Liberate Yourself from Clutter!

How often do you spend needless time trying to find something when it should have been at your fingertips? 

How often do you find yourself buying unnecessary items because you had no idea you already had plenty in the closet?  You lose the time to go to the store, as well as the cost of the duplicate item, plus you incur the cost of storing extra inventory. Most of the time, disorganization will cost you much more than a duplicate item.

The National Association of Professional Organizers says we spend one year of our lives looking for lost items.

Many reasons that prove to be disorganized costs you money and precious time. It is widely believed that when your surroundings are cluttered, it impacts the quality and quantity of your work.

The disorder can cause you poor communication with your customers, lost income from forgetting to invoice a client, and unnecessary time spent fixing mistakes. You may miss important deadlines, which can cost you dearly.

It is hard to feel efficient and productive when things are not organized. It causes you to be reactive instead of proactive and directly affects profitability.

Most of all, one of the highest costs is stress, which causes negative health issues. A cluttered workspace can produce so much pressure that you won’t be able to accomplish anything.

Indeed, there’s truth in the idea that your workspace reflects your mind. A cluttered desk can limit your imagination and stop you from thinking outside the box. 

When you have a lot on your plate, it’s hard to imagine taking out time to organize. However, it is time well spent.  You make things easier by decluttering, and therefore you become more productive.

Here are a few things you might want to keep in mind when you’re clearing your desk and your thoughts of unimportant stuff. Start today with these simple steps that you can implement quickly.

– Know what blocks you. 

The television show Hoarders presents how some people have psychological blocks about throwing things away or getting rid of them. It gets so bad that they can’t even live in their homes due to all the clutter. If hoarding becomes a habit, the best way is to get help in terms of controlling your urges. The sooner you identify the problem, the easier it is for you to overcome it.

While you may not be a Hoarder, when you clear your environment of unnecessary items, you also train your mind to think clearly. Clarity is vital for you and your business to attain success.

– Create a system of organizing. 

When was the last time you were looking for a physical document, either on your desk or in a filing cabinet? If it took you so long to find it in a heap of paperwork, you lack a system for storing the most important things.

When you don’t create a system that helps you quickly retrieve items, you’re likely to spend unnecessary time looking for them. A good remedy for this is to get organizers and install added storage for specific types of documents. You might also need boxes where you organize documents into “bills,” “taxes,” and “high priority.”

– Use a calendar to organize your time. 

Google Calendar and Outlook offer great virtual options that are very versatile.

– Lists are a great way to keep yourself organized,

on target, and they don’t take long to make.  Use the notepad on your cell phone, and it is always at your fingertips when you need it!

– Get rid of unnecessary items and clutter. 

If you haven’t used it in five years, do you really need it? Keep your surfaces clear. If you don’t need it every day, get it off your desk. Reducing visual clutter will help reduce mental clutter. Get rid of the stuff you don’t need – so that you can put things you do need away and out of everyday sight. You’ll feel instantly calmer!

 – Give everything a proper place

and make the little extra effort to keep it in its place. 

– Organize your databases. 

It’s not just physical documents that get cluttered. Your digital documents may also warrant a bit of organizing. This can be just as distracting as looking for physical documents. The best way you can solve a cluttered hard drive or digital drive is to organize all your files into folders so you know exactly where to find specific spreadsheets and PDFs. You can also use apps such as DropBox and Google Drive for backup storage in case you need to access files while you’re out somewhere. 

– Be prepared for tomorrow. 

Make a habit of taking a few minutes at the end of each day to set yourself up for the next day.  This way, you can jump right into a productive day. 

Clutter doesn’t define higher productivity. It only raises stress levels. If you want your business to make milestones, it’s crucial to create a work environment that’s free from distractions.

Are you ready to push your business even further? Contact Business Untangled today!