Organizing Your Home with Kaizen: Embracing Small Changes for Big Impact

Have you ever experienced the magic of a small change that transformed your daily routine? Perhaps it was as simple as rearranging a shelf or adding an extra hook in your entryway. A minor change in my kitchen recently sparked a revelation about the power of incremental improvements.

Let me share the story with you. My husband and I love our morning coffee, and our kitchen cabinet near the coffee maker was starting to overflow with cups, travel mugs, and water bottles. Grabbing a coffee cup in the morning was starting to feel like unraveling the Leaning Tower of Pisa. When simple tasks start to feel difficult around the house, that’s usually a sign my organizing systems need tweaking. So I got to thinking!

I noticed unused space in our tall cabinet and figured an extra shelf would work wonders to give us more storage capacity. We had an extra shelf in the garage so  I asked my husband to trim one to size. In all but 15 minutes,  he had the shelf ready to go, while I worked on pulling everything out and decluttering a few items that never get used. Just like that, our coffee corner got a major upgrade.

Every day since, we've found ourselves stopping to admire how this small change has made such a difference, as we (easily!) grab a mug and pour the first cup of coffee.

Change is an inevitable part of life and growth, but why is it that change can sometimes leave us feeling so scared and overwhelmed? Like when the thought of organizing your whole home leaves you feeling paralyzed and stuck in inaction. The answer is simply that we’re trying to do too much.

So how do we evolve and change without stressing ourselves out?

In Japan, there is a concept known kaizen, which roughly translates to “good change” or “continual improvement.” This concept is about surfacing the incremental ways we can continuously improve, by asking ourselves “What small thing can I change?”

These bite-sized, digestible improvements amount to meaningful change over time, while allowing us the space to enjoy the process. As someone who tends to be an all-or-nothing thinker, embracing the concept of kaizen has helped me to step back and consider other avenues to make progress toward my personal goals one small step a a time.

So if you’re feeling overwhelmed at the thought of decluttering or organizing your home, ask yourself, “What small change can I make today that will help me get organized?” Instead of decluttering the whole kitchen, maybe it's just decluttering one drawer or adding a shelf. Kaizen encourages us to focus on manageable, bite-sized improvements that, over time, accumulate into significant progress. 

Need some inspiration for small changes you can make? Click HERE to grab a free copy of my quick-start decluttering list!

Embracing kaizen in your home organization journey isn't just about making physical changes; it's about cultivating a mindset of continuous improvement and enjoying the process along the way. So, take a step back, identify one small change you can make today, and watch as it transforms your home, one incremental improvement at a time.