by We all know how therapeutic and satisfying decluttering can be in your general life, so let’s apply those things to your business too. So in this post, I’m going to be going through 10 things you can declutter from your business in 2020.
I love a good declutter. Removing the unnecessary stuff from my life and bringing in items that serve me better, you could say is a hobby of mine.
So why should our businesses be any different?
We can get so stuck in the day to day operations of our business, that we can forget about all the things that we’re spending our time, our money and our energy on.
10 things you can declutter from your business
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So if you’re looking to have a good declutter, here are 10 things you can focus your attention on right now.
1. Social media channels that don’t give you enough in return
If you’re anything like me, you’ve spent way too much time on social media channels that don’t give you anything back. So take this opportunity to take a closer look at the social media channels you’re currently on.
Are they currently giving you enough in return and how much time and money and energy do you spend on them? Could you be doing something different with all that time and money?
You don’t have to be on every social media channel out there to see success.
In fact, especially when you’re just starting out, just being on one to two social media platforms could work to your advantage. By focusing on the social media platforms that serve your business the best, you can grow faster and make more time for the important things in your business.
2. Paperwork you don’t need
Holding on to certain items of paperwork in your business is a necessary evil, but there’s a lot of paperwork we hold on to that we don’t actually need.
If you have a lot of unorganized paperwork, now’s the time to go through it.
I like to make everything I possibly can digital, and then back it up in the cloud. Scanning paperwork is easier than ever now.
All you need is an app on your phone, and then you just scan them and upload them to something like Dropbox or Google Drive in a couple of minutes. Allowing you to access your important documents at any time anywhere.
3. Unused or out of date technology
You’ve seen this one in general decluttering videos, getting rid of old technology. Your business probably requires you to have certain items of tech to operate, whether that’s up-to-date headphones, computers, printers, equipment, etc.
But each time that we inevitably upgrade our tech, most of us just leave the old tech lying around. Not only could this old tech find a new home if it’s working, but it could also bring you in some new cash too.
So go through your old tech. You could either sell it, give it to a friend, donate it, recycle it, or as a last resort, chuck it in the trash.
4. Subscription services you no longer use
In your daily life, you probably have subscriptions like Spotify or Netflix. And I probably bet that in your business, you have similar ones too.
Take a look at some of the services you subscribe to. Are they still serving you, and do you need to keep them?
It may well be that a year ago, the paid version of that service was useful to you, but right now you simply don’t use it. There’s no harm in unsubscribing or downgrading your package because you can always re-subscribe again at a later date.
You might be surprised by the amount of money that’s going out of your business every month and what you could do with that instead.
5. Project management software you don’t use or like, or that confuses your clients
If you’re anything like me, you’re an organization junkie. So organizational tools like Asana or Monday.com are extremely tempting to organize all of my projects I’m working on.
However, sometimes these project management tools can be over-complicated and confusing, leaving you spending ages working out how to use the software in the first place, and even longer explaining to your client how to use them.
Take a step back if you’re using software like this. Is it actually making your life easier or is it over-complicating it? Also, take a moment to analyze it from your client’s point of view. Is it all style and no substance? Are your clients enjoying using it?
And if you can’t quite tell, just ask them. Then if you or they find that the tool is not useful to you, you can look for a simpler solution or just use no tool at all and do it the old fashioned way.
6. Business podcasts you no longer listen to you and business books you no longer read
I’ve lumped these two into the same category because although podcasts don’t take up as much visual space as books do, they can create clutter in your mind.
If you’re anything like me, you get overwhelmed by too much information and prefer listening to your own creative thoughts and business ideas.
So if you find yourself over-subscribing to other people’s advice and implementing way too many techniques from all these business podcasts and books. It might be worth reducing the amount you have to listen to or read.
You can always resubscribe at a later date.
7. Your open or to read tabs
If you always have loads of tabs open in your browser, full of things that you want to read or watch or enjoy, then all of that visual clutter is distracting you from focusing on your tasks. So it’s worth moving these from your site and using a tool to store them instead.
Pocket lets you save articles and videos to watch or read at a later date. You can either use it as an app on your phone or as an extension on the browser Google Chrome.
By using something like Pocket, you can intentionally read or watch the things that you want to absorb at a later date when your attention is ready for them.
8. Old files you no longer need
If you work with large files, you might find yourself having a serious storage problem down the line. If you’re a designer, video editor, developer, you may find this problem is even worse for you.
So take some time to evaluate the files you already have stored. How long have you had them for? And do you really need to store them?
If you’re unsure, I recommend buying an external hard drive to store them on. This way, you can keep much older and larger files off your main computer, saving you space while still keeping them within relative access, just in case you need them.
9. Unnecessary tasks
If you’re anything like me, your daily or weekly to-do list can get excessively long. But how many items on that list absolutely need to get done? Are they on there simply because you think you should be doing them?
It’s so easy to get distracted by the smaller day to day tasks in our businesses.
So, take a look at your daily and weekly to-do lists. Are there any tasks on there that you can remove because actually they’re not important or better yet outsource them? Are they getting in the way of you accomplishing your bigger goals? If so, remove them and make way for the bigger things.
10. Business emails that you subscribe to, but no longer read
I’m a sucker for a good email opt-in or simply subscribing to someone that I admire. But if I’m no longer reading the emails that I receive, why am I subscribed in the first place?
Do yourself and the person you’re subscribed to a favour and unsubscribe. This way, you’ll have a clearer inbox full of the things that you actually want to read, and they’ll have better statistics to look at because you won’t be messing them up.
Decluttering isn’t just the household items. It can also be for the processes and things that you spend your time and money on in your business.
So tell me in the comments, do you have any tips to declutter your business? What would you add to this list?
