6S Success!

Mini 6S the Living Room Bookshelf Area

We are definitely convinced that taking it slow and working on smaller, well scoped, areas help the family succeed in learning these new activities for organization and housekeeping.  The TV entertainment area is still looking good and we are pursuing our no fingerprints on the TV screen to great success.  We are also wiping down the TV screen every Friday night, which is making a big difference in our enjoyment of movies.

With the Play Station 3 out of commission and it unlikely that we will get it fixed or replaced in the near future, the family decided to organize the living room book shelf, where we randomly stored DVDs, BlueRays, Play Station 3 games, Wii games, Nintendo DS units, and DS games, various books, and piles of kids toys.

We are starting to really enjoy the step by step activities that 6S provides.  We also really like beginning our organization and housekeeping activities by meeting to brainstorm the primary purpose of the area.  We list the primary purpose of the area and then talk about the activities that take place in the area to fully realize the purpose of the area.  We then quickly list the primary items that are necessary to complete the activities and thus enjoy the area.  Everything else needs to leave the area.  Even secondary items attached to the primary items can be removed from the area if the item isn’t frequently used (think our Wii Balance Board in the TV Entertainment Area 6S event).  We also determined that the living room bookshelf should support the primary purpose of the TV entertainment area.

Living Room Book Shelf Primary Purpose

• Store DVDs
• Store books currently being read or favorites
• Proudly display grandpa’s wooden boat models
• Flagrantly display passion for three dimensional 80’s puzzles
• Store laptop computers when not in use
• Store dollhouse and up to three other toys when not in use

So, the BlueRay DVDs, the Play Station 3 games, the DS consoles and games, and most of the toys piled in the corner were unnecessary and were moved to the 6S Sort Holding Box as we completed the 6S Audit and took before pictures.

PIC 1

PIC 2

PIC 3

Our 6S Audit results were not good.

Here is the modified 6S Audit Form that we used for the living room book shelf.  We used the same scoring key as is used in the standard 6S Audit.

Our initial 6S Audit average score was 1.8, averaging 3 to 6 major issues in the area.  Our Sort score was .2!  That’s worse that the TV entertainment area.  We had sooooo many items that were deemed unnecessary based on the intended primary purpose of the area.  Not only that, but of the items that we did need, many of the DVD and game cases were missing their discs!  Plus the store was being used to store lots of items.  The space between the book shelf and the couch was piled with stuff – both necessary and unnecessary stuff.

Our Straighten score was slightly better at 1.2, but that was mostly because we took a not applicable on the label score.  We also had some issues with the laptop power cords and identified an opportunity to figure out what to do.  Shine scored a 0!  We learned a lesson to continually dust with the TV entertainment area 6S event and the bookshelf was no different.  So another improvement recommendation was to dust, dust, dust.

The Standardize, Sustain and Safety scores were to be expected having not completed 6S or any kind of cleaning or organization activities.  Some key safety concerns were identified including the tripping hazards of the laptop power cords and the continuing temptation Nova has to jump on the couch and try to climb the bookshelf.

Based on the audit results it was clear that we needed to find missing DVDs and organize our movies in a way that we wouldn’t spend time searching for missing movies.  We also needed to removed EVERYTHING from the shelf and dust.  We each obtained our damp dusting cloths (including Nova!) and we wiped down all the shelves and items.  Nova did a great job moving her toys and other unnecessary items from the shelves and floor and into the 6S Sort Holding Box.  She also wiped down the lower shelves like a champ.  I even showed her how to get the corners way in the back and the face of the shelf and she liked that.

Laura and Nova carefully wiped down grandpa’s model boats while I cleaned the Rubik’s Cubes.  We also decided to go through our DVDs and strip out anything we hadn’t watched since moving to the new house seven months ago.  We ended up with the following:

We decided on a shelf for each primary purpose.  The top shelf stayed the Cube shelf, the next shelf down remained the boat shelf, the next shelf down was used to store only DVDs and Wii games.  Next we decided to store current and interesting books, with the following shelf storing toys, and the bottom shelf storing the family of laptops.

We made a decision to organize the DVDs alphabetically.  Laura and Nova started organizing and finding DVD cases and discs.  We also moved a lot of stuff, including unwatched movies, into the 6S Sort Holding Box.

We made quick work of the bookshelf.  We had everything back up and were taking after pictures only after about 90 minutes of work.  Everybody really pulled their weight during each activity.  We also quickly documented our areas for improvement.  Our list of standards ended up looking like this:

• Store DVDs alphabetically and return DVDs immediately after use
• Store laptops on bottom shelf with cords off floor
• DO NOT STORE THINGS ON THE FLOOR
• Pull out top shelf items and dust once per month
• Enforce a no climbing on bookshelf or couch arm policy
• Sort out books once per month
• Sort out toys once per week

What are some methods for sustaining these recommended improvements?  Here are the Home Organization Procedures for the Living Room Bookshelf:

• Cleaning methods
• Identified and stored cleaning supplies
• Steps to clean area and what to watch for – dust
• Dusting schedule
• Item sorting schedule

We also scheduled our next 6S audits and events for the area and jotted them in the family calendar.  We definitely started to see a pattern in the necessary standards, documentation, and improvements for target areas in the living room.  We will be completing the living room this week!  All that is left is the couch and mantle area.  Once we complete the rest of the living room, the plan is to put together one entry in our 6S Standards Family Guidebook.

Posted in Living Room 6S, Bookshelves, Living Room

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