The 5S System - What Is It and How Does It Apply to You?

The 5S system is a 5 word productivity system - you guessed it, all the words start with the letter "S". The words are Japanese words and I will post them in Japanese, because of course that will make me look much smarter, with the English translation. 

This system is typically used in the workplace, but is easily applicable to home and life organization and productivity. 

Take a look at these words and definitions and see if there are parts of this system that could work for you:


Seiri 整理
Sort

Remove unnecessary items
Remove obstacles
Waste removal
Prevent accumulation of unnecessary items


Seiton 整頓
Set (Straigten, Streamline)
Arrange all necessary items so they are easily selected for use
Make workflow easy
Make it easy to find and pick up necessary work items.
Prevent loss of work or waste of time.


Seiso 清掃
Shine (Scrub, Sanitize)

Keep workplace clean and pleasing to work in
Keep workplace safe and easy to work in
Prevent machinery deteriation


Seiketsu 清潔
Standardize

Maintain orderliness
Every process has a standard
Everything in its place


Shitsuke 躾
Sustain

To keep in working order
Do without being told
Training and Discipline
Everything about this list screams ridding of the unnecessary equals efficiency and order. This is so true in all areas of our lives.  

Now go "Seiton" something! 

My New Project Organizing Tool

I have several different projects going on each year and I finally gave in and realized I am a paper project planner girl.  I have tried to plan projects digitally and it has not worked so I found this gem and I am so happy!  

This is the ARC system from Staples.  It is a notebook you can modify - adding pages, dividers, and other contraptions you might need to keep yourself organized.  It also allows you to buy bigger discs to enlarge the notebook, as your notes and project expand.  There are different colors to choose from but for this particular project I chose this oh so pretty pink! 

These are the pages that come with each notebook.

These are the "add ons" I put in my notebook to organize. 

I have pocket dividers for smaller papers and papers in which I don't want holes punched.  

Tab Dividers are essential for dividing your content into different categories. 

This zip pocket add on will be great for pens and other things that need to be contained. 

I printed out and added this calendar.  How did I add this calendar, you might ask? Well, look below and I will show you my secret!

First, I had to buy one of these specialized paper puncher things.  This is not your standard 3 hole punch.  The ARC system has 12 holes so you need the special 12 hole puncher.  Staples sells these, 

with the ARC system, but the cost of the one they 

sell is around $42.  I did not want to spend that much so I checked around and found this one sold by Levenger for $17!  It doesn't punch as many pieces of paper at one time but that was not an issue for me. 

So, I took my handy dandy new hole punch and punched the holes I needed into my calendar and inserted it into my oh so pretty pink notebook.  

Now I am all ready for my project planning in 2015.