Hello and welcome back!  Before I blog-on today, I must add a quick note about the Bathroom Cabinet blog.  I mentioned that when you are sorting out your makeup, to remove the brushes.  Did anyone wonder why?  It was to shine them as well…  It only takes a few minutes to give them a wash and you will find that they work much better – especially those little eye-shadow foam ended applicators.  I use a mild soap – the Neutrogena hypoallergenic is great and rinses out very easily – and just wash and rinse in warm water until they are clean.  Then lay them out on a handtowel in the sun to dry.

Okay – lunches.  Firstly the rationale…  What could you do for yourself if you had an extra 20 minutes plus each morning?  Well, that is what I am told that most of us spend making lunches for the family every morning.  One of the great outcomes of applying Lean theories is that you achieve capacity release.  Releasing additional capacity in a workplace means that people spend less time doing routine things and more time doing things that add value for the customer.  Well, guess what?  YOU are my customers.

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Ok, so let’s get started. First up, let’s think about what we are trying to achieve… Room to Organize. Getting organized. Making things work more easily and with less effort. Fixing things so that they stay that way. I’m going to practice what I preach here and start with a small project which will give you a good start while demonstrating the concepts of what we are about. Let’s think about the smallest place in the house – the bathroom.

First the theory. One of the Lean tools that I talked about in my introduction is 5S. 5S is a reference to a set of five words which start with the letter S and are each a stage of the methodology. 5S is a method for organising a workplace, especially a shared workplace such as an office space, and keeping it organised – and come to think of it, isn’t a home a kind of a ‘shared workplace’?. The assertion of 5S is that by assigning everything a location, time is not wasted by looking for things. Other key targets of 5S are workplace morale, team work and efficiency. Different organizations use different versions of the 5S words, but I am going to introduce them to you as Sort, Set in order, Shine, Standardise, Sustain.

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Well, first off, hi there and thanks for reading my blog.

You might want to know why I have started this off and the reason is very simple.  Apparently, I am pretty good at this sort of thing!

I am a single, working mum who, by necessity, has to be pretty organised to minimise the stress and workload that is a normal week.  I work full time in a middle management role, have a small business on the side and (here’s the real job) I solo parent twin ten year olds and run a household.  And because my ex-husband has, until recently, been overseas for the last eight years, I have had to pretty much do it on my own.  Some things I have done well and others I have done badly – and had to re-do.  But I hope that I have learned from them all.

In my full time job, I use a lot of ‘Lean’ tools.  Basically, Lean is a Japanese management methodology developed predominantly by the Toyota car company.  They developed a series of tools which they have used for several decades now to enable them to grow from a very small business to the most profitable car manufacturer in the world.  Whether you like Toyota cars or not, you have to admit that their business is pretty impressive.  They produce consistently high quality vehicles at less cost than any of their competitors and with minimum input from their staff.  What they are all about is doing the best job possible with the absolutely least amount of effort by being organised and efficient.

You might well ask what car manufacture has to do with running a home efficiently?  Well, lots.  I have used Lean tools to make processes work better in manufacturing firms, banking and finance companies and now I work in distribution of steel.  But I have also found that they are really useful in getting a household organised and keeping it that way.

Along the way, I have developed a bit of a reputation for keeping a neat and tidy home and neat and tidy kids and self.  And, when I have been between jobs, friends and friends of friends have actually paid me to come to their homes and help them get organised.  I have taught them simple ideas which range from

• Arranging their Tupperware drawers through to organising their whole kitchens so that they are ergonomically functional and require the least amount of effort to locate frequently used items
• Sorting out a shopping list methodology through to making the entire family’s lunches ahead for the whole week and storing them in a way that everyone from Dad to the kindy-kids can get their own each day
• Creating a signature ‘look’ through to organising their entire seasonal wardrobes so that each item is ready to go and easy to co-ordinate

None of this is rocket science; it is all really very simple.  Remember – it is all about hearing new ideas, figuring out what works for you and just doing it.  And then the key ‘Lean’ principle – sharing the idea so that your friends and family can all benefit from it. I can guarantee that these ideas will save you time, money and stress.  And, hey – we might even get the other members of your household inspired to join in!