5 Principles of Organization
Published June 03, 2022 · 5:11 · 676,562 views
About This Video
Van Neistat delivers five principles of organization in 5 minutes and 11 seconds, and he delivers them like scripture. Each principle gets a rule and a violation. This is the workshop organization system behind the studio, stated plainly enough to copy.
Principle one: no stacks, and one-handed only. Stack identical items like dishes, never unique ones, because stacking unique things invites chaos. When you work you rarely have both hands free, so every item should come out and go back with one hand. Principle two: kit your stuff and decentralize the mess. Keep kits packed, never migrate their contents, and return each kit to where it lives the moment you finish. The necessary evil twin of the kit is the junk drawer, and junk drawers are not always drawers. Keep them small. Liquidate them regularly.
Principle three is the strange one. Find your organizational talismans, the small magical trinkets that keep a space in order: binder clips, Post-it Super Sticky notes, number 64 rubber bands, push pins in aluminum and stainless, American hooks and Japanese hooks bought in Japan. Principle four: learn to build shelves. Wood, brackets, screws, wall anchors, a level, a drill, a saw, 80-grit sandpaper. Even a chaotic shelf reads as organized. As Van puts it, in the beginning there was shelves. Principle five: customize. He maximizes the truck by improvising an engine-compartment storage system for the jumper cables, customizing both the flare-gun box and the cables themselves.
The biblical cadence is the argument, not a bit. Organization is the precondition for making things, and Van treats it as a daily practice rather than a one-time cleanup. The video is built as a ranked, five-part list, and the closing joke gives the game away. One of these days I'm gonna get organized. You mean organized organized organized. He means it.
What Van Uses: His pentavirate of organizational talismans, all kept stocked: binder clips, Post-it Super Sticky notes, number 64 rubber bands, push pins, and a mix of American and Japanese hooks, plus the basic shelf-building kit of brackets, wall anchors, a level, a drill, and 80-grit sandpaper.
Related: Rules for an Organized Life, How To Build a Shelf (Without Power Tools), Van Neistat's Tool Kits, and the broader tools and craft thread.
FAQ
What are Van Neistat's 5 principles of organization?
No stacks and one-handed only; kit your stuff and decentralize the mess; find your organizational talismans; learn to build shelves; and customize. Each one comes with a named violation, so you can audit your own space against it.
What are organizational talismans?
Van's term for the small, repeatable hardware that keeps a workshop in order: binder clips, Post-it Super Sticky notes, number 64 rubber bands, push pins, and hooks. He stocks and reveres them, half-joking about the occult while insisting the system is real.
Do you need power tools to stay organized?
No. Principle four is to learn to build shelves, and Van's shelf method runs on a saw, a drill, a level, brackets, wall anchors, and 80-grit sandpaper. Even a rough shelf reads as organized, which is most of the point.
Transcript
[Music] number one no stacks and one-handed only stack identical items like dishes bowls and cups unique items must never be stacked this paint shelf is a violation as are these snake oil shelves [Music] stacking unique items invites chaos [Music] when working you very rarely have both hands free keep your things organized such that each item may be removed and replaced using only one hand this crawl space door is a violation as are these kits [Music] number two
kit your sh decentralize your mess with multiple kits keep your kits packed do not migrate kit contents [Music] do not migrate the kits themselves keep each kit where it lives or return it immediately after use the necessary evil twin of kits is junk drawers junk drawer chaos preserves your kits organizational integrity junk drawers are not always drawers keep junk drawers small liquidate them regularly number three find your organizational talismans a talisman is a magical trinket like a dream catcher to keep this studio in workshop
organized we stock and revere a pentavarite of organizational talismans [Music] binder clips post-its super sticky number 64 rubber bands [Music] push pins aluminum and stainless and hooks american hooks [Music] japanese hooks bought in japan [Music] this channel in no way endorses the occult but we do make fun of it number four learn to build shelves don't be intimidated you need wood shelf brackets
screws and wall anchors a level a drill in bits and a saw and sandpaper 80 grit even chaotic shelves look somewhat organized learn to build them learn to anchor them learn their limits shelves beget the genesis of your organized life in the beginning there was shelves number five customize encourage organization by indulging in customization customization allows us to maximize our space and helps us to stay organized jumper cables are inherently messy and unruly but we are the type of people who carry jumper cables in our car because we are
organized with a bit of customization to this flare gun box and to the jumper cables themselves we maximize the space in our truck by improvising an engine compartment storage system for our jumper cables [Music] may your practice of customization sanctify your ritual of organization one of these days i'm gonna get organized you mean organized organized organized it's a joke this week on the patreon zine one has been retired zine two is available to the next 499 new patrons who sign up here's the link
Products & Tools Mentioned
- Post-It Super Sticky notes essential — organizational talisman, golden yellow not canary
- #64 rubber bands essential — organizational talisman
- binder clips essential — organizational talisman
- push pins essential — organizational talisman, aluminum and stainless