How to Avoid Clutter Chaos
Have you ever worked in a cluttered environment and found yourself getting easily distracted, wasting time searching for information or just feeling overwhelmed?
Well clutter has that affect. A messy environment creates a messy mind.
In fact The Wall Street Journal did a study some time ago and found the average ‘white collar’ worker spent 6 weeks a year looking for things around the office!
As an entrepreneur, you cannot afford to be so unproductive!
Jenny who is a coaching client told me that since removing the clutter from her home based office she is calmer, more relaxed and can concentrate on getting much more done than ever before.
Prior to the clean up her filing cabinets, cupboards and desk were overflowing with paperwork, file, folders and other family member’s unwanted junk. Jenny became immune to the mess and didn’t realise how much it affected her productivity until she removed it. Without realising it, the clutter left her feeling depressed and demotivated.
Jenny would constantly mislay important information 
amongst the piles, including records she needed when compiling invoices to send to her clients. She would often purchase items on her clients’ behalf and these accounts would be buried ’somewhere’. Her time would get chewed up looking for them.
Because she didn’t respect her own office area, neither did the rest of the family. They followed her example.
So before you even begin to make plans for your business success, get cleaned up! There’s no way you’re going to function effectively if your ‘office’ looks like a typical teenager’s bedroom.
So how do you get started?
1. Plan enough time to declutter
Be realistic. It could take a day or two!
2. Start with the floor, cupboards, bookcases, walls, filing
cabinet, desk and anywhere else.
Stay focussed and declutter one area at a time
3. Declutter your computer
Make sure you back-up first. You don’t want to delete important files
4. Dust and clean afterward.
You may need to put a mask over your face so you don’t choke on the dust!
The Final Word
Decluttering is such a simple thing to do, yet many small business owners ignore the basics. Clearing out the clutter is not as sexy as ‘marketing’. However, it’s these ‘basics’ which will free up your time to focus your energy on making more money and achieving the results you are looking for.
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Lorraine Pirihi, The Productivity Queen, is Australia’s leading Productivity Specialist and creator of “The Productivity and Profit System TM” the complete one-on-one training program for solopreneurs and small businesses that shows business owners exactly how to work less and earn more! To receive your F.R.E.E. CD & Report “3 Steps to Dramatically Reducing Your Workload and Stress While Maximising Your Profit$! ($77 value) go to www.productivityqueen.com.
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December 12th, 2010 at 5:05 am
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