In our exploration of the serious and lighter sides of organising with The A to Z of Organising, we’ve already taken a look at:
Now it’s time for the letter K to shine.
Kaizen – Kaizen simply means “continuous improvement”. It is a Japanese word and philosophy that focuses on continual improvement, and although it is used in business activities to improve productivity and profitability, it can also be applied throughout all aspects of life. It’s characterised by small, even infinitesimal, steps towards improvement. These small steps lead to long-lasting change for the better. Want to go from the couch to running a 5K? Take the smallest step in that direction. Put on your running shoes.
Keep – When we declutter, we often focus on what we can get rid of. For someone who finds decluttering difficult, it can feel punitive and stressful. But focusing on what to keep is equally important. Finding the treasures to keep, on the other hand, can feel heart-warming. Making the decision in advance of what to keep can also save time and reduce the number of individual decisions. For instance, my personal policy is that I keep any book that’s been autographed by the author. I have several of those, especially on the topic of organising. When my bookshelf is overflowing (and yes, that does occasionally happen) the number of decisions I have to make is reduced. That treasure finding trick and how to make decision making easier are just a couple of the strategies we teach over at Hoarding Home Solutions.
Keys – “Where the @#*! are my keys?” Have you ever had that feeling? You’re ready to go, the clock is ticking, but you can’t find your keys. This is the source of much frustration, but the good news is it can be fixed. Have one designated place for keys. It could be a hook by the door or a bowl near the entrance. For me, that place is in my handbag. And not just anywhere in my handbag. Specifically, I have a pocket on the outside which holds my keys. I always know where they are because I always keep them in that pocket. I even go as far as not purchasing any handbag without that special outside pocket. The next step, once you’ve selected the one place that the keys always belong, is to communicate to everyone on the household about that place, and the new expectations. It’s a “keys policy” that will take the frustration of lost keys out of your daily routine.
Want a bonus tip for reducing the number of keys you have to carry? Read this quick article.
Kids – Many parents want to be good role models for their children. It’s often one of the reasons they ask an organiser for help and it’s inspiring to see. There are many aspects to organising for children – decluttering toys which are no longer age appropriate, helping them to manage their time for school, learning to put things away where they belong, and taking a share in the responsibility for running the household.
I’m a big fan of giving children responsibilities and some input into family life. And this applies to meal planning as well. What would happen if you gave over the task of meal planning to the children of the family, just for one week? It’s an opportunity to introduce discussions about nutrition (making good choices), time management (selecting meals which are achievable), budgeting (they could even do research about costs) and consideration for others.
Kitchen – For tips on how to declutter the kitchen, check out this article.
