Business Strategy: Clean it up before it’s too late!

YOUR Business Rescue Coach asks:
Do you want to be an “April Fool”?

This time of the year is nestled in between the winter doldrums, tax preparation, and all that spring and summertime fun we have been fantasizing about, isn’t it? Traditionally speaking, just about this  time of the year everyone begins to get “ants in their pants” to be outside and enjoy the warmer weather and all the eternal hope it offers! But how does that impact you productivity and your business’s performance?

This is a time of shift. Doubt me? Didn’t you just move your clocks ahead an hour this past week? Look at the clues Mother Nature provides for us: the birds are pairing up, the heavy rains are deeply cleansing, and the trees are getting ready to show-off for us! OK, I know my “dot connecting” is a little abstract for some folks so I will be more direct…. this is the sweet spot in our calendar where I encourage (before it becomes absolutely too fabulous outside) to clean up your desk and office. Yep, time for spring cleaning!

I know, I was a little tricky a couple of weeks ago introducing you to this spring cleaning concept by getting you to clean out your briefcase… but let’s take on your desk and give it some spring cleaning now 🙂 If you’re like most, it’s probably more accurate to say “deep spring cleaning”.

Improve YOUR Productivity with 10 Deep Spring Cleaning Steps:

1. Carve out 2 hours* on your calendar for this productivity project (no phone, emails, text messaging allowed).
2. Move all the items on top of your desk to one side.
3. Wipe down that one side with an appropriate cleaner.
4. One at a time, pick up each of the items that belong back on the clean side of the desk and appropriate clean them before you place them where they belong.
5. Take any piles of folders, articles, magazines/journals, or binders and place/file them in appropriate places.
6. Open up one drawer, take all items out, wipe down the inside of drawer and place only the items that belong in that drawer back into that drawer. Repeat for all drawers. (Discard any rubbish or items which add no value to your performance.)
7. Look at your shelves. Repeat steps 2-4 for each of the shelves in your office space.
8. Look at the floor (this is a favorite of many). Do you use your floor space as a lazy filing system? If you have files on the floor: File the ones you don’t reference daily. Create a new system for the files you routinely access.
9. Vacuum or mop your work space.
10. Take out your trash – by now it should be overflowing 🙂

*If you start with 2 hours and move swiftly, this may only take 2 hours. If you have been sloppy with your workspace, you may need to carve out another hour or two to complete this before the end of March. If that’s the case, I encourage you to schedule no more than 2 hours on any given day. If you find you need more, than schedule another, but first see how much you can first accomplish!

FYI:  Let’s have some fun with this in the comment section…. Let’s guesstimate, in a comment, how long it will take us to do all 10 steps to our own workspace. When you are complete, you can comment back how long it actually took and share why 🙂  I’ll start: I’m guesstimating it will take 5-6 hours for these 10 steps to be completed because I have a ton of bookshelves!!! I’m motivated to move quickly because I want everything orderly so I can be more efficient during working hours. If I do this, I will be able to spend more time outside – yay! How about you?

If you or your business needs rescuing on this particular topic
or any other Business Strategies we have been discussing,
please reach out to Maggie (262) 716.7750   FYI: I’m in the Central Time Zone

Blessings of Success to YOU ~
The Business Rescue Coach, Maggie Mongan
Brilliant Breakthroughs, Inc.