The 5th key to success, organization, has been an important one for me. I believe it can help you too.
An organized home, office and business makes for an organized mind. I believe disorganized surroundings make for a disorganized life and can create stress and confusion.
Being successful takes a lot of time, effort and thought. If you can’t find your pen or that contract or the suit you need to wear this is just taking extra time and effort which is not necessary. If your bank account is not reconciled and your business license is not in place then you’re going to have a harder time making it successful.
So here are a few organization tips that have helped me and are a way of life for me in life and business.
1. Declutter your home and office
Get rid of anything that you have not used or worn in over a year. Exceptions would be sentimental items and special occasion clothes.
2. Organize everything you own.
Clothes should be hung and folded properly and put in place. I love capsule wardrobes. It helps me tremendously.
Paperwork should be filed, scanned or shredded.
3. Buy a backup hard drive and move all your old stuff off your computer.
Clean your hard drive and only keep what you really need. Put everything into folders. Keep only a few main folders on your desktop. Example, personal and a few biz folders you use often.
I try to keep less than 10 folders. I also use Google Drive apps for work which keeps everything in the cloud and lets me sync to my desktop. Google Drive also backs up your files, and it’s only $5.00 per month.
I store very little on my hard drive which keeps my computer happy.
4. Declutter your workspace and living space.
A minimalist lifestyle really helps make it less stressful and easy to clean. If you’re a collector of stuff or junk hire a professional organizer to help you out. It will be worth every penny!
Declutter even the drawers and closets. Yep, they hold the messy energy too and you can’t hide from it.
I recommend 2-3 junk drawers, one for daily stuff, one for electronic stuff and one for your random choice. My random choice is recipes that I never use. Hey, we all have one clutter vice!
5. Make sure when you start your business you get all the right documents, insurance, support, etc. in place.
For business owners … make sure when you start your business you get all the proper business documents, insurance and support services like CPA, etc. in place first.
You don’t want to be scrambling to get these as you go. This can create extra stress when you get busy.
I promise you that once you get organized you will feel a huge relief and you will be ready to take on the world.
6. The last tip is to keep it going!
Put stuff away as you go. Close that drawer after you open it. Do a load of laundry every day and put it away. Sort the mail and shred anything needing shredding every day. Clean our your email and messages every day.
Listen to your voice mails and delete them every day.
Hire a maid at least once a month to help you keep it all clean and your life will be happier and less stressful.
It’s not hard to be organized. It’s just a habit that takes a while to form. A new habit for your new lifestyle.
Just do it one day at a time and after a few weeks, you will look at your life and say, WOW, I did it! My home and business are organized and I feel great.
Hope this organization tip helps you with your success!
Looking for a few more success tips? Check out more here.
Ginger L Allen
CEO & Business Development Consultant
Your Marketing Liaison
www.YourMarketingLiaison.com