Want To Simplify Your Workday? Deep-Clean These Areas Now
by Lisa Bodell for ForbesWomen
As a simplification expert, I find joy in the decluttering rituals that come with a new year. Like many others, I use the KonMari method to edit the items in my space and set aside time to file or shred all hard-copy documents. Beyond traditional decluttering, I also designate time every January to reduce the slow creep of unwanted email and examine the value of current expenses and accounts.
No matter how vigilant I am about minimizing complexity — I’ve written books and given TED talks about simplifying — the areas below offer constant opportunities for streamlining.
· Review the value of every monthly or annually recurring expense. Are you actually utilizing your audio-book membership? How often does your team access articles on sites where you pay a monthly subscriber fee? Do you read industry magazines in real-time or do they live in a stack until you recycle them? Revisit your 2020 usage of these goods and services to determine whether these expenses are justified. If you’re not sure, cancel or suspend them until they’re needed.
· Analyze every standing meeting on your calendar. Does your Monday staff meeting translate into a week of productivity? Or is it just a waste of an hour? According to a recent report by the National Bureau of Economic Research, Americans are attending 13% more meetings since the country began working from home. Look at the past few months of your calendar and identify every meeting that has outlived its function…and just say no to them in 2021.