The “Stack” Comes To Home Organization

What’s A Stack?

When someone asks you if you want to see their “tech stack”, they're usually not about to show you various devices perched precariously one atop the next in a shattered-screen-defying feat.

For those not familiar with the term, a "tech stack” is best translated by John Herrman (New York Times Magazine, April 2017 ):

“A stack is a collection of different pieces of software that are being used together to accomplish a task”-

that is to say, the many simpler parts that make up the entity at large. The significance of the stack is obvious:

“For many companies, the organizing logic of the software stack becomes inseparable from the logic of the business itself.”

A rising favorite among buzzword connoisseurs, Herrman ponders the continuity of a word at risk of falling into the empty abyss of expired literal experiments never to be used again.

What he doesn’t dwell upon is the stack’s most seductive quality, & perhaps the one reason stacks are about to explode.  

Stack Logic: The Great Simplifier

Today when Andreessen-Horowitz’s oft-cited quote “Software is eating the world” is thrice proven true daily, citizens grasp for a hand hold- where do I fit into the great movement that is technology? Enter the stack’s most thrilling element: Stack logic is the great simplifier. It invites us common folk into the once-intimidating inner circle of our world-eating tech monsters with a startling dose of relatability. Hop on Stackshare & view the top tech company’s stack make-ups with giddy glee (“AirBnB uses Google Docs?! I’m writing this on Google Docs right now! So same!)

The mind-grasping reality of cumulative substance is stack’s saving grace. It’s why stacks will spread to other territories in need of simplification; of relatability.

So why not bring the stack to home organization- something every bit as daunting as a behemoth tech company (ok, not exactly, but- So same!).

What’s A Home Organization Stack?

The premise of the Home organization stack is simple: Each home‘s organizational system is the sum-total of all its moving organizing parts- not merely a patchwork of products, tips & solutions for each separate room & space. This idea is something Professional Organizers have been preaching for years.

The Kitchen has its products, systems, chores & time that all work together to make it organized: Do the dishes, put them away, after dinner, stack them into the dish organizer in the cabinet. That set of actions sits among tens of other sequences that will all work together to create an entirely organized home. 

The trick is to see every separate sequence in the greater context of your home's organization stack. This grants you the handle you need to put every moving part into its specific time, place, system & product. If something is viewed in this light, it is so much more simplified & enjoyable. 

So What's YOUR Home Organization Stack? 

Like any "stack", there are some more important parts that make the stack unique. Because every home & homemaker is unique, that makes for millions of stack variations. No single stack works for the next person or situation. So we want to hear what tips, tricks, products (Modular Closets?) & schedules you employ as part of your stack. What makes yours uniquely you? And who knows- perhaps your own stack can be the next great trend in home organizing, de-mystifying the swirling confusion for the masses.