“Home, Sweet Home” – that’s what we lovingly call the house we live in along with our loved ones – parents, spouse, children, and pets. It is where we bring, consume and gather all the provisions and items of our daily and occasional use. It is also the place where we stash away all the junk and trash, that we don’t need anymore or think we might use someday.

If we make an inventory of all the items in our homes, we will find that we genuinely need only 20 percent of our belongings – the things that we use daily. The rest 80 percent have accumulated over the years and we can do without them. These unwanted items take up space and add to the chaos in the house.

Each one of us has experienced moments of exasperation when we frantically search our homes for a gadget or a document, which we are very sure is safely kept somewhere in the house but fail to find at the right moment. It is something that every member of the household goes through quite often. Say, for example, ladies of the house cannot find their earrings, or sunglasses before going out shopping. The men folks cannot find their socks or car keys before going to the office. Kids cannot find their erasers or pencils before going to school. And when the family buys a new double-door refrigerator, it often has to be kept in the lobby or the dining hall because the kitchen already has the old refrigerator and a meat-safe occupying most of the space.  

We can, however, manage the space inside our homes to create a better home environment and enhance our living experience if we follow certain principles that are already used in some different settings. For example, like a home in a factory, there are different rooms housing different materials for different functions. And they have to be stored and managed effectively to run smooth operations. In the 1950s, a new methodology of workplace management began to be practiced in Japan, which was gradually picked up by other industries around the world and has now become the standard industry practice. This methodology is called the 5S Methodology.

After World War II, the 5S methodology was developed by Eiji Toyoda and Taiichi Ohno at the Toyota Motor Corporation which they called the Toyota Production System (TPS) also known as the Lean Production. Toyota was the first automobile manufacturer to implement the 5S methodology in its car production systems which significantly improved its quality and efficiency. The TPS or the 5S methodology became popular after the publication of a book in 1990 named – ‘The Machine that Changed the World’ which was the result of a five-year study by researchers of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on the future of the Automobile. the 5S methodology is summarized by the five Japanese words – Seiri, Seiton, Seiso, Seiketsu, and Shitsuke.

The main components of the 5S Methodology, their nearest meanings, and explanation is given in the following table:-

Stages	Japanese words	Meanings	English words	Explanation
1	Seiri	organize	Sort	Sorting and separating the needed items and discarding the unnecessary trash.
2	Seiton	orderliness	Straighten / set in order	Neat arrangement of the needed items in specific places within the workspace.
3	Seiso	cleanliness	Shine / Sweep	Keeping the workspace and storage areas clean and tidy
4	Seiketsu	standardize	Standardize	Following standard operating practices to maintain the above three process
5	Shitsuke	discipline	Sustain	Maintaining a regular periodic schedule to implement the above four steps

Therefore, the 5S Methodology is a systematic regular practice of separating the necessary items from the unnecessary and categorizing them according to their functionality; then arranging and systematically organizing them in a systematic manner by assigning a proper space and place of storage; sweeping and cleaning of the storage and vacant spaces, maintaining a regular schedule or sorting, organizing and cleaning; and lastly to build up the habit of implementing the preceding four S periodically.

Now, let us explore how we can use the steps of the 5S methodology to de-clutter and tidy up our home environment. Before deciding to implement it, let us find out the things that make up most of our trash.

• Everybody will agree that the largest collection of trash that we bring home are the shopping bags – plastic bags, paper bags, cardboard boxes of all shapes and sizes. We empty out their contents and often keep them even though  temporarily somewhere in the house.

• Next, the biggest invaders are the glass and plastics bottles and containers of food items and toiletries.

• Then there are the garments and accessories that we do not wear anymore – old shirts, torn jeans, discoloured undergarments, socks with holes, etc.

• Broke down clock and watches, electronic gadgets, tapes and compact discs,

• Old newspapers and magazines, copies and books,

• Broken furniture and old toys, etc.

Often we do not even realize how much space these never-used or seldom-used belongings gobble up. Until the weekend when we get down with our brooms to do a cleaning and sweeping job. But what we mostly do is some dusting and rearranging and the job is done. The trash remains in our house because we are confused about what to keep and what to throw. And in most households, there are disagreements over deciding which are the useless things. So the confusion continues. This is where the 5S methodology can be helpful.

The first stage of the 5S methodology is Seiri which means to organize or to sort out.  There is a nice line from the movie ‘Life is Beautiful’ where Uncle Leon says – “Nothing is more necessary than the unnecessary”.  We often cling to unnecessary things like they are very necessary. The Seiri involves the identification and separation of the unnecessary and necessary articles in terms of daily use, occasionally used or never used.

For doing this we can use coloured stick-on flags which are available in the stationery shops or online shopping portals.  The factories use a red tag to mark the unnecessary items. At home, we can use a red or orange tag for the broken and unwanted items. We can use yellow or pink tags for occasionally used items. And a green or blue one for frequently used items.  The next step is to throw away all the red or orange tagged broken and unwanted items. After doing this, we can separate the frequently used items from the occasionally used items and keep them in separate areas.

The second stage of the 5S methodology is Seiton which means to set in order.  In this step decide a place to store each item in order of its grouping and use all the storing areas of our homes to optimum use, like cupboards, almirahs, shelves, cabinets, balconies. We can allocate an area for a particular group of items and maybe even put up labels on them.

We can store the articles which we need daily near the activity area. For example, we can store all toothbrushes and tubes of toothpaste in the washbasin cabinet. We can keep the toiletries and shaving kits in the washroom. Use a laundry bag near the washing machine to collect dirty linen and used garments. Maintain separate cupboards for everyday use clothes and formal outfits. Use a separate shoe rack to keep all our footwear. Keep all the toolkit and pieces of machinery in a toolbox in the storeroom or attic. We can place key-hooks near the front door to keep the car keys and office keys.

The third stage of the 5S methodology is Seiso which means to Shine or Sweep. This step stresses maintaining cleanliness. This mandates deciding on cleaning methods and cleaning schedules. Cleaning methods mean the application of various processes, props, and machines for cleaning, for example, using a vacuum cleaner for the carpets, sofas, and curtains. Using antiseptics and sanitizers, mops and wipers for the floor tiles.

The fourth stage of the 5S methodology is Seiketsu which means to standardize the preceding three stages. This involves putting into place a standard operating procedure within the household. This will help to follow all the stages of Seiri, Seiton, and Seiso by each member of the family. We should discard all unwanted trash immediately. All family members should ensure to put back articles in their allocated place after its use. We should do periodic cleaning of all stored and empty spaces. 

The fifth stage of the 5S methodology is Shitsuke which means to sustain. This step would imply the preparation of schedules and division of cleaning jobs.  Cleaning schedules would mean allocating a day of the week to do the cleaning job. Family members can draw up a roster dividing the cleaning job amongst themselves. Shitsuke implies making cleanliness a discipline within the family whereby the stages of 5S methodology a made into a habit.

Next weekend, if you are at home and have nothing important to do maybe you and everyone in your family can switch off the TV and Android phones and give it a try. At the end of the day after you finally finish implementing the 5S Methodology in your home, just sit down with a cup of coffee and look around. I am sure, you would love what you see. And your spouse and children will be happy too!