There are endless opportunities to better organize your world!
In our home, we have made it a game to find better ways to organize things, so that life flows more smoothly. Every improvement, regardless of how small it might be, is a victory that is enjoyed everyday going forward!
About two years ago, we decided to take on a bigger organization project within our kitchen. The goal was to get rid of what was not needed, group like items together and to store them as close as possible to where they are actually used.
Step 1: Sort It
We started by getting everything out of the kitchen. As part of preparing for this step, we brought up a couple of folding tables, in order to temporarily store items. Once the items were out, we grouped them by: keep, donate / recycle and trash. It is always surprising how much is not really being used or rarely used, that gets in the way of what is frequently used!
Step 2: Shine It
With everything out, it was easy to clean out the cabinets and drawers. It always feels good to get everything shiny and clean!
Step 3: Standardize It
In the "Standardize It" stage, our goal was to locate frequently used items as close to where they are actually used. It ended up being quite different as compared to when we started. I couldn't help but think,
"Why didn't we set it up this way in the first place?!"
Answer: Life is all about doing, learning and continuously improving - not worrying about getting it perfect the first time around! The following video highlights some of the changes that we made as part of our reorganization project:
Step 4: Sustain It
The "Sustain It" step can include hanging pictures of how a space should look, labels and training. For the most part, once in place, it is easy to sustain our kitchen improvements as the new setup is visually obvious. We did give the kids a tour of the new and improved, so that they had a working knowledge of the changes and why we made them (always teaching).
Over the next few weeks, we did some small changes, in order to makes things flow even better. That is the way continuous improvement goes, in the ongoing quest to find a better way!