Tips & tricks

Organising spaces with 5s

5s is a Japanese system of organising spaces. If your spaces are ordered, clean and with everything in place, this helps you work efficiently and effectively.  

5s can be used in any space big or small, such as your wardrobe, laundry, bathroom, garden shed and garage.

The acronym 5s comes from the five Japanese words below:

  • Seiri (整理) - meaning to sort
  • Seiton (整頓) - meaning to set in order
  • Seiso (清掃) - meaning to shine
  • Seiketsu (清潔) - meaning to standardise
  • Shitsuke (躾) - meaning to sustain

Sort
This is your chance to sort through all the stuff you’ve accumulated. Only keep what’s really needed - be ruthless and clear out the junk.

Set in order
It’s time to put everything in a set place. Ideally, try to label everything, that way it’s easy to know where an item is and to know where it belongs when you’re done.

Shine
Give everything a good clean and then keep it clean. You’ll be amazed at what you’ll find behind or under things.

Standardise
Create a standard way of doing things that always keeps things neat and tidy.

Sustain
It's key to maintain all the great work you’ve done in steps 1-4. This isn’t a spring clean or a one-off tidy, the aim is to keep it up every day.