Using a Lesson from Industry to Bring Order to Your Life

Excellent advice on how to bring order out of chaos in one's life. Just ignore the one reference to the 'three year liturgical cycle'.

From Catholic Stand

By Genesius

God created the universe with order.  This order and structure is evident in the vast variety of nature. Even snowflakes, with their infinite unique shapes, are made of dendrites formed with a specific foundational crystal pattern.

But the order is not limited to the physical world. God’s creatures also have different forms of structure, whether it is the social structure in a pod of dolphins, or the bond between male and female birds of prey.

God also designed humans with an inherent need for structure.  One such example is the structure of the family, which begins to form when a man and a woman are united in the sacrament of marriage.

Even Christ founded the Church with a structure.  Peter, as the head of the Church, and the other apostles were the first leaders of the Church.

Few people, very few, can live in a world void of structure.  Many have tried but they end up living lives that are completely reactionary.

Structure and Freedom

Some argue that structure is restrictive and stifles choice and freedom.  And structures can be built to do just that.  However, those who build such structures do so deliberately.

Basic structures, however, are actually enablers.  Ask a child to build a toy from scratch without any guidance and most children are stymied.  Give a child a box of Legos and the number of creations become endless.  Lego’s are structures and they become an enabler for the child’s imagination.

Recognizing the need for a structure in worship, the Catholic Church set up the liturgical calendar with a three-year cycle.  The Church selected Scripture and Gospel readings to fit the calendar assuring that priests do not dwell on a favorite verse for weeks at time.

When looking to the Communion of Saints, one often finds devout Catholics working to bring order to their lives.  Saint Benedict wrote rules as a means of organizing monastic life.  The spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola provide structure to a retreatant trying to discern the will of God.

Bringing Myself Out of Chaos

In my journey back to the one true Faith from atheism, I needed to get my life in order.  I needed structure in my life to fend off the chaos of sin and previous denials of Catholic teachings.

Since I was unfamiliar with many Catholic practices, I looked to my profession and its principles to help me in my spiritual life.  Blessed  with an aptitude for engineering, I put my knowledge of engineering and manufacturing to work to get my soul in order.

I realized that a method for organizing and resetting a manufacturing environment could be adopted as a way of providing some basic structure for my spiritual life.  I found this to be a good method to provide some housekeeping of the soul. It is the 5S Methodology.

Entire books focus on this subject.  It’s often referred to as “a place for everything and everything in its place.”  After I explain it, I’ll show how can be used to get our spiritual lives in order.

5S – A Lesson from Industry

Structure is important, and specifically housekeeping, in an industrial manufacturing setting. This is because tools are shared across shifts.  When someone reaches for a tool, it needs to be there.  It must be in the same place, ready for someone working at one o’clock in the afternoon or during the midnight shift.  This common, simple structure gives the workforce the freedom to complete tasks.

Without a deliberate effort, structures degrade.  If atrophy sets in, the tool will not be where it needs to be and the area turns into disarray.  When a manufacturing area falls into chaos, the leaders of that area are expected and allowed to bring it under control.

The 5S method is a common method for resetting the structure and housekeeping of an area.  The five steps, in order, are:

• • Sort,
  • Set in Order,
  • Shine,
  • Standardize, and
  • Sustain

Each step must be done in sequence as they build off each other.

A 5S Approach to Structure

Sorting means going through an area and separating needed items from unneeded items.  Clutter, distractions, and trash are removed to increase the amount of useful space.  This step, when done honestly, is often embarrassing because one often finds things that are years out of date.  Sometimes things are found that should never have been in the area to begin with.

After getting rid of the superfluous, the next step is to set in order the remaining equipment and tools to create a smooth workflow.  This may mean worktables and machines must be rearranged for what makes sense.

With everything set in order, equipment then gets cleaned, painted, and made to shine as though it was new.  But there is more to this than just cleaning and polishing.  This short refrain sums up the shine step:

1. 1. Clean to Inspect
   2. Inspect to Detect
   3. Detect to Correct
   4. Correct to Perfect

Cleanings a piece of equipment also means inspecting the equipment for problems.

For example, a hydraulic pump may be dirty and oily.  As it is cleaned it is inspected for problems that may be the cause of the oil.  Perhaps under the grime a split hydraulic hose is leaking.  This problem could not have been found without cleaning the equipment.  With the underlying problem detected, the source of the oil leak is corrected and the machine begins working properly again.

Standardizing is the fourth step, and this often takes collaboration.  Tools and supplies are placed where they are needed, not in a tool crib a football field away.  Each item has a specific location in which it should be placed, every time by everyone.

Sustain is the most difficult step.  Without constant review and effort, the structure of an area will degenerate and fall back into disorder.

Sort Out Your Life

These same principles can be applied to ourselves.  For someone whose life is in chaos, is overwhelmed, and does not know where to begin, this structured approach may be just what is needed.

Getting one’s life in order is easy to say, but what does this actually mean?  Using the 5S methodology, it starts by sorting the good from bad – removing activities that are contrary to the Faith.

These activities may be working excessively, a disproportionate use of digital technology, using illicit drugs, or viewing pornography.  It could also be the kind of television programming brought into the house for entertainment.  The point is to sort out what is in one’s life and discard the clutter, distraction, and trash that may be contaminating one’s soul.

One must do this deliberately.  And often this step is humiliating.  An honest sorting of one’s life often uncovers some very uncomfortable sins that one does not want to let go of.

Set Your Spirit in Order

Arrange your life like your soul depends on it because it does.  Start by putting the important things first in your life.  Make sure Mass comes first.  If you are married, honor your vocation and be there for your spouse and children.  If that means missing a football game, so be it.

Setting one’s life in order is not just a schedule.  This may mean making amends with people.  It may mean figuring out how to forgive someone.  It may mean having to apologize.

Shine Your Soul

God has blessed the Church with the sacrament of reconciliation.  This is how one can shine one’s soul.

Reconciliation allows us to

• Clean to Inspect (done during the examination of conscience);
• Inspect to Detect (identify behaviors that lead to sin)
• Detect to Correct (focus on and change bad behaviors);
• Correct to Perfect (move closer to Christ).

One can work to avoid repeating the same sin over and over by using this principle.  Perfection is not possible, but one should work to move in that direction.

Standardize Your Spiritual Life

Just as the Church standardized the liturgical calendar, work to standardize your spiritual life.  If you always forget to say the rosary, why not start every day by saying the rosary immediately after waking up.

If you constantly have conflicts with family members on when to go to Mass, agree on a time ahead of time.

Instead of going to confession when you feel like it, why not every four weeks?  Why not every week?

The sacraments are not the only area where we can standardize our spiritual lives.  For example, why keep a rosary in the top drawer of a dresser?  Put this spiritual tool at its point of use, perhaps in your car, next to your favorite chair, or even better, in your pocket.  Carry a rosary always.  Make it a habit.  Standardize the practice.

Sustain Your Spiritual Life

One must make an effort to maintain one’s spiritual life.  Discipline is needed to examine oneself and honestly recognize when one has taken a step backwards.

In some cases, one may need to repeat all 5S steps again.  Life may often require a complete reset of one’s soul.

Will This Work for You?

For some reading this article, this approach may seem either obvious or a waste of time.  But this was written for those who want to change, but do not really know where to start and have no idea how to structure their lives.  Perhaps it was written for someone you know.  If you do share this, remember that the delivery is important.