Earlier this week I talked with Kathy Santini from What Successful People Know about time management. One of the topics we covered was how to re-energize yourself so you can get more done. If you’ve been in that place where you felt out of energy, overwhelmed and stuck, these steps may help (both with the physical “stuff” and the spiritual/mindset “stuff”).
Photo credit: seemann from morguefile.com
1. Get rid of the junk
If you’re surrounded by junk, be it clutter in your office or mindset blocks that are holding you back, start by clearing that out. Remember this is an ongoing process.
Physical: Clutter used to be a big challenge for me until I discovered FlyLady.com. If you have trouble juggling housework and your home is a chaos zone, do yourself a favor and give her routines a try. It’s totally overwhelming at first, especially if you’ve got a lot of clutter, but so very worth it. After you survive the first few months you don’t have to stick to it so closely anymore and you’ll start to develop your own routines that work for you.
Spiritual: If you’ve got mindset issues and personal beliefs that are holding you back ($X is too much money to charge, you aren’t ready for X, women should X or shouldn’t X, etc) then connect with Therese Skelly.
When you’re no longer surrounded by physical and mental clutter you’ll feel free and more able to focus and work productively.
2. Organize what’s left
Imagine no more wasting time looking for lost items! And knowing exactly WHY you want to login and post to your blog today. Organize your surroundings and your business.
Physical: For getting organized I love Marcia Francois’ home organization course (she’s the reason I can almost always find the scissors now — I say almost because with three kids, there are times someone else forgot to put them back…) Another great resource is Get Organized Now. I own their easy filing system and it’s lovely.
Spiritual: Are you connected to the “why” for your business and/or blog? Identify your mission and what motivates you. Know your short and long term goals. For inspiration and guidance visit Heart of Business.
Once you’re organized and can find things around you, and know what’s motivating you, you’ll find it easier to move forward and get things done.
3. Stop tolerating things
Look around at the things you’re tolerating that aren’t ideal and fix them!
Physical: Broken stove or garbage disposal, sure you can work around that but instead get it fixed. Not enough space on your bookshelves? You could just double stack everything but then you’re wasting time trying to find books because you can’t easily see them all, so instead get a new shelf or declutter.
Spiritual: If you feel disconnected from what you’re doing, like it no longer fits, and you’re not doing your best work, give yourself permission to re-examine things. You might just need small adjustments. Or you may need a bigger shift into something different. It’s yours, you can change it.
Fix what’s bugging you! You’ll waste less time and feel like stressed in an environment you can relax in.
Have you found specific things that work to re-energize you?
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4Shares
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This is great — it’s true that when i reduce physical clutter the mental floodgates open. It’s just hard to justify the time it takes — but I guess it’s worth it when you consider how far-reaching the results can be. The worst is not the obvious messy clutter, but the less-than-necessary things taking up prime real estate on your desk and your most -accssible shelves. The trick for me is to start small. I did one drawer yesterday and flet I accomplished a lot. It’s a thrill to open it and see only what I need!
Lisa
That’s a great tip, Lisa. Small steps can lead to big results. :)
Lisa,
I am with you on this. Cleaning up the clutter does open the flood gates. Even my income increases when I quit holding onto “stuff”. It is like I have made way for the new.
I do the small steps thing…it works for me.
My sister told me she was doing thing is 1/2 increments. I started that plan and it works. I take a 1/2 hour and clean up an area of my life. It might be going through my clothes closet, or handling a problem that came up with the phone company. I actually complete a cycle of action that has been drawing my attention.
I’ve heard quite a few people share that experience, Sheila, that letting go of stuff helped them financially as well as space-wise. :)
Hey Michelle – Great suggestions. Thank you so much! I have to say that a year or so ago I really took the “cleaning my desk” mentality to heart. It doesn’t happen daily but it does happen on a much more regular basis. This is awesome!!
I used to have a much messier desk, too. Now when I notice I’m not being productive I’m also usually surrounded by a messy desk. Since I’ve made the connection I try to straighten it up daily, or at least most days. :)
Good suggestions here. Appreciate your sharing the advice. Clutter is one of those things that occasionally creeps up to the point of where I have to do something about that before I can do anything else…
It does. It can end up taking over!
I’ve been working hard on declutering, have several newly neat surfaces in my office, many more to go. After they’re done, I’ll spend my 15-30 minutes a day of organizing time on things like going through file drawers and dumping old stuff. And after that, it’ll be time to do the flat surfaces again,no doubt.
Yes, somehow it seems to be an ongoing process. Enjoy the newly decluttered surfaces.
I’ve only been in my new home office for a little over a month and I can’t believe how cluttered it has become. I have books, notes, old records I’m trying to sell, electric drill, broken printer…it goes on and on. I must clean up!