Philip Pape: 0:01

It might be that your lack of progress isn't due to a lack of knowledge or effort. It's your spaces that are sabotaging you. What do I mean? In today's episode, we are diving into a concept straight from engineering that could help you discover how your environment might be quietly undermining your efforts. You'll learn a systematic approach to transform your spaces into powerful allies to reduce friction in your quest for this leaner physique. Today, we'll uncover why your surroundings matter more than you think when it comes to consistently hitting your goals.

Philip Pape: 0:51

Welcome to Wits and Weights, the show that blends evidence and engineering to help you build smart, efficient systems to achieve your dream physique. I'm your host, philip Pape, and today we're exploring a concept that might be the missing piece in your fat loss puzzle the 6S method and how it applies to your environment, your fitness environment, your food environment, all of your spaces. You've probably heard me talk about the importance of systems and efficiency. Well, today we're taking that to a whole new level, because we're going to break down the 6S method, a principle used in manufacturing and engineering that can be applied to set up your environment for success, and by the end of this episode, you'll understand why your environment could be working against you right now, but how you can flip that around and make it an ally in your journey. So let's dive in. Let's explore how a little bit of this engineering wisdom can transform how you look at things. Let's talk about food for a second. Have you ever wondered why it's so hard to stick to your plan, even if you have a meal plan, even if you've thought ahead of it, when there's a big bag of chips sitting right on the table? Or why you find it easier to work out or train consistently when your gym clothes are laid out the night before right? These aren't random. They're prime examples of how your environment shapes your behavior, how you're able to increase or reduce friction and then, ultimately, the success that you have when it comes to behavior and habits.

Philip Pape: 2:16

And so there's this concept from engineering and manufacturing called the 6S method. It was originally developed to improve efficiency in factories. It was then later applied to offices, and we can take these principles and apply it to any aspect of life. And that's what we're going to do today. And what it is. It's a. It's a systematic approach to organizing and optimizing your environment.

Philip Pape: 2:41

And the six S's they actually come from Japanese, but they get translated into English to keep the S's, and they stand for sort, set in order, shine, standardize, sustain and safety. And throughout my engineering career I've used some variants of this. There's different ones, there's five S's, there's six S's, and for me it was often in the office. Somebody would come by and they'd say, okay, do you have everything organized so that you can easily find your documents? You know what's in what drawer, things like that. Of course, today a lot of people work from home. People aren't walking around checking your home office, but the principles still apply. So let's break down the six S's. Just go through each one and just quickly give you an example of how it might work. S's. Just go through each one and just quickly give you an example of how it might work.

Philip Pape: 3:25

The first one is sort, and this is about eliminating things that are unnecessary. This could be physically clearing out things that you just don't want or need, like those tortilla chips or the snacks or the candy or whatever in your pantry, in your drawer, in your fridge. It could be eliminating things from your home gym that you don't use so that you have space for things that you do, and it could even be prioritizing the things that are important to you in your calendar, such as training, if training is number one that comes first and you kind of create a list and then at that bottom of the list you say can I eliminate this or can I delegate this if it is not necessary? So there's all different ways to sort things to make our environment more pleasant, more clean, more clear for us to start making progress. Number two is set in order. This involves organizing what's left after you sort and so in your kitchen this might mean putting the snacks that you really want maybe they're the high nutrient density, the lower calorie snacks at eye level in your fridge, in the front of the cabinet, in the front of your drawer, putting it where you see it before you see, the higher calorie options, the things you want less. Now, when you're in a multi-person household, this might involve some conversation, but if someone there is supporting you, they should be okay with you putting their Oreo cookies in the back so you don't see them as easily. Very simple concept of organizing what's left. This could apply to your home gym as well. This could apply to even your equipment that you take to the gym. If you go to a commercial gym and you have your blender bottle, your protein, your gym bag, your squat shoes are those first sorted and then set in order so that they're very easy to see and get to. For example, if your gym bag, if your squat shoes, have a place in the front room, where you're going to walk by it every day on the way out, even when you're not going to the gym, it's a great visual reminder of that, a behavior that is part of your life.

Philip Pape: 5:25

The third S is shine, and this is about keeping your environment clean and functional. Almost think of like a feng shui right, when you think of the extreme of a living room that is just very clean, minimalist and it's functional. You have your area to sit, you have your area to get work done, things like that. So a clean kitchen, for example, makes your meal prep more appealing. So simply literally cleaning right, literally making the counter clean, and also not just you know, not just cleaning it, but also keeping it clear, keeping it functional.

Philip Pape: 6:00

You can have some decorative things, of course, but think about all your kitchen appliances. Which ones do you use more than others? The ones you don't. Maybe they go in the cabinet, maybe you have a rack up top that you can hang pans from, or kitchen implements, tools and things. Maybe the drawer you can reorganize your utensil drawer right Little things like that that can go a long way. I think about my basement, where I have my tool chest, and ever since we moved in I've been working to organize that. There's a lot of tools and I was thinking, you know what? It's a little bit frustrating and stressful when I have to do a small job and I go down there and things aren't where I want them. Same thing applies to our meal planning. You know, are your casserole dishes in the right place? Your pots, your pans, your ninja creamy, all the things that you use on a regular basis? So that's shine, keeping it clean and functional.

Philip Pape: 6:47

The next S is standardize. Now, this is one of my favorites. This is about creating systems and routines, and so this could involve initially setting for yourself a reminder in your calendar or in your phone, or setting an alarm or putting a post-it note on the fridge that gets you to do something, but that something is, for example, always packing your lunch the night before, or always having a set meal prep day each week, or always prepping your gym bag the night before, and standardizing, having a system. This doesn't have to be super automated and using AI and all this fun stuff. We're just talking about your food, your gym environment and making it as frictionless as possible. Number five is sustain. Now this some for some people is the hardest part is maintaining the changes you've made. But if you've already gotten rid of all this friction, you've created a clean, well suited, well sorted, shiny, functional environment, you're probably going to have some sense of pride in it. And if they then lead to you making progress, it kind of feeds on itself and you create habits and you consistently reinforce the systems that you've put in place.

Philip Pape: 7:59

And the last S is safety. Now, in manufacturing, this usually refers to physical safety when you're dealing with high voltage electricity or sharp tools or heavy equipment, but when it comes to nutrition and training, this could be making sure you have an environment that helps you feel safe, feel less stressed, feel like you know what you're doing and you know what to do next. It could be physical safety in a home gym, for example, by making sure you have barbell clips and spotter arms, safety pins all the right equipment so that you don't feel in danger at all. It could be making sure that you are tracking the things that you want to measure, both with your food, whether it's scale, weight measurements, lifting so that you have the confidence that what you're doing is going to produce the result, so that you know you're recovering right. When we say safety, do we mean physically being safe in the gym, with your form and recovering? So there's a lot of different ways to create an environment that supports your progress and prevents extreme measures, prevents burnout and allows you to recover and have some time to yourself.

Philip Pape: 9:03

Now we often talk about how willpower is a finite resource Discipline willpower. Every time you have to make a decision whether to eat that donut, whether to go to the gym you're using up some of that willpower. But when you optimize your environment using the 6S method, you reduce decision fatigue, you reduce the number of decisions you have to make because you've done it in advance. You've set your environment up to have as little friction as possible. It's just like when you make a plan, when you have a meal plan, and then you execute. You've already done the work ahead of time, when you had the energy to do the work, that did not require very much willpower, and then, when the time comes, the emotion is out of it and you just execute because you have no choice.

Philip Pape: 9:44

The environment is what it is when your kitchen is stocked with the foods that you want the lower calorie, higher density, the whole foods or even the indulgences, but the ones that you want and you have them in the right place, where there aren't just random temptations. Everywhere, eating well, eating for your goals becomes the path of least resistance when your gym clothes and your blender bottle and your squat shoes and your lifting belt are all set up to go the night before going to the gym actually becomes the easy choice. The harder choice would be to undo all of that. Now you're no longer fighting against your environment. It is actually working toward you and guiding you. It's like holding your hand and saying here we go Like. This is the way we do it, and this is why I often say that systems are going to outdo willpower. Any day of the week, you can have all the motivation in the world internal, external, doesn't matter. If your environment is constantly tempting you or making it difficult to stick to your plan. That is friction. You're fighting an uphill battle in that case.

Philip Pape: 10:45

Now the beauty of taking a method like this, the 6S method. It is not about drastically changing everything. It's take one thing take one of those S's and take one aspect of your environment and just start chipping away Small strategic tweaks that will add up to big changes over time. Start with your refrigerator or, if that's too overwhelming, start with one drawer, one cabinet. Start with the one gym bag drawer. S-trick right. It's about engineering your surroundings to make the choice that serves you, whether that is for fat loss or anything else the easy choice. So just pick one area of your environment and go through each of the six S's, starting at the top Sort. Just start with sort, and you might find that one of them is unnecessary or it's easy and you go to the next one. Just start with one and do it. You don't even have to go to the next one the same day if you don't want to. You could. And once you sort, then you set things in order and that'll make those choices even easier. Then you keep it clean, you keep it appealing and functional, you standardize, you sustain these because you've got the pride and you've done the work to put it in place. And then you make sure everything supports you and supports the safety for you.

Philip Pape: 11:57

This is an aspect of continual improvement, constantly refining your surroundings to better support your goals, and it never really ends. You'll always find opportunities to do this, so go back to this episode in the future. If you're like hi, I need to work on my environment. Something in my environment just doesn't feel right. It feels dirty, it feels like it's going against me. I always eat this snack food that's sitting there on the table and analyze, optimize, iterate. Of course, in the car or you're walking, you may not have the full environment, but really everywhere you are is part of your environment. So you might be surprised. In your car, for example, it might be a little dirty, you might have things that are not as efficiently set up for you for your commute, for listening to that podcast.

Philip Pape: 12:49

What are the little things that are holding you back from your goals?

Philip Pape: 12:53

What's hindering you?

Philip Pape: 12:55

And then, how can you apply the 6S method to make the environment work for you?

Philip Pape: 12:58

All right, if you are not entirely sure how to apply this to your life, or you wanna take this concept and take it to the next level and figure out for you what is my plan, what is my fat loss plan? What is my muscle building plan? Body recomposition I have free 15 minute rapid nutrition assessments that I do all the time where I get on the call with you, I get on a zoom call and we just talk about your goal, where you are, where you want to be. What is the one thing holding you back? And then give, give you a three-step action plan to get you immediate results in the next 90 days. Maybe it's about refining your environment, maybe it's something else, but you'll only know if you book it. So book your assessment with me. Go to witsandweightscom, click the big button at the top or click the link in the show notes. That is it for today. This is Philip Pape. You've been listening to Wits and Weights. Until next time, keep using those wits, keep lifting those weights. We'll talk to you then.