Abundance from Abandoned, Tach’s Way

Tach teaches a very interesting Japanese concept of using 5S to get rid of stuff you no longer require, that is, Seiri (sorting), Seiton (arranging neatly; orderliness), Seiso (uniform), Seiketsu (clean) and Shitsuke (home discipline). For one of his core training subjects, he offers his corporate clients; he has managed to break these down into the following 5S in English,

1) Sorting,
2) Simplifying
3) Shining
4) Standardizing
5) Sustaining

Let’s start clearing some clutters in our homes based on Tach’s 5S principles.

1) Sorting,
Let us look through our stuff and sort out what we need and what we no longer need. Make sure that we have our priorities right and start getting rid of stuff that we know we are not going to use anymore.

2) Simplifying
When the sorting gets tough and we find it difficult letting go of things we have grown attached to, then let us work on it with the purpose of improving our storage space and updating things we have on hand.

3) Shining
I love cleaning till it shines. If that cannot motivate you to make a move than think about how it will feel to keep your place free of cluttered, unwanted items.

4) Standardizing
Let us start by clearing one area first then move on to the next, that is, from kitchen, to the dinning room, to the sitting rooms, etc.

5) Sustaining
Let us build up the momentum by setting a timetable to make 5S our housekeeping routine. If we continue to sort out things that we no longer require, soon we will have enough to start our 'garage sales' and make some money from the process.

For those of you who cannot stand the idea of people coming to your house, following are some other options:

• Set up a small stall at the flea market in some of the major locations, such as, Amcorp Mall, to sell your used items.
• Post your unwanted items to sell on online sites, such as, Lelong.com and ebay.com.
• Bring your stuff to Cash Converters to have them appraised for sales.
• Alternatively, you can avoid all the above hassles and pass the unwanted items to your friends or relatives. Be kind enough to ensure that they are still in good condition.
• Lastly, if there are no takers; before you trash it, please find out if they are recyclable. Post a comment of what you have if you need help.

Look out for my postings of solutions under "Abundance from Abandoned", before your “Treasured Discards” becomes “Discarded Treasure".