After Monday's post about What It Means to Be an Intentional Mama, it's only fair that I share ideas for simplifying your home life and making purposeful choices on a daily basis. Let's look at some percentages for a minute:

In the early 1900s, an Italian man named Vilfredo Pareto noticed that 80% of the peas from his garden were produced by just 20% of his pea plants (not unlike my toddler, who makes up 25% of our family and produces roughly 80% of the daily mess on our dining room floor. But back to the story.) After reflecting on the 80/20 ratio, Pareto also noticed that 20% of Italy's population owned 80% of the land in Italy. Today, the Parento Principle (aka the 80/20 rule) is frequently used in a business context to explain that a small percentage of your time or effort can produce the majority of your results.

Did you realize yesterday was the first day of autumn? Before writing this post, I spent fifteen minutes pulling summer clothes from my children's closet and drawers. I do this for two reasons:

First, my four-year-old would choose to wear sundresses year-round, so tucking these away in the cold months makes for fewer clothing disputes. (My one-year-old shows a similar fondness for swim trunks.)

Our laundry room holds a simple secret that keeps our home clutter-free: a shelf with several baskets. Here's how each basket maintains order:

* Return basket: Corrals merchandise that needs to be returned to stores and items to return to friends (like borrowed books and food containers). If you cover the basket's label with clear packing tape, you can use a dry erase marker to remind yourself of the stores you need to revisit.