Home Office: Shine 清掃
Clean, and use cleaning to inspect.
Build a cleaning rhythm for your home office — daily tasks take under 5 minutes when Sort and Set in Order are in place.
Shine tasks for the Home Office
- Daily: Clear the desk to the base state at end of workday
- Daily: Process the action tray
- Daily: File or recycle any papers from today
- Weekly: Dust monitor, keyboard, and surfaces
- Weekly: Empty bin
- Weekly: Back up files
- Monthly: Shred processed documents
- Monthly: Review reference shelf — anything no longer active?
- Monthly: Check stationery supplies
What is the Shine phase?
Shine (清掃, Seiso) is daily, weekly, and monthly cleaning — but in 5S it means more than cleaning. Cleaning is inspection: you notice when something is running low, when something is broken, when a zone is drifting. A well-maintained space gives constant feedback about whether the system is working.
Common questions about the Home Office
How do I keep my desk clear?
The desk should have a base state — monitor, keyboard, mouse, lamp, nothing else permanently. At the end of every workday, return to base state. Items that resist being cleared signal that they need a designated home: a filing tray for active papers, a shelf for reference books, a drawer for stationery. Fix the home, not the desk.
How should I organise paperwork at home?
Three categories: action (needs a response or decision — maximum 10 items, reviewed daily), file (needs keeping — in labelled folders by topic), and recycle. Nothing else exists. Paper that doesn't fit one of those three categories should not be kept. Process new post the day it arrives; never let it stack.
How do I organise cables in a home office?
A cable tray mounted under the desk handles the main runs. Velcro ties (not cable ties — they're reusable) bundle cables that run together. Label both ends of every cable with a label maker or masking tape. Toss cables with no current device — they will not become useful.
How do I focus better by organising my workspace?
Visual clutter directly increases cognitive load — your brain processes every item on the desk as a potential task even when you're not actively looking at it. A clear desk is not aesthetic preference; it reduces the mental overhead of sitting down to work. The base-state desk practice takes 5 minutes and has a measurable effect on focus.
Common Home Office mistakes
✗ Mistake
Desk as the default landing zone for everything
✓ Fix
A desk is a workspace. Nothing lands on it that isn't active work.
✗ Mistake
Paper piles that "need to be dealt with"
✓ Fix
Piles grow. An action tray with a daily review is the fix — maximum 10 items.