Organize your home in 5 simple steps
5S is an applicable tool for in-home organization and improvement. It’s a term derived from LEAN manufactory. LEAN is a process designed to improve the workplace while removing waste from processes and systems. This effort drives the work smarter, not harder mentality and you can apply it to everyday living to create and sustain a neat and tidy home.
What does 5S mean?
Although 5S originated from Japanese terms, it has been successfully translated to English as follows:
- Sort
- Straighten
- Shine
- Standardize
- Sustain
Why do I need this?
To be clear, your home is not a factory, even if it feels like it. However, your personal space can benefit from the application of these principles because in its most basic form, 5S is tidying up. Furthermore, freeing yourself from clutter and living by the idea that everything has a place is the foundation of a successful system and your life is constructed from a series of integrated systems…
Benefits
If everything in your home has a place, and those items always find a way back to their appropriate location, then you can imagine a life of ease as you eliminate the need to look for a lost or missing item ever again.
Consider the simplicity of the images above. When organized, you’ll be able to focus, save time and you can save your emotional and mental capacity for higher-order thinking.
Red Flags
Here are the most common signs that your environment needs a 5S intervention:
- Clutter
- Disorganization
- Wasting time searching
- Wasting money buying something you already have but can’t find
- Multiples of the same thing
- Dirt & Grime
- Panic or feelings of overwhelm (related to your environment)
What do I need?
Generally, you do not need much. However, depending on the situation, you may need more. Typically, the following is a good starting point.
- A few boxes or baskets for sorting
- A trash bag
- Simple cleaning supplies to dust, wipe or vacuum
- Organizing supplies: containers, labels, etc.
How to 5S
Depending on your situation, you may need to repeat these steps until you’re happy with your results. I find places like the kitchen very easy to 5S, but I find the office with its mounds of papers, books, scanning and shredding much more tedious and time-consuming.
To build momentum, I recommend the snowball effect. Start in a place that is relatively small or easy. Know that it’s not a huge time commitment but will offer you great satisfaction in its results. Consider a drawer, shoe shelf or something similar. Once you start to see the results, you’ll feel motivated to tackle bigger spaces and projects.
Finally, approach the process openly but with great intentionality. You will likely need to create a bigger mess before you see the fruits of your labor manifest.
Sort
Separate items. I recommend 4 categories or piles:
- Needed: items that are in the correct place and you want to keep
- Relocate: items that you want to keep but need a better place
- Discard: trash
- Donate: things that you do not use anymore and can be passed on
In some instances, you may need an additional pile that I refer to as:
- Action: items that need to be fixed (ie: new flashlight bulb) or are time sensitive (ie: a bill you found and need to pay)
Straighten
Neatly Arrange. This is commonplace for the phrase: a place for everything and everything in its place. Organize in a way that is easy to visualize. Different types of organizers and the labeling of containers or bins can be extremely helpful.
Shine
Clean, Wash, Make it Shine. Basic cleaning will refresh the environment. In addition to dusting shelves, wipe out drawers or polish the countertop. Remove the dirt, grime, and sticky surfaces. Take action to fix broken items.
Standardize
Schedule time. No process is once and done. To sustain your new and improved space, you’ll need to schedule time to review your environment. Repeating steps Sort, Straighten, and Shine daily might not be necessary. However, visually reviewing your environment at appropriate intervals helps to ensure that cleanliness is maintained. If you’ve done it well, a quick visual check will tell you if anything is out of place or missing.
Sustain
Form Habits. In my experience, a clean, simple environment is easier to maintain. If you have a roommate, spouse, or children that share or use the space you organized, include them in your expectations or even the 5S process. Additionally, show others how to sustain the environment by visually checking and actively maintaining the new standard of organization together. Create momentum by keeping your solutions simple and by enjoying the ease that comes with clean, organized living.
Other things to pay attention to…
To be clear, purchasing organization systems will not magically make you more organized. While they help visually and certainly assist with functionality and accessibility, beware as they can also be a source of clutter and hoarding. Any blank horizontal surface is prone to the threat of gathering clutter.
Additionally, if you notice that the sustain phase is getting increasingly harder to endure, check out Pitfalls of 5S for In-Home Organization.
For additional tips and tricks to get through the 5S process in specific rooms, stay tuned for my upcoming posts.
References
- American Society for Quality, (2021). What are the five S’s (5S) of LEAN? Retrieved on May 18, 2021 from https://asq.org/quality-resources/lean/five-s-tutorial
- Krajewski, L. J., Ritzman, L. P. & Malhotra, M. K. (2013). Operations Management: Processes and Supply Chains. 10th Edition. Pearson Education Inc. Saddle River, NJ.
- Mahmoud, Z., Angele-Hagland, N, Churruca, K., Ellis, L. A., Braithwaite, J. (2021) The impact of lean management on frontline healthcare professionals: a scoping review of the literature. BMC Health Services Research, 21(383).
