Happy 2020! With a new decade comes new and exciting possibilities for your business. If you haven’t done so already, I’m sure you’ll take some time during these first few weeks of the year to think about your goals and how your systems and processes will support you as you aspire towards greater growth. You may, in fact, be sitting at your desk right now, reading this blog, and thinking about what you’d like to say about where your business will be on December 31st, 2020 or even December 31st, 2029!
To get this new year (and decade) started off on the right foot, you might consider what foundation you’d like to establish to ensure you are producing high quality work to get you to your goals. If you are sitting at your desk, you may even consider starting there. Be honest… how does it look?
Are all your office supplies neatly organized and your desktop clear? Or do you have piles of papers and sticky notes everywhere? Have you recently cleaned your keyboard and other surfaces? Or do you have a stack of dirty dishes and wrappers from when you’ve needed to work through meals and breaks? If you find your desk is a mess… how might this adversely impact your business and your confidence in reaching for greater goals this year and beyond?
Working from home, there’s no peer pressure from the traditional office to keep up appearances — or quality, for that matter! When nobody’s looking, have your work habits relaxed to the point that you’re not doing your best work? How will you reach your goals if you don’t set professional standards for yourself and expect professional performance?
As a Solopreneur, everything is dependent on you, including how you craft your self-image. Wouldn’t you love your daily self-talk to say something like, “I have high standards for the quality of my work,” and see that belief reflected in the appearance of your desk?
When getting everything clean and setting things in order, it can be helpful to have a clear list of steps to get you going:
- Remove EVERYTHING and disinfect – Start by taking everything off your desk and out of your drawers/cabinets so you can decide what needs to be kept (physically), what can be digitized, what needs to be acted on, and what can be tossed or given away. There’s no point in trying to organize things you really don’t need anymore. Take this opportunity to wipe down and disinfect all surfaces, including your monitor, mouse, keyboard, and phone. The average desk has somewhere near 400 times the amount of bacteria that your toilet seat has! Yuck. It would also be a good idea to consider keeping your meals/snacks in a dining area so you don’t have to deal with a stack of dishes and crumbs in your workspace.
- Think of your desk as the center of a bull’s-eye – All of the things you need on an everyday basis should be within arm’s reach. If you don’t need an item that often, it shouldn’t be on your desk. The next circle out should be items you don’t need more than once a week and can be stored off your desk, like in a nearby filing cabinet. The final, outer ring are items you need or want to hang on to but won’t be used anytime soon. These should be stored away in a closet or basement (if you have one). Following this organization method will ensure you aren’t distracted by papers/projects you don’t need at the moment. Related to this, everything should have a home; a clear place with other similar items, to be returned to at the end of the completed task or workday.
- Process paper/mail DAILY – Read, act, file/digitize, or discard any incoming paper or mail daily, and invest in a good shredder and trash can. Set a goal to only handle paper once.
- Each day before you leave the office, get ready for the next day – Return items you’ve used to their homes, consult your planner calendar and tickler file to make sure you have what you need for the next day’s work, and place those things on your desk.
Follow the above steps, and with a clear set of goals and an effective time management strategy, I guarantee you’ll feel more energized and motivated to tackle 2020 and beyond. If you’re ready for the next step in taking action towards your goals, consider giving me a call so we can make sure you create your best year/decade yet!
