Clean Your Office and Improve Your Focus

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For the last 10 days or so, my mind has felt very muddled. Yes, my life was busy with lots of client work, after-school activities and school volunteering, but I just felt “off.” I couldn’t seem to concentrate for longer than 10 minutes at a time and didn’t feel very productive.

Since my work slowed down the last few days, I took a look around my office and realized that it was just too cluttered and I almost couldn’t catch my breath when I walked in. There was too much going on, I didn’t know what was in all those piles of papers, and I had too many projects going on with the pieces spread out all over my floor. It was a mess!

This weekend, since I’m spending less time on the computer, I’m focusing on cleaning this office and getting a sense of calm in here. So far, many piles have either been shredded or filed, books that I’m selling have moved to a different room, volunteer notes and info have been placed in 3-ring binders. Tomorrow I’m dusting, vacuuming, and rearranging the bookshelf.

Just starting this process has made a difference in my mindset. I wrote down some business goals for this week in my planner (among the client projects already scheduled) and I’m starting to think about repainting the walls and making it look more professional, or at least more cozy. We’ve still got the builder’s white paint from when we bought the house 8 years ago!

My friend Kelly McCausey over at WAHM Talk Radio has written several posts on her blog about focusing on your business and “trimming away the fat” in order to focus more on what works. While I agree wholeheartedly with that thinking, decluttering your business surroundings (rather than just what’s on your computer) can also help immensely.

The progress may be slow but well worth the effort! Now I just need to figure out a system to keep all this paperwork organized…