Carving out a corner.

You may have experienced this is a very tangible way when setting up your home office.  Whether you carved out a corner or cleared out a room to start your business or new work at home job, it may have been a struggle.  For many people, having a home office is a sort of afterthought, and a lot of times involves some clearing out to get it accomplished. The home office is a pretty common place to dump the “life leftovers” because you just can’t think of another place to put it.  Then, you have to deal with it to make the space usable.  Suddenly, all that stuff seems like a burden.

It takes time & resources.

If you think about everything you own, and how much if we really need, it’s a real eye-opener.   If you only have one computer, here’s an example of the work and time it takes to own it:

1. A place to store it
2. Energy to run it
3. Repairs when (not if) it needs them
4. Maintenance
5. Cleaning
6. Insurance
7. Services to backup your data
8. Software to use
9. Internet access

Get the idea?  The cost of ownership is much more than just the purchase price.  What really costs is the maintenance and usage to make it something you can utilize.  Now, what if you have two?  Do you need two?  How much more time to maintain, repair and use them will it now take?

Do I really need that?

Of course, there’s more to your office than just the laptop.  There are supplies, paper, storage, furniture and other various creature comforts.   The more things we have, the more time it takes to maintain ownership.  Here’s some questions to think about as you look around your office (and even your home or calendar) and think about how much you really need:

What if you pared it down to what you really need?

What if there was some “white space” in the office to give your mind and eyes a place to rest on?

How much time (and money) could you gain back if you scaled back your office belongings 25-50%?

If you had less stuff, would you have more time?

Sparkplugging is starting a new tradition called ?Spark an Idea Thursday?. Each week we?ll be sharing some great ideas for a topic of interest to our readers. We invite you to?grab our image and carry the tradition through to your own blog! If you do, please link back to this post so we know where you were inspired!

You know how it is when you work too hard, and stay up way to late thinking, strategizing or just trying to get your darned blog to do what you need it to.  Then you wake up one morning and realize you’ve not been taking care of yourself.

I’m tired.

I have done such a thing recently, and I’m not feeling to well as a result.  Maybe it’s that I’m doing too much, or trying to get too much done.  Perhaps I have been neglecting taking care of myself, because I’m just too darned busy.  Whatever the reason, my body is letting me know that I’m not listening.

Perhaps you can relate?

Have you stayed up too late?  Maybe there’s things you’re trying to get done.  Maybe you’re like me, and you might have some unrealistic expecations about what and how much you can do when you’re trying to enjoy the summer with your child who is out of school for a few more weeks.

Here’s what I’m going to do.

I’m going to go to bed on time tonight.  I’m going to take a look at what I’m doing and see what can wait until I have a few more hours in the day (like when the bus comes).  I’m going to listen to my body and give it some rest, so I don’t get sick.

What are you going to do to take care of yourself?

Sparkplugging is starting a new tradition called ‘Spark an Idea Thursday’. Each week we’ll be sharing some great ideas for a topic of interest to our readers. We invite you to grab our image and carry the tradition through to your own blog! If you do, please link back to this post so we know where you were inspired!

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You’ve got it.  We’ve all go it.  It’s email, and despite what some people think, it’s not going anywhere anytime soon.   So, what can you do about it?  Handle it, that’s what.

Filter to your heart’s content.

It’s not a crime to get rid of the email you don’t read.  If there is a enewsletter you don’t particularly read, then unsubscribe.  Keep the good stuff (like my enewsletter, right?) and ditch the others.  Don’t feel one way or another about it.  You’ve only got so many hours in the day, so use them wisely on things that matter.

Delete after you reply.

You don’t need every email you’ve ever responded to.  Chances are, when they respond back to you, you’ll get a copy of the old email.  Again, be selective and only keep what you need to.  Brutally filter the rest.

Get it under control before it gets completely out of hand.

If your inbox is causing you to dread looking in it, take some time out to deal with it.  Avoiding it is not the answer.  Automated auto-responders are another way to cut down on the email.  If you have a contact page, add some verbiage on it that says you may or may not be able to respond, but thank them for contacting you.

What’s your idea for dealing with email?

When you’re organizing your space or your calendar, did you know that “white space” is important?  Take a look at a garden or museum.  Are there things crammed together everywhere, or are there places on walls and rooms that give your eye a place to rest?

When I’m planning out my calendar, I leave some “white space” around appointments.  I also leave entire days where I have no specific plans.  It gives some flexibility to my schedule.  It also makes sure I’m not overwhelmed.  Here’s a few ideas on how “white spaces” can help you:

• Take a breather.  Drink a cup of coffee or just be.  In our fast paced society, sometimes things are just moving to darned fast.  Take a break once in a while.
• Allows you to catch up.  Whether it’s an appointment that was late or something else completely out of your control.  Back to back appointments can be very challenging when (not if) something goes awry.
• Gives a little peace of mind.  A crammed room or schedule can quickly overwhelm.  Give yourself a little breathing room.

Do you need more white space in your home office or schedule?

Have you ever spent time on your computer trying to find a file you’re looking for?  Did you ever find it?  Maybe it’s time to simplify a bit so you can find stuff.   If you’re not a librarian (and I know I’m not) it makes sense to match up filing + streamline as much as possible.  Here’s a few tips to get you started:

What works best for you?
Do you like filing by numbers?  Names?  Categories?  Look at your current filing cabinet or computer file structure.  Is there one that works better?  Think of migrating the not-so-great one.

Don’t overdo it.
Hey, I get it.  I hate filing too.  So, make it as easy as possible.  Products like this (pictured below) make it a no brainer if you don’t want your head to hurt, or don’t have the resources to hire a Professional Organizer.

A little matching can help.
Remember the last time when you were looking for a file, and couldn’t find it.  Yeah, the one on the computer.  Try matching up your paper and computer files.  Then, when you are trying to remember where to file it, you’ll know right where it goes.  Then, you can find it in under 5 minutes. 

Bonus Tip:  Use a “Projects” file on your computer.
This is a trick I started using recently.  I have a “@Projects” file (nod to Mr. GTD) in the “My Documents” file directory.  Guess what?  I have one on my desktop too.   While I’m working on a project, it goes in here, and then when it’s done, it gets filed away (read: moved to it’s permanent home).  It’s made my life soooo much easier!  Try it out, and see what you think.

How can you simplify your computer & paper files so you can actually find things?

Just did a great interview with Peter Walsh on my podcast/radio show, The O Myth.  If you missed it, no worries because you can still listen to it…

Quote of the show: “The things you have in your home should be beautiful and useful.  What you have in your home should be honored and respected.”

Wanna take a listen?  Here ya go:

Peter Walsh on The O Myth

** You can also see the follow-up notes and enter our contest to win one of Peter’s books HERE.

There’s a couple things I want to address.  The first, is how do you know you are nearing the brink or desperately need to take a break?  You may feel:

• Nauseated
• Fatigued
• Irritable
• Sore (back, legs, etc.)
• Headache
• Sleepy

So, how can you avoid getting to this point?  Here’s a few tips to help you out home office peeps:

1. Work hours:  Set them, and stick to it.  Yes, it’s quite possible we’re all tired of hearing this.  (Hmm, maybe that’s because it works?)
2. Take up a hobby.  Personal tanget/side story:  I was blogging and working WAY too much on my own stuff.  I needed something to do that wasn’t related to my business.  I love to knit, so a knitting project would call me toward the end of the day or during family/movie time.  I also love to cook, bake, eat and generally spend time oogling over stuff in the kitchen.  So I also started myself a food blog.  These were two ways I used to tear myself away from a business I love.  (And it really works!)
3. Cut the cord.  As Peter Shankman recently stated in my interview with him, offline is your friend.  You can get more stuff done without the distractions of Twitter, Crack Facebook and others.  Sometimes ya just gotta take it offline.
4. Use your distractions as breaks.  Got a load of laundry to to?  Take a break and do it.  Vacuum, clean the bathroom, rake some leaves or whatever gets you away from work for a while.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again:  even when you LOVE what you do, breaks are essential.  Overwhelm and burnout are no fun (she says from personal experience).  So, build in some downtime and have coffee with a friend.  You’ll be the better person for it… and your work will still be there when you get back. 

How do you keep from getting overwhelmed and overworked?

Have you ever found yourself saying, “I should…. “?  It gives a little twinge of guilt in your head and weighs on your shoulders.

Is your calendar or home office filled with things you “should” do?   A regular meeting you have been meaning to go to, a person you really would like to get to know, a party you really “should” go to, a project you “should” do or materials you feel you “should” hold onto.  Know what I mean?  A lot of times we feel an obligation to do or go to things that we’re really not that enthused about.  Many times those things don’t have a place and can be eliminated.  Sounds hard, but you’d be surprised how much better you’ll feel when you take those things out of your life!

Getting the “shoulds” out of your life. You might need to streamline your calendar or your, but where do you start?  Here’s a few questions to ask yourself about anything that falls into a sentence that begins with, “I should….”:

1. How important is it to you personally?
2. Will it build a relationship?
3. Would taking it off your calendar or out of your life prove detrimental?
4. Is it a habit you’ve outgrown?
5. Does it truly bring value to your life or business?

Is there something you “shouldn’t” be doing?

Do you feel suffocated by the thought of organizing, well, anything?  What about changing the way you think about it?

I heard Peter Walsh give an outstanding keynote speech at the National Association of Professional Organizers‘ Conference in April of this year.  There was on visual that has stuck with me since that presentation.  Peter described how he works with his clients, changing their mindset about, and relationship with, their “stuff”.  Here’s how it goes:

Picture yourself in the room you are working on: In your mind’s eye, do you picture yourself surrounded by all the “stuff” in the room?

Now try this: Picture yourself on a road, and all of the stuff in your room next to you on either side.

How does that feel?

Here’s the point: we have our stuff, it doesn’t have us.  It travels with us, to serve and facilitate our life, business, relationships or you name it.  The things we own and buy don’t define us, because we can never be defined that way.  We choose to include things in our life, on this journey so anything we buy or spend money on joins us to the side, next to us.  We choose the routes, turns and pathways that we feel are right with our “stuff” next to us.

It might be a  cliche, but life is a journey.  Think about how you travel, and if your trip is easier with less or more stuff. 

Thinking of your stuff beside you, how can you lighten the load to make your journey more pleasurable?

There are so many filing systems, products and methodologies out there.  I’ve used many of them myself, and I’ve seen my clients do the same thing.  One thing most of us have in common?  Sometimes, we make things too darned complicated.  Here’s a quick story:

I went to see a client’s home office, for a “fine tuning”.   Her office was one of the neatest home offices I have been in to date.  So much so, I thought to myself, “Uh, what am I doing here?”  After talking with the client for about an hour we got to the inner workings of her file drawers.  She pointed out a large box bottom file labeled “Medical”.  Our conversation went like this:

Client: “I know, I know, I should separate them out into Dental, Eye, etc….”

Me: “Why?”

Client: “Well, because I should separate them into categories, cause that’s how you’re supposed to do it.  Right?”

Me: “When you need some medical paperwork, can you find what you need in this folder in 5 minutes or less?”

Client: “Well, yes.”

Me: “Then this file is just fine.”

Shocked?  She was.  Her filing system wasn’t “good enough” for her.  The fact was, it was working for her just fine.  She had an idea of what “organized” meant, and that was more and more categories.  What she had was a system that was simple, useful and working for her.  So, I gave her permission to use it.

Are you making something in your home office more complicated than it needs to be?

What would happen if we reduced any excess in our life by just half? It’s not that hard to do when you think about, just one small decision at a time. I call it “The Half Principle”.

About 6 months ago, I decided it was time to lose the baby weight. Since my son is in kindergarten, I was well overdue to take care of myself and feel healthier. This was the second time for me to get a hold of my eating habits and my health. Last time, as I have done once before in my life, my theory was to reduce what I eat by half, increase my fruit & veg and not drink my calories. This works well for me.

Case in point: I had coffee recently with a colleague. She chose to eat an entire low fat muffin and a flavored non-fat latte. I ate half of a pecan twist and had a green tea. Guess who had less calories in the end (I looked it up)? Guess who was just as satisfied?

Is more really better?

This “Half Principle” of mine works on a lot of things. In our western culture, we are consumed with more, more, more (many times we also give up quality for quantity). Does it make us happier, more successful or just plain better people? I’m not sure, the jury is still out on that. It’s the idea that if I have more of (insert favorite food, car, clothing, etc. here), I’ll be more satisfied. Is that truly the case?

Let’s take activities on the calendar. If we are more involved in volunteer work, communities and meetings for our business or career, does that make us more successful or just busy? Does it make us happier? Again, I don’t have an answer, just asking a question to the universe.

I have empty space, fill it, QUICK!

Are we really so afraid of having down time, or not eating all of our plate (.. when there are starving children in Africa…) that we just keep filling our lives up? What sort of hole are we trying to fill? Is it working, or are we trying to find fulfillment where there isn’t any?

What if we took a risk?

What if we looked at our calendar and cut out what doesn’t belong? Is there a client that needs to be graciously let go because they suck half the energy we have for all of our client base? Is the calendar so packed up that there isn’t room to think, feel or just relax? What is the risk of weeding out half of the stuff we think we need? If half of what we have and do was cut out, would people view us differently, snub us?

I double-dog dare ya.

Look at your life, business, whatever and see what you can cut out. What’s the worst that could happen? Are you wiling to take the risk? Is there room in your life for new things to come in?

What if every decision we made was more conscious and selective? What’s the best that could happen? Is it possible that less is more? You might be surprised.

(photo by vrogy)

Know why you’re using them. This is my new my mantra, “Why am I doing (or using) that?”.  Using a tool to help propel your business forward is great, if you are actually using it for that purpose. If you have and use Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn, what is the purpose?  A tool is only as useful as the reason you use it.  For example, I use Twitter as a sort of virtual water cooler and networking tool.  Working at home can be a little lonely when you’re an extrovert like me (and you?) and you crave face to face contact.  Twitter fills that need for interaction, networking and just plain learning from people who I respect and want to be around.  That’s why I use it.

All in moderation. I know, it sound like a diet plan, but it’s one of the oldest pieces of advice there is.  If you’re obsessing about a tool and it’s not actually helping you, it could be time to re-evaluate and bring a little balance to thyself.  There is a dizzying amount of choices and tools out there (yippee!), so use those that help you without making you an obsessed (or frustrated) maniac.

If you can’t figure out how to use it, it might be the wrong tool. Sometimes, even with the best intentions, a tool might not be well suited to you.  It doesn’t matter what a “guru” says about organization or productivity if you want to crawl under a rock every time you think about implementing their system.  For example, if a PDA is a frustrating enigma, give yourself permission to use the good old paper planner.  Use what works for you, with the shortest learning curve possible.

Technology doesn’t always mean it comes with a plug.  Wikipedia describes technology as, “…a broad concept that deals with the usage and knowledge of tools and crafts, and how it affects the ability to control and adapt to the environment… but can also encompass broader themes, including systems, methods of organization, and techniques.” A tool or technology can be a way you deal with paper, a technique you use to keep track of your time or how you make coffee in the morning.  Think outside the box a little and use your own creativity to solve a problem, instead of a one-size-fits-all that comes in a box.  The possibilities are endless!

Now don’t get me wrong, I love my Blackberry Curve and iPod as much as the next.  I also know what it’s like to get obsessed to the point of distraction with tools, technology and toys (don’t even get me started on how much fun Consumer Reports is).  I’ve also watched my clients struggle with a system or tool that they “should” use and ended up cluttering a corner.  Tools and technology should be a part of the bigger plan and complement life as we know it.  Sometimes it make sense to simplify and revisit the value those things do (or don’t) bring to our life, work and business. When we use tools and technology with a definite purpose in mind, only then do they become useful.  Isn’t that the point?

(#3) Simplify before organizing. Many people try to create complicated organizing systems for all of their stuff, in an attempt to get organized. But it’s much better to reduce your stuff, and to get it as simple as possible, before organizing it all. If you simplify enough, you might not even need to organize at all! (from post titled, “A 3-Step Cure for Digital Packrats, and How to Know If You’re One of Them“)

Have you ever taken on an organizing project, or cleaning out the “dumping room” (where the extra things in the house go to hibernate, like uh, a home office…) and get overwhelmed? Maybe it’s more about having too much stuff, rather than not enough space. Organizing systems won’t do a lot of good if there is simply too much stuff – and can be expensive if you’re paying for the containers to organize the stuff, then find out you need more stuff to put the stuff in, hiring help to do so…. and on and on…  All this for stuff you may not being using! Get the picture?

Simplifying your stuff or life can be a daunting task. Why? Because it requires a bluntly honest look at what you have, why you have it, and if it is valuable enough to keep. Then, it takes courage to let go of things. In my experience, once you get your belongings down to what is truly important to you, you’ll be much happier. Then, you can spend time on what you want to do in that room anyway (and I’ll bet that’s not using a shovel to actually get into it *grin*).

Here’s a short list if you decide to take on a “simplifying” project:

1. Sort. Ask yourself: Do I really need it?  Do I use it?
2. Decide what will go, and what will stay. This works for things you can touch, and what you can’t.
3. Set some boundaries for yourself. For example: if you can’t afford to buy all new furniture, everything that stays must fit properly in your current setup. If it doesn’t fit, it’s time to let it go.
4. Decide where it all goes (aka organize). It’s important to decide where things will go, and then keep putting them there. There’s no sense in editing, cleaning and organizing if you don’t change what you do going forward.
5. Keep it up. Maintain all the work you just did – remember all the work it took to get it cleared out? Make sure you don’t get to that point again.

Simplifying isn’t easy, but it is part of the path to organization.  The degree of simplicity is up to you, your lifestyle and your personality.  Be realistic with yourself and take the path you feel is right for you.  You can do it!