10 tips to Master your mess to be more productive
Many times the thing that is keeping you from being productive and profitable is your physical environment. What you may not realize is that your physical environment has a major impact on your emotional state and it has the power to sabotage your success. The good news is you have control over your physical environment, so… it is time to master your mess!
Before we begin with what I want to share with you I want you to know that I am by nature a messy person. When I am doing any sort of work I create a mess along the way. I like to say I am a Piler not a filer, so what I am going to share with you are tactics that have worked for me to be more productive, and as you know if you are productive then you can also be more profitable.
Your Physical Body
Your physical body is often not considered when you are busy working toward your goals, but I want to encourage you to understand the importance of the role that your physical body is playing in how you are feeling emotionally. If you are not caring for you body then you are missing an important pillar in your long term success.
3 Self Care Tips To Make You More Productive
1. Drink more water. The rule of thumb is to drink half your body weight in water every day. Dehydration will cause headaches, fatigue and a cloudy mind. Get in the habit of drinking more water. It is the best thing you can do for your overall health.
2. Exercise regularly! I know that you know you should, but lets be honest this is a hard one to implement. My suggestion is to determine a time that you can fit it into your schedule, get a workout buddy and do things you enjoy and that will lessen your resistance to it. I have found I love to dancing, walking, paddle board, yoga and weight lifting. Start by doing things you enjoy. Just get moving. I also do not like long workouts or getting up at the crack of dawn so I specifically look for 20 minute long workouts that get the job done fast. I found that 8am is a better time for me than 5:30. For accountability I personally use google hangouts and a friend and I meet together there from the comfort of our home, and just share the screen to do the workout at the same time. Search for Popsugar fitness on Youtube and it has everything from 10 minute workouts to full out programs to follow, and there is a ton of free content so no need to sign up for a subscription. Get moving your body and health will thank you!!
3. Have a wardrobe that makes you feel confident. How do you feel about yourself when you go to get dressed? This has been a big one for me. Do you have clothing that fits you well and makes you feel confident when you put it on? If you have been neglecting your wardrobe I want you to consider how much it impacts how you show up, and more importantly how you feel about yourself. You don’t need to have a large wardrobe or an expensive one but it needs to fit you well, be comfortable when you wear it and classic styles are great for versatility. Consider adding jewelry for the perfect polish and cute shoes of course!
How you start and end the day matters
- Resist looking at your PHONE for the first hour
- STRETCH in bed instead of jumping right up
- As you stretch begin your day with GRATITUDE
- Drink a cup of water first thing to HYDRATE
- Allow time for tea/coffee and a QUIET TIME with God
- Pack your HEALTHY LUNCH for tomorrow
- Plan you OUTFIT and lay it out
- Plan 3 INTENTIONS for tomorrow
- EVENING SELF CARE RITUAL
- Review your DREAM BOOK
YOUR PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
Simple way to clean your office for Max productivity
- Empty it all out it is easier to make decisions when you are bringing things back in.
- The only thing that should be on your desk is the things you use daily, plus 1-3 items that bring you joy.
- Things you use weekly in or near the desk
- Items you use monthly can be in a filing cabinet, baskets system, or stacked in pretty boxes.
- Files and resources only needed for taxes or reference should be in a closet or the garage. If you must keep them in the office find a way to make it look pretty. Here are some ideas.
Simple ways to eliminate paper clutter keep things neat
- Have a Sunday basket. This is a method Lisa Woodruff of Organize 365 came up with that is to have one basket where all the paper clutter is stashed until Sunday when you put it all away in it’s proper place. Yay, no more paper piles.
- If you are someone who has a “to file pile” I want to release you from the drudgery of filing. What works for me is I have a basket system. I bought a 4 basket drawer system. I throw receipts in one drawer, paid bills in another, the kids school papers in another, and the other is for reference papers that aren’t bills.
Questions to ask to create a physical space you love
What messes are causing fights? Keeping your from working? Costing you money?
What is a mess that is impacting you the most?
What do you need to change in your physical environment to make you the most productive.
What about specifically your workspace needs to change?
What do you need in your environment that would make you feel peaceful?
productivity hacks for busy people
Make templates for everything
Create templates for anything you do more than once. Your brain hates a blank page, so make templates as guidelines for everything you do regularly.
Record your process as standard operating instruction. It also is smart to video tape theprocess so you can easily teach others when you hire help.
Have email templates with frequently asked questions and add just a few lines to personalize your response.
Prepare before you work
- Go to the bathroom, get water and a snack
- Turn off notifications that will distract you and put your phone on DND. You can add important people to favorites and it will still ring through.
- Know exactly what you are going to work on when you sit down to work
- Gather everything you need in advance to produce results
- Set a production goal, overtime you sit down to work know what you want to produce.
Work in batches
This is a secret of highly productive people. Schedule your time so you can work on the same type of things at the same time to stay focused and in flow.
Your brain doesn’t do well at switching gears and if you are multi-tasking you will make more mistakes and be less productive.
Every time you change tasks it takes several minutes for your brain to refocus so you can get tons more done if you work on similar tasks at once. Batch you email responses, batch calls, batch your writing, batch your follow ups, etc…
You have the power to create an environment to thrive!
