Home Office: Standardize 清潔
Make the right way the easy way.
Create the rules and visual cues that make your home office system automatic.
Standardize tasks for the Home Office
- Desk clear at end of every workday — this is non-negotiable
- One active project on the desk at a time; everything else goes in the filing tray
- No paper older than one week without a decision: file, action, or recycle
What is the Standardize phase?
Standardize (清潔, Seiketsu) creates the rules and visual cues that make the first three phases automatic. Labels, consistent triggers, one-in-one-out rules, and household agreements that mean the system runs without constant decision-making. If you have to think about whether to return something to its place, the system isn't standardised enough.
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.