Organize Your Life for Business Success (For the Girl Boss)
Do you have a business or want to start one? Here are some tips to help you rock the business world.
For this blog post in video form, please head to my YouTube channel or check the bottom of this post.
Do you have a business, or want to start one? I always say that whether your passion is a side hustle, a full time business, or simply a dream, never discount its value - own it!
These three tips helped me not only start one business, but three! I constantly use these strategies to keep me on track, and I am convinced that they are the key to making most businesses run smoothly (especially for girl bosses like us!).
If you want to be a true girl boss, we don’t want to waste time looking for things or worrying about our looks. That’s why I always recommend starting your organizing process in your closet.
1. Closet
A laser-focused closet ensures you are on the way to a structured, system-driven office space.
I take clients through an exercise where they can better understand how much time they waste in the mornings in their closet—whether it’s because they’re looking for things, because they have too much stuff, because they don’t have the right stuff, or because they’re always having to re-iron clothes that weren’t stored correctly. This is usually the “ah-ha” moment for clients, and it breaks down the ways a disorganized closet costs us time and peace of mind. In my experience, having an organized closet can save an hour a day. And I know everyone is excited about the prospect of an extra hour per day, which now sets the motivation to get started decluttering everywhere else!
However, this step goes deeper than just time-saving while looking for clothes. Especially for women, one major productivity waster can be attributed to the amount of time we spend worrying about what we are wearing instead of focusing on our business. We want to look put-together in business settings, and if you know that your wrinkled skirt is really going to bother you, you need to find a way to ensure your skirt won’t be wrinkled to avoid this distraction (or if you feel uncomfortable in a blouse because you could not find the one you usually wear). These examples can lead to obsessing over our appearance instead of whatever work it is you’re meant to be doing, which can be avoided by having a laser-focused closet to begin with.
I suggest employing the 80/20 rule and making sure that 80% of the clothes you wear are not only accessible in your closet but fit your lifestyle. We usually spend 80% of our time in our “business-related attire”, whatever that may be, but make sure you have the correct type of clothes for your business so that you’re not worrying about this, and then make sure it is front and centre.
2. Make a basic business plan and always be prepared to adapt it
When people say business plan they often think it needs to be a 100-page document that looks like something out of a consulting magazine. WRONG. A business plan can be a simple napkin drawn plan of where you are currently and where you want to go. It’s important to have a constantly evolving/changing document, and I use this for many reasons including keeping my team informed, adding team members, keeping track of potential investors, etc. A business plan is supposed to constantly change and adapt as your business grows and the needs change. But having a simple plan with some goals and a timeline is a great start.
3. Review priority tasks
Review your tasks and track how long they take and if they bring you revenue. If they don’t, determine whether or not you can eliminate or outsource them. Often the tasks that take up the most time in our business do not fit our goals and or priorities and this is a problem. You want to do dedicate 80% of your time to priority, revenue driven tasks and eliminate outsource ones that don’t fit this scope.
