[Personal Ops] How to Apply Good Operations in Your Closet (and Be More Generous)

⬆️ Mindset Shift:

Our entire life is made up of systems and subsystems. High-performing operations can apply as much to our personal lives as to the work environment. The same kind of discipline and intentionality can make your personal life run as smoothly as your work life - as you will see with this proven concept. 

📋 The ‘Flip All Your Closet Hangars’ Challenge

If you are like me, you can get just as fired up about an operational improvement at home as one you implement at work.

About 10 years ago, I first heard of the annual ‘Flip All Your Closet Hangars Challenge.’ I thought - okay, that is smart, and immediately put it into action.  I wonder if you will as well.

What motivated me was reflecting on Matthew 6:19, which reads, ‘Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth.’

The verse reminds the reader how we can be more generous if we free up and give away assets we no longer need, allowing others to benefit. 

Okay, so how do we operationalize it? 

You may also be a fan of Greg McKeown, the author of Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less (no sponsorship). We need triggers and rhythms to pair things down. What I am about to share connects with a lifestyle embracing more essentialism while decluttering. 

Finally, here is the ‘Flip All Your Closet Hangars Challenge,’ which could help you create an easy system to generously give away more articles of clothing you no longer wear.

The ‘Flip All Your Closet Hangars Challenge’

[Supporting pictures below]

Step 1 - Flip the hangars - At the end of the year or start of the new year, flip all your closet hangars to hook from the opposite direction of the hanging rod.

Step 2 - At around the same time next year, inventory all the clothes with hangars still facing the opposite direction. You now have a year's worth of data to make better decisions. Consider giving away what you didn’t wear that year. 

This picture shows how I have this in action, with 23 hangars continuing to face the opposite direction.

The next picture shows the annual ‘reset’ and how, after I identified 11 out of 23 clothes to give away, all of the hangars now face the opposite direction for next year’s assessment.

💡 NOTE: The 11 articles I kept were made of a few dress shirts and some holiday-specific items like my favorite 4th of July polo that I didn’t wear this 4th. It goes on the chopping block next cycle if I don't wear it again. 

Doing this now for years makes me feel like I am not storing up treasure in my closet (see Matthew 6:19 above). Plus, the simple system helps keep me in line with a balanced essentialism-type lifestyle. I hope you experience something similar.

📖 Really? Only Black Hangars?

There was a time when I could only have black hangers in my closet, which seems a little silly now, having focused on something that didn’t matter. I want you to know that I have made progress. Today, I have a wide mix of hangars in my closet, as you see above in the pictures. 

I also made some upgrades last year and experimented with purchasing ‘Closet Dividers’ (no sponsorship) to find my clothes more easily. Saved milliseconds add up over the year! I have, for example, a polo divider just for my favorite Mizzen+Main golf polos, which is not a sponsor.

For each divider, I hang up my clothes with the most recent to the right, which also signals what I wear the most. See it in action with the red callout box showing hangars still facing the opposite. I was in Step 2, outlined above when this picture was taken.

💥 Is it Time to Flip Your Hangars?

What is holding you back from investing a few minutes right now, going into your closet, and flipping all of your hangars? Set yourself up for a more generous New Year. Your future self will thank you.

💡 What Do You Think?

Are you in? If so, let me know.

🛠️ Tools Mentioned:

Closet Dividers from Amazon. 

☁️ AI Content Disclaimer:

Grammarly Pro is always a help with edits. Besides the edits, this content is 100% human-created.

✅ Mind Break:

Since you made it this far, check out these skiers jumping over a chair lift to wrap up. 

🗓️ What’s Coming Up Next:

Next week, be on the lookout for how I got started using AI, along with some top prompts.

Let’s all keep striving to be Elite Operators,

Steve Kahle |  ELITE OPERATORS

🔵 P.S.

P.S. If you find value, consider signing up for The Elite Operator Report if you haven’t already. I encourage you to share my content with others, which is a great way to help me build a growing community of elite operators. Also, check out my no-cost resources, like the Ideal Recurring Week Mini-Course. You can also apply for my next Productivity Accelerator, become a paid subscriber, or recommend me for executive coaching, operational and technology consulting, or speaking opportunities like this interview called Time Architecture, Transition from Stressed, and Distracted to Focused.

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