Is Clutter Sabotaging Your Business?

Clutter is the physical embodiment of a power struggle.

You may be totally on top of your business game but clutter is lurking, just waiting for you to turn your back so it can take over. You might be thinking, “hey, my office is neat (ish). What are you talking about?” For clarification, there are 3 types of clutter that can easily, stealthily attack your business and you may not even know it.

Stuff.

This is the most obvious because we can see it. It’s the piles of papers on our desks (floors, chairs, anyone?), the box of random receipts (there is supposed to be a box somewhere…), the mountain of mail including bills that need to be paid, the un-filed and un-organized client project information that’s strewn about.

You want to work on that client’s project but you feel guilty staring at the piles. Peter Walsh, famous Professional Organizer/ Author/ Oprah discovery from Australia, succinctly described the situation: “Piles are delayed decisions.” I believe piles are also reminders of the tasks you haven’t completed. No matter how you look at it, clutter gets in the way of you working your magic and being successful.

Now, I know someone out there reading this is saying “but I know where everything is and I love my cluttered, messy desk.” Ok, I’m not going to fight you on this but I would ask, do you really feel inspired when you can’t find the information you need a moment’s notice? Does it serve you well to have to dig for papers?

Being organized is knowing what you have and where it goes.

If you can find what you need, when you need it, and your space supports you to be your best you, then more power to you!

Time.

Time gets cluttered very easily when you say “yes” to too many commitments. I know as an entrepreneur the feeling that you need to say yes to every opportunity that arises but this can lead to the death of your business and personal exhaustion. You feel the need to attend every networking event, coffee or lunch meeting. Or you feel that you have to do everything in your business, even the tasks you’re not good at or don’t enjoy.  Someone may throw out a suggestion or idea for your business and you think, “yes, brilliant! I should implement this now.” Whoa, Nellie! There is no way you can do everything to run your business successfully. Time is the one non renewable resource that gets alloted to each of us the same. No one gets more than 24 hours a day.

Be clear in your goals and what YOU want your business to be. Does attending this event/ meeting/conference align with my company’s goals? Does it make sense to outsource those tasks I hate doing so I can spend more time working my magic? Am I spending more time working IN my business or ON my business? Craft your time carefully so it isn’t wasted on things that aren’t supporting you or your goals.

Media.

Nobody wants to even think that the Twitter ding, or email chime, or bazillion super awesome Instagram posts are clutter but they can be. If you find yourself constantly chasing the dragon of the “new post,” you will end up in the death spiral of #toomuchinformation, #Icantunseethat, and #wheredidthetimego. While it is great that there is so much information that is available right at our fingertips, it can be just as paralyzing as the stuff piled on your desk or the overbooked appointments. You have to be diligent in how you allocate your time responding to media alerts or you’ll not only enter the Interweb time warp but the constant hunger for “new info” distracts from your business savvy mojo.Outsource as much media distraction as you can with an assistant or VA. Or allocate only certain times of the day for responding to alerts. There is only so much time in the day and you’ve got much more important fish to fry, Entreprenurial genius!

Protect yourself, Wise Entrepreneurs and Business Titans! Don’t let the time, stuff, or media clutter creep into your life or your business.

Happy organizing!