I came across something amazing today, its called the 5S system. yes, there are five words that start with an S in there. I don’t know about you, but within a week of being back, my desk is pretty cluttered already. I find that I have a number of systems in my working day, but the systems always lead to them lying on top of each other at some point, i.e. little piles of stuff to do. What we need is not a quiver full of systems but a culture. A culture of organizing and staying organized. 5S is a Japanese culture marketed as a system. I am told that by introducing it to any environment is a success, and I am going to give it a go this year. Read on, and let me know if you are in, so that I have an accountability partner or two. .

Most of us get bogged down by numerous co-worker derived systems of email and file management. You find yourself facing a clutter at your office desk that may have looked organized to the untrained eye. That till I did a 5S sweep at my desk.

The five steps of 5S are:

* Seiri (Sorting)
* Seiton (Set in Order)
* Seiso (Sweeping/cleaning)
* Seiketsu (Standardizing)
* Shitsuke (Sustaining)

The five steps are accomplished consecutively. It starts with removing clutter and unwanted ’stuff’ (minimalism), keeping necessary ’stuff’ close at hand, standardizing processes of doing all activities (email processing, project management, note taking etc.) and finally sustaining those standards.

I find I can do the first 3 pretty good, but steps 4 and 5 are where my skills are lacking.

So here goes.

Who’s with me?