The 5s Method: an organizational way to the Peace of Mind
Paraphrasing the latin say "mens sana in corpore sano" (healthy mind in a healthy body), this is an exercise in "Essential Creativity in an Essential Workspace"
Ciao!
This is the story of a journey in search of a system to organize my workspace with the ultimate goal of improving my life too.
Minimalism, KonMari or Swedish Death Cleaning (this last is a bit frightening), I tried them all but, after a (short) while, I gave up. Those methods weren’t for me, while I didn’t get the boost I was expecting, what I felt was frustration.
The energy required to “follow the system” and keeping my work environment up to the standards consumed more energy than I normally need for doing the actual work.
As long as I’m creating and I’m comfortable with my working space… who cares? I use to say “I thrive in my Creative Mess” and I keep telling myself this story.
In reality, is not true at all. Particularly at work!
My office desk has to be a kind of “Sacred Space”. It must be:
The place where I can do what I do at my best
The place where I feel safe when the shit-storm hits hard
I decided to give it another try! I embraced the 5s’ Method and started with my desk at office.
Even if it looks a rather small and overly easy project, if I were to write the entire story as I would like, with all the reflections and researches i did, this newsletter would become a novel.
I'll stick to the essentials, avoiding lengthy explanations, but I'll include some links I found useful for further exploring the concepts.
What is 5s Method
From the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - Lean Thinking and Methods - 5S :
5S is a system to reduce waste and optimize productivity through maintaining an orderly workplace and using visual cues to achieve more consistent operational results.
Later on I learned that “visual” plays a big part in this method.
Looks super simple, right? Simple doesn’t not necessarily means “automagic” or immediate, though. After applying the method I can give you some suggestions.
As I said, I started with my desk. Here it is the before and after.
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F38c0639a-2427-4bf4-a1a3-16c8daa048f4_4032x3024.jpeg)
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1e69297a-e7ad-4ae1-87c6-8abe1696778c_4032x3024.jpeg)
I took a deep breath and I started the journey!
Applying the Method
These are a few tips and tricks I learned along the way.
Step 1: Sort
This was the look of my desk at the end of each working day while working on the "Sort” step.
Here a few interesting points about this step:
I loved the feeling of cleanliness that the look of my desk made me feel arriving at office every day
In just a few days became natural to put on the desk only the items I needed for my work
I kept going with this Step for more than 2 weeks
Step 2: Set in order
This step was equally interesting and definitely intertwined with Step 3 (Shine), at least for how I conducted the experiment.
This is my desk configuration during the working day.
I was able to define the “Necessary Items Cluster” and… it was “okay”, meaning, good but not yet what I was looking for.
It was not “visually pleasing” enough. Let me use a big word and say, I was looking for “shibui”.
Step 3: Shine
In this step I realized that having the right cluster of tools is not enough, it definitely lacked that “visual” part that I highlighted above.
I’m not talking about mere embellishments, I am talking about knowing that everything is “right” at the first glance and, more important, immediately identifying the “deviations” just by looking.
Besides cleaning everything (btw: when is the last time you cleaned your keyboards, the screens or the power cords?), in this step I focused on identifying what makes me waste time (even if fractions of seconds) in finding where an item is, getting it or figuring out which item I need.
I found that knolling is tremendously helpful in this.
This is the final look of my desk during the day.
Step 4 and 5: Standardize and Sustain
Here is where this kind of projects fail, most of the time.
Again, it is indeed very simple and it needs just a little awareness and consistency.
Until this point, it took me 2 months. The process was fun and so enjoyable and I can truly say that, so far, it works:
I have a clear idea of what makes an item necessary
I can measure the effectiveness of my desk configuration
I decided that “this is how things must be done”
I can immediately say if something is “off”
I am committed in keeping the standards and, in case, immediately apply remediations
I feel less nervous
I don’t forgot things at office anymore
My workflow is smoother and very often I complete my tasks more quickly
What do you think? Are you considering to try it yourself? Let me know!
A few links you may find interesting
This Is What Swedish Death Cleaning Taught Me About Life: this post do not describe the method but is a narration of how John P. Weiss applied it to manage his Dad stuff after he died. I love the intimacy and the poetry of this post.
Hell Yeah, or Nah: Minimalism & Writing Routines with Derek Sivers : I’m a big fan of Derek and I find this post particularly “juicy”.
Simple Living Manifesto: 72 Ideas to Simplify Your Life: when it comes to minimalism and zen living, Leo Babauta and his Zen Habits blog is definitely the resource of choice.
That’s it for this month!
Did you like this newsletter? Please consider to give it a nice like and to forward it to your friends. That would be so helpful and I’m grateful.
In case you are not yet subscribed, you can do it here:
Until next time, take care and be happy!
Mauro
PS: a kind of Colophon
Just a few words about where you can find some of the things I do/did:
I don't have a dedicated desk, but the 5S method is a useful framework, so a good reminder to think about it in other contexts. As always enjoyed seeing your drawings and thought process!
This is brilliant!! I so need this. I am a person who can’t work in a mess, but! I work from home, my workspace is also my bedroom and a place where my children leave everything lying around. It drives me crazy! I think trying this may not only help me be at my creative best, but also soothe my anxiety as I work through the steps. I will let you know……