As a business owner, you’re likely used to running a thousand miles a minute (my team calls it “the speed of Lisa”). You have 50 emails waiting for you in your inbox, or let’s be honest, more. You have different priorities pulling you in every direction at all times. And you have so many amazing ideas just bouncing around in your head waiting for you to bring them to fruition.
Entrepreneurship is not easy… if it was, everyone would do it.
This got me thinking about all the small habits I have put into practice over time in order to chase after those big ideas, make sure I’m not dropping any balls, and stay on track to reach my business goals.
The truth is, I rely on these 11 strategies to regain focus and get organized—and you can too.
Here Are 11 Strategies You Can Use To Stay Organized In Business:
1. Don’t Just Delete, Unsubscribe
When you receive an email that you didn’t subscribe to, or one that you haven’t read regularly in a while, it’s time to unsubscribe instead of delete to manage the volume of emails in your inbox and help you keep your attention focused on your priorities.
2. Archive Facebook Groups That No Longer Serve the Bigger Goals for the Business
You may have started Facebook communities that have since gone quiet. Maybe a new person requests to join every so often and you feel as though you should make the group active again…but you never stick with it. Stop trying; just archive the group.
3. Create a Program Schedule
If you run any client programs, you should be looking at all of those programs on a calendar from a big picture perspective to see when the marketing happens, when the onboarding takes place, when the program runs (start to end), and when to ask for an endorsement or recommitment. This will help you stay organized and on top of all the moving parts so no balls get dropped!
Here’s the important thing though: make sure you also schedule a time to look ahead so you’re not planning just in time.
4. Let Something Go Every Time You Add Something New
Imagine if you never eliminated any of the clothing in your closet, but just kept adding. Too many business owners do that with their products, services, and commitments—they keep adding and never remove the things that are no longer serving them. Every single one of those products and/or services requires energy from you to manage in some way. Start to eliminate some of the offers that are no longer a priority for you!
Start running your #business proactively, not reactively with these 11 strategies. Click To Tweet5. Share Your Calendar
If you have someone on your team who is responsible for helping you manage tasks, events, etc., either invite them to a shared calendar so they can see what is going on or, when you schedule something, invite them too so it shows up in their calendar. When you schedule events like this, it also helps to schedule the sequence of emails you will send to notify people about the webinar, and the time you need to construct all of those pieces of communication.
6. Turn Off All Notifications
If there is anything that I took away from one of our Thought Readers books, Hyperfocus, it’s that we need to learn how to better make our technology work for us. Stop those annoying notifications from showing up on your computer screens and mobile devices. Prioritize what notifications you allow to take your focus away from your priorities. Whether you believe it or not, every time a notification flashes across your screen, it is disrupting your productivity.
Whether you believe it or not, every time a notification flashes across your screen, it is disrupting your #productivity. Click To Tweet7. Schedule a Planning Day or Two
In The Strategy Lab, members come together once per quarter for a Planning Sprint where they spend four solid hours working on their business plan. You can get SO much done when you schedule a time to work on your business instead of in your business. If you’re not able to focus and do this on your own, join a community, or hire someone to help you who is great at systems thinking. Both of these things can help you break everything down and create a process to make it happen.
8. Put Your Phone Out of Reach
Ever notice how many times you grab your phone and look at it even if your phone is face down? It’s habitual. If you have to get up and go get your phone, you’ll be less tempted to do this. The equivalent for your computer is to close all programs and tabs except the ones you’re using to do the work you’re doing right now. A messy desktop contributes to a cluttered mind. (This is hard for me too, by the way).
9. Buy a Planner and Get Into the Practice of Planning Your Month, Week, and Days
You can pick any planner you want but before you buy a planner, really spend some time thinking about how to best use that planner. I’ve spent hundreds, if not thousands of dollars on planners and what I can tell you is that finding one that you like and that works for you matters.
10. Automate and Delegate
Make a list of your tasks that repeat daily, weekly, and monthly, then automate or delegate whenever possible. If you’re doing something repetitive, on a regular basis, there is a good chance that you can automate that process and save yourself time and money. If you can’t automate it, then either delegate it or schedule it in your calendar so that you don’t forget to do it. If you schedule it, do it. Don’t skip over these tasks, chances are they are important and critical to the success of your business.
11. Read Books on Productivity and Focus
As I mentioned above, in Thought Readers, my business book club, we read books like Hyperfocus which was really good. I also recommend The One Thing, The Twelve Week Year and Essentialism for helping you come up with some amazing strategies for focus and execution.
Now it’s your turn. What is one piece of advice you’d offer someone who wants to focus and get more organized in their business?
