The KonMari Method: for your Business

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You have probably heard of The KonMari Method™ of tidying up, but have you considered applying this principal to your business? The whole idea behind The KonMari Method™ is cleaning out, simplifying and organizing to achieve joy.  We can become overwhelmed and weighed down by the burdens of things we just don’t need in our personal lives.  It makes since that the The KonMari Method™ also applies in business.  Consider, what projects weigh you down?  Which clients calls do you dodge? Is your desk constantly a mess? Time to tidy up!

Step one: Visualize the life you want.

Take a deep breath and sit quietly in your favorite part of your office. Close your eyes and focus on what part of your work brings you joy.  What would your dream work space look like? Focus on what part of your business you want to highlight moving forward.  Is there a specific type of work you love?  Is there a chair you love to sit in but its piled high with papers and unusable?  Determine what barriers are keeping you from your joy and take heart, for you are about to break them down!

Step Two: Let go of things that don’t matter to make room for things that do.

We are all guilty of holding on to a project that has gone south simply because we don’t want to admit defeat.  This however, is an unproductive way to view projects that have lost value.  It is not a failure if you learned and grew while working through the project.  Even if the results are not what you had anticipated and hoped, letting go of the project is not a waist.  Say thank you to the project for all it has taught you, say thank you to your team members who worked hard, and get that s**t out of your office!

You can’t possible give meaningful projects the attention they deserve if you are splitting your time.  Think of the energy and resources you could devote to a better project if you got the old one off of your plate.

Same goes for the clutter weighing you down.  Papers are the number one clutter around an office.  Luckily, they have the simplest solution of all!  We live in a wonderful digital age.  You can (and should) scan a digital copy off all of your papers.  Not only will they be preserved and more easily organized, but you can physically get them out of your office.

Step Three: Organize and honor what matters.

You have carefully selected what items or projects matter most to your business.  Now that you have identified these, you should organize them in a useful way.  Maybe you’re a list person, maybe you mind map.  Whatever your way of working through a project, keep things clearly sorted. 

If you find organization difficult, you are not alone!  Find ways to bring joy to the organization process.  Colorful files or nice wicker baskets for sorting are always great.  If you enjoy your space, you will want to utilize it efficiently.