Decluttering Your Brain... And Business

A common theme we’ve noticed among entrepreneurs is that we are always trying to juggle #AllTheThings. It’s almost as if we are afraid to say “no” to something or a client, and just keep taking on all these projects that just continue to pile up while we’re sitting and crying in the corner (okay, maybe not actually, but you know what we mean).

Why do we do this to ourselves?

Not only that, but when was the last time you spent some quality time IN your business working on your foundation? By this, we are referring to things like SOPs, core values, a mission statement, etc. These tend to be the things that we just keep pushing off to the side that would actually make a difference in our business, but we refuse to take the time for them.

As you know, we’ve been working with a business coach over the last few months. The other day, we went through all of our notes and pulled out all the action items (either completed or outstanding) and wrote them all out. THEY FILLED AN ENTIRE WHITEBOARD. Because it’s not just the takeaways from her that came to mind, but all the one-off ideas that come to mind. It essentially creates an entire web of to-do items. When you look at the list, it is insanely overwhelming. But we finally decided to take action and we wanted to share how to tackle this list.

First off, if you don’t already have a list of all the things you want/need to get done for your business, block out an hour and go sit with a pen and paper. You’ll be surprised how much flows out once you start writing.

Next, sit and really consume that list: are there common themes among some of the tasks? We had 3 common ones that trended across the list: “Templates / Forms”, “To Schedule”, and “Lists & Misc”. Here are some examples of what fell into these categories:

Templates / Forms: create onboarding questionnaire, create monthly newsletter template, create “new client discovery form”
To Schedule: weekly 30-minute braindump, daily mind-mapping + goal setting, client check-ins
Lists / Misc: mindmap of potential clients / leads, benefits & features list, one-liners for skills.

“Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” – Will Rodgers

Now, these are just a few examples for each (as I said, the action item list filled a whiteboard!) but it makes tackling these items easier went they’re broken into categories.

Once you have your list made and separated into their themes, schedule time in your calendar to begin working your way through the list. We suggest scanning through and selecting the tasks that you can knock off easily and doing those first, as it will generate momentum and who doesn’t love crossing things off lists?!

Getting all of these tasks out of your brain and onto paper will not only free up more creative space but will create a better position for your business. Putting careful thought and consideration into some of these items will streamline many processes for you. Take the initiative and allow yourself the permission to block out time to focus your efforts inward. It will be difficult and take time, but what do you have to lose? You, and your business, will thank you!