5 Ways to Declutter Your Business

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When most people think about decluttering, cleaning out a closet at home might be the first thing that comes to mind. But, did you know that there are ways to declutter your business, too? 

 

Doing so will help you to become more organized, which will improve workflow, productivity, and create a more positive work environment for your staff. 

 

In the end, decluttering can save you time and money if you’re willing to put in just a little bit of effort to get it done. 

 

But, what does decluttering actually look like from a business standpoint, and how can you make sure you’re doing it right? Let’s look at five decluttering practices you can start putting in place right away. 

 

 

  1. Start By Decluttering Your Thoughts

 

You can’t focus on organizing your business if your own thoughts are going in a thousand different directions. 

 

If you own or manage a company, it’s crucial to declutter your brain frequently to keep it from becoming overloaded. You might have a dozen great ideas all at once, but letting them sit there without any resolve will only make you feel stressed and burnt out. 

 

Everyone declutters their thoughts differently, but a good place to start is by journaling. By getting your thoughts out on paper, they won’t be “stuck” in your head anymore, and you can revisit them later. Organize them in terms of priority, and you can address them at the proper times. 

 

When you have a clear head, you can start to do wonderful things to declutter your business. 

 

  1. Tighten Up Marketing Efforts

 

Most business owners understand the importance of digital marketing in today’s society. It’s more cost-effective, it’s personal, it offers a global reach, and the results are readable. 

 

But, if your digital marketing strategy is cluttered with too many things, you could be doing more harm than good. Take a look at your business’ marketing strategy or talk with your marketing manager. Sometimes, less is more. If your strategy is still clinging to old tactics, let them go. 

 

Additionally, take a look at where you can “cut the fat”. For example, if you send out e-mail newsletters, take a look at which ones are consistently bouncing, and remove them from your list. By cleaning up your marketing efforts, you can hone in on the ones that are more effective, and focus your marketing budget on things that appeal to your target audience. 

 

  1. Physically Declutter

 

In addition to different digital decluttering strategies, it’s not a bad idea to physically “clean up” your place of business from time to time. Creating an ideal workplace environment is important to the happiness and productivity of your employees. 

 

So, it could be time for a minimalistic makeover. Now is the perfect time to give your office a facelift, since people might be returning to work in-person for the first time after the COVID-19 pandemic. 

 

If necessary, rent a large dumpster from a place like Breeding Roll Off, and get rid of anything that doesn’t fit with the “new” vision for your business. This can be a major change, and it obviously requires some time, planning, and a good look at your budget. But, simplifying your business and making your environment more modern and open can make a big difference in how your brand is viewed internally. 

 

  1. Clean Up Your Inbox

 

Do you find that you’re one of those people who just scroll by emails that don’t seem “important”? You might think you’ll get to them later. Or, if they’re “junk”, you’ll ignore them completely. 

 

Unfortunately, it doesn’t take long before your email inbox becomes overrun with emails that are going unanswered or ignored. There are a few potential problems with that. 

 

First, the more cluttered your inbox is, the greater your risk of accidentally ignoring an important email because you don’t see it. You might end up missing out on something crucial from a client, an employee, a vendor, etc. 

 

Additionally, a cluttered inbox can cause you to feel stressed. You might start ignoring important things simply because you don’t want to handle looking through all of your messages each day. 

 

Unfortunately, your initial “decluttering” process for your inbox might take a while. Depending on how many messages you have, you might need to spend several hours filtering through them and deleting them.

 

From there, though, you can work out a filing system for your inbox, creating folders for different types of email and organizing them as they come in. If you find that you’re getting a lot of “junk”, consider unsubscribing from some email lists. 

 

  1. Clear Your Calendar

 

It’s important to have an up-to-date calendar at all times when you’re trying to run a business. In today’s world, it’s easy to have your calendar integrated with your phone, so it’s in the palm of your hand whenever you need it. 

 

But, every time you add something to your calendar (digitally), you could be cluttering it up if you let it pass by without acknowledging it. 

 

Most digital calendars like the one built into your phone will send you notifications when a scheduled event comes up. If you don’t delete that event or respond to the notification somehow, your phone might keep sending you those alerts. Soon, you’ll end up with multiple notifications, and you’ll have to swipe them away every time you want to look at your phone. 

 

Having a calendar is great. But, if you tend to ignore things once they pass, go back and clear out past events from your calendar. Doing so will make things less confusing, and it will keep you looking forward instead of getting reminded about things you’ve already done. 

 

As you can see, decluttering your business can be a personal, professional, or practical thing, depending on how you choose to do it. Some of these endeavors are obviously bigger than others. Don’t be afraid to start small and work your way up to some major decluttering efforts. You’ll feel better, more organized, and more productive when you do.