by: Janet Ilacqua
Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in, forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day, you shall begin it well and serenely..."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
One of the fastest ways to increase the success of your homebased business is to do a thorough house cleaning. Sounds silly? It works. By clearing out the physical clutter and debris in your working area, you will correspondingly clear out mental clutter that prevents you from manifesting abundance. In addition to this, by disposing of unneeded items that no longer serve you, we are making space that can be used for new items to replace them. The important point is that you focus on developing new and more effective ways of doing, finding new markets, and streamline your working area so as to get the maximum results from your freelancing.
Decluttering Checklist
Here are some guidelines for clearing the clutter from your life:
1. Check your computer. Delete duplicate files and files that you haven’t used in a year. If you have a mass of documents in the My Documents folder, this is time to organize them and classify them under folders. Devise a tracking system for your queries. Review your ideas and see which ones can be developed into good articles. Delete the rest.
2. How much of the contents of your desk haven't been used in over a year? Out they go. Be ruthless. Remember, you're holding in mind that your success is on it's way and you need to make room for it.
3. Check your bookcases. You can extend the one-year rule a bit here, but you must be realistic with yourself. Are you actually going to make use of these items in your work? Throw away what you must, sell what you can and give the rest to charity.
4. Start bringing a higher level of order into your life. Are there people to whom you owe a letter? Have you balanced your checkbook? This is the time to either create or refine your "to do" list and make it stick. Carry it around with you and add to it as you think of new items. You will find that many of the items that you add to your list will directly affect your level of success. The reason for this is that success flows in the presence of order. Just as water is disturbed into rapids in the presence of major outcroppings of rocks, so is the flow of success disrupted by the disorder of cluttered schedules, incomplete duties and broken agreements. You may note that it is very rare that a prosperous individual allows their affairs to be chaotic.
All of this doesn't have to happen in one weekend. In order to make it work effectively, daily progress should be happening. Choose one cabinet to clean out per day or one letter to write. Make your progress towards greater order a tangible thing that you can recognize. The results will be well worth it.