by Mary McNeil
http://www.Create-a-Space.co.uk
©
2007
The benefits of decluttering are well recognized
when it comes to making space in your home. But have you thought about how those
benefits can be applied to your business too? Here are two compelling reasons
to adopt a declutter mindset in the workplace...
How important
is it to your business that you are decisive and purposeful? That you keep driving
your business forward? Most business owners accept that forward momentum and clear
purpose are absolutely key to the success of their business. So let's take a look
at how clutter fits into the picture here...
When you think
about it, clutter plays a distinctly subversive role when it comes to forward
momentum. In fact wherever you encounter it in your business and in your environment,
clutter is a manifestation of procrastination. All clutter exits either because
you've deferred a decision about something, or because you've made the decision
but not taken the action. Either way it's procrastination at play.
For
example, if you have a pile of papers cluttering your office floor, you will either
be trying to ignore them in the vain hope that they will magically disappear under
their own steam and you won't have to decide what to do about them. Or you will
already have decided what you want (or ought) to do with the papers, but be postponing
the action phase of the operation. Either way that pile of papers sits there on
your office floor, cluttering up your workspace, draining your energy and making
you feel bad for not having done anything about it yet.
I'm
sure you're well aware of the effects of procrastination, not only on your decisiveness
as a business person, but on your general wellbeing and energy levels. Procrastination
is an extraordinary energy drainer, capable of stopping you and your business
in your tracks if you let it get a grip.
So by dealing with
your workspace clutter, you eliminate an enormous amount of procrastination and
free up large amounts of energy. Makes sense doesn't it?
The
second reason for adopting a declutter mindset in your business is an entirely
practical process of creating the space for new customers.
If
your workplace is stuffed with outdated rubbish, if your diary is heaving with
`ought to but don't want to' appointments, if your schedule is full of low grade
clients who aren't paying you full price, where's the space for new business to
come in?
Nature abhors a vacuum. This means that if you
declutter and create space in your business, it won't stay empty for long. The
trick is to declutter and create space at the same time as setting an intention
to attract new clients or customers to fill that space. Know what business you
want to come your way and set about making the most inviting space for it you
can.
I know a number of people who swear by this technique.
When business is quiet, or when they want to crank it up a notch, they take a
look around their workplace and they ask themselves: What can I declutter today?
Sometimes it's a bigger clear-out process and takes a bit of planning and a day
or two to execute. But at the end of the process, invariably, they get that call,
offering them the chance of exciting new business.
So these
are the two key ways in which decluttering can boost your business:
1.
It cuts your procrastination guilt and clears the path to forward momentum.
2.
It creates the space for new business to materialize.
It's
got to be worth a try hasn't it?
