You have five minutes. Quick… what will you fill it with?
Social media? Blog surfing? Stressing out about the next five minutes?
Did you know there are things you can DO during those five minutes that will change the game? Little things - in terms of mental and physical clutter - that hold us back. Clutter distracts and slows us to a snail’s pace even if we have the best, biggest and BRIGHTEST of intentions. There are MOUNTAINS of little things that only take five minutes to accomplish that we brush off because they are 1) not as important as X 2) menial and don’t mean much or 3) too big and will actually take an entire hour (or so we convince ourselves…) If we tackle those small things one at a time - in five minute increments at a time - eventually we’ll find our pace quickens, our workflows are simplified - our minds are more focused.
During the last week of 2010, I tackled many of these small things and it made a WORLD OF DIFFERENCE. So when five… JUST FIVE… minutes present themselves to you, I challenge you to resist the urge to mindlessly waste them away but to tackle just a couple of the small things that (you might not even realize) are holding you back from GREATNESS.
- Clean off your desk.
- Organize your business files.
- Wipe down your computer screen and keyboard.
- Organize your desk drawer.
- Sort through the files on your computer - organize, color code and PURGE.
- Empty the trash can on your desktop.
- Sync files and fonts between your desktop and laptop.
- Archive files and emails from 2010 for easy retrieval.
- Move a candle to your desk to make it more comfortable.
- Change your desktop wallpaper.
- Delete some of the 6,000 photos on your iPhone.
- Organize your bookmarks in your web browser so that the sites you USE most are priorities rather than the sites you VISIT.
- Change all of your passwords to MATCH.
- Simplify your email signature. Are you sharing your Twitter handle? Website? Blog?
- Load paper into your printer so the next time you use it, it’s ready.
- Connect your Facebook and Twitter account via the Twitter Ap on Facebook - to save time.
- Load the Boxcar app on your iPhone - so that Twitter can be less of a distraction. It’ll text you when there’s something you should see.
- Go for a walk. Clear your HEAD. This does wonders.
- Put away old photos, old inspiration, old event tags and old momentos.
- Replace the old with the new, the inspiring, the motivational.
- Test all the pens in your pen cup and throw away the ones that don’t work.
- Find a box, a folder, a file - clean it out! Purge!
- Open all the documents you use/send for your business. Do the logos match? Do the fonts match? Is consistency evident throughout all of them?
Some of these may seem menial, but add them together and they make one HUGE difference. Simplify. Clarify. Focus.
Emily
