clutter-free life.

Now What?

Here is a simple, two-step so

Have a designated place to put things.

Form the habit of putting things away where they belong…in their place.

The steps work well together. People often do not put things away because they do not know where they belong. In this situation, it is usually easier just to toss it somewhere close by. And tossing things somewhere close by 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, file cabinets and other storage places. Decide where everything should go and start forming the habit of putting things away when you are not using them.

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