For the Love of Lists

Engineering life one step at a time

How to Organize Your Home With the 5S Method

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How to Organize Your Home with the 5S Method

Feeling overwhelmed by clutter?  Wishing your home was a bit more organized?  I’d like to share a process I learned in my time as an engineer that will help you tackle any space.  It’s called the “5S Method”.

The 5S Method originated in Japan and became popular in the west in the 1980’s.  It is now used in a variety of industries including health care and aerospace.  The 5 “S’s” stand for:

  • Sort
  • Set in Order
  • Shine
  • Standardize
  • Sustain

What started out as a manufacturing organizational method can be easily applied at home.  I love this process because it is focused on giving every item a place.  It also helps you to group items by function in “kits” that help your day run more smoothly.  Here is how you can organize your home using the 5S method.

Organized Bedroom

The 5S Process

5S will help you go from a cluttered work space to a streamlined one in just a few simple steps.

Before You Begin

  1. Focus on a single work space at a time.  Choose one to start with and identify its main function.
  2. Create a “red tag” area.  This is a place to temporarily put items that do not belong in your work space.  Create zones for the following categories:
    1. Relocate
    2. Donate
    3. Sell
    4. Return

Step 1: Sort

  1. Empty the work space completely.  Be sure to clear items out of drawers, off surfaces, and out of shelves.
  2. Remove obstacles, unnecessary items, and those not currently in use.
    1. Dispose of any trash immediately.
    2. Move other items that don’t belong to the “red tag” area.
  4. Categorize each remaining item by function.

Step 2: Set in Order

  1. Arrange items in work space by category.
    1. Create zones for each function and group all related items together.  Use baskets, bins, or dividers to keep groups contained.
    2. Put more frequently used items closer to the front.
    3. Create and label (if desired) a “home” for each item and/or group.
  2. Ensure that your “work flow” is smooth.
    1. Make sure everything is easy to retrieve and replace in its location.
    2. Make sure items you use frequently are within easy reach.

Step 3: Shine

  1. Determine a routine to keep your work space clean.
  2. “Clean as you go” throughout the day to minimize workload later on.

Step 4: Standardize

  1. Review your system periodically to see what works and what doesn’t.
    1. Make adjustments as necessary.
    2. Identify “best practices” and apply them in other areas of your home.
  2. Verify that every item has a dedicated “home” to return to.

Step 5: Sustain

  1. Perform regular inspections of your work space to make sure it remains organized.
  2. Determine a routine for clearing out your “red tag” area.

 

Tips:

  • Make a shopping list of any organizers (boxes, bins, dividers, trays) you need as you categorize items.
  • Clear out your “red tag” area as soon as possible (trust me, it will become a new problem area if you don’t).
  • If you’re stuck on where to store an item, put it aside for a moment and continue organizing.  Return to it when you’re finished and see if you can find a place for it.
  • Nightstands or under-sink cabinets are great places to start.

 

Organized Office

The goal is to follow this method for every area of your home, one work space at a time.  When everything has a clear, easy place to return to you’ll find that there is less clutter overall.

Which space are you going to organize first?

 

10 Items for Your 2pm Work Kit

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Work Kit

No matter how motivated my morning is, by 2pm I’m ready to fall asleep at my desk.  If you’re in the same boat, try making your own pick-me-up work kit to kick your productivity back into gear.  Here are 10 items to include:

  1. Healthy snack – try a small 100 calorie protein + fiber snack (like an apple with peanut butter)
  2. Coffee/tea – savor a last cup of the day (caffeine takes several hours to wear off and can interrupt sleep)
  3. Dark chocolate square – because it’s a super food and we all know chocolate is good for the soul
  4. Scented lotion/essential oils – try a fun or refreshing scent, like lemon or peppermint, for a quick recharge
  5. Oil-absorbing wipes – give your skin an easy refresh with a cleansing pat down
  6. Comb/brush – getting your hair back in order can boost your mood a bit
  7. Gel eye cream – cool gels can help you wake up when drowsiness sets in
  8. Quote book – browse through your favorite inspiring quotes to focus your goals
  9. Stretching routine – take a moment to break away from your desk, take a walk, and stretch out your legs
  10. Upbeat playlist – choose your favorite songs and switch up your playlist to something positive for the rest of the afternoon

I hope this can help you power through the last few hours of your workday.  If you have any other items or habits to suggest, leave them in the comments below!

The Secret to an Easier Morning: Kitting

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How does your morning typically go?  Likely scenario: you snooze through the alarm (alarms?), scavenge through your dresser drawers for an outfit, root through your makeup bag, and quickly gather up your work supplies and maybe a granola bar before you head out the door.  As much as we’d like to have a calm, organized start to our day we begin with too many decisions and too many items to remember.  Thankfully, I have a solution for this.  It’s called “kitting”.

When assembling a launch vehicle (rocket), there can be hundreds of parts that go into the installation of a single component.  On top of that you’re trying to follow a detailed procedure, monitor safety, check quality, and juggle an array of tools and equipment. That’s a lot of keep track of, especially when you consider that a single missing piece can lead to catastrophic failure.  So, rather than continuously running to grab parts and tools as needed, we create “kits” containing everything we need to complete a single task.  These boxes are checked ahead of time to make sure every part is accounted for, so all we need to do is show up with our procedures and get right to work.

So how does building a rocket relate to your morning rush?  You can create kits of your own to make your day run more efficiently.  Imagine how much more smoothly your morning would go with the following kits:

– A guided checklist detailing outfit items to pick out the night before (articles of clothing, undergarments, jewelry, footwear, etc)
– An outwear kit: scarves, gloves, earmuffs, umbrellas, rainboots, sunscreen
– An “everyday” makeup bin: foundation, concealer, mascara, blush, brushes, etc
– A purse essentials kit: makeup bag(s) containing wallet, keys, chargers, chapstick, tissues for easy switching
– A “grab and go” breakfast kit: ziploc bags containing oatmeal, dried fruits, cereal, nuts, spoon, napkin, bowl

Kitting

The trick to these kits is to not only include the main items (like the oatmeal) but also the supporting items you’d forget in the moment (like the spoon and bowl).  The more complete they are, the less work you have to do to use them.  Here’s how to set one up:

1) Choose an action you’d like to simplify (ex. cleaning the bathrooms)
2) Brainstorm all of the items you use to complete the action.  In our example that could include: glass cleaner, floor cleaner, disinfectant, toilet bowl cleaner, toilet brush, sponges, paper towels, air fresheners, mop, trash bags, toilet paper, clean towels, rubber gloves, and hand soap
3) Identify which items you can store together permanently and which would be impractical to kit (ex. mop, towels).  The latter can be included via a checklist.
4) Find a container to house your kit.  This can be a box, bin, basket, shelf, room section, or a bag.  Make sure it’s big enough to contain all of the items you need but small enough it’s portable if you need it to be.  Locate extra items close by.
5) Build your kit.  Include any checklists you need (instructions and/or reminders of additional items needed).

Here are some ideas for other kits you can create:

– Study kit: pens, pencils, highlighters, white out, paper, snacks, headphones, playlists, professor contact info, textbooks, syllabi
– Craft kit: washi tape, transparent tape, scrapbook paper, scissors, ribbon, markers, loose fabric, layouts
– Home decorating kit: command strips, nails, hammer, level, pencils, stud finder, magic eraser
– Airline travel kit: neck pillow, blanket, eye mask, ear plugs, snacks, headphones, hand sanitizing wipes, chapstick, travel bottle, first aid kit
– Stationery kit: stamps, envelopes (multiple sizes), address labels, address book, notepaper, greeting cards, pens, post office schedule
– De-stress kit: journal/pen, meditation music, bath soaks, aromatherapy oils, sketchpad, emergency chocolate

Be creative and you’ll think of plenty more ways to organize with kits (for further ideas, check out my post on 10 new uses for makeup bags).  The goal is to reduce the amount of time you spend searching for things so you can move through the day smoothly and efficiently.  Good luck, and happy kitting!