One of the biggest challenges in working at home is overload.

So much to do. Where to start. Where does it end?

It can be a heavy load.

Why not lighten it up?

Does that sound funny to you?

I know that would have been my first reaction a few years ago.

But over time I have found that much of the load is not necessary, and it certainly isn’t needed or wanted.

What kind of things am I talking about?

CLUTTER OF COURSE

Clutter of course, is the number one offender.

It weighs us down like nothing else.

If you can do one thing, make a point of moving it out.

Little by little or a few hours at a time. The trick is to make it your focus and don’t stop until you have a clear space exactly where you need one or two.

UNFINISHED PROJECTS

There are two things to do with unfinished projects.

Finish them or dump them.

If you have more than one and you want to finish them, schedule your time to complete one and then move to the next.

There are a few reasons that this works better than working on them all at once.

1 – You will have better concentration and focus therefore the odds are you will have a better quality outcome.

2 – You will get the first one finished twice as fast that way, giving you a sense of accomplishment and confidence to do the next.

3- You’ll also added revenue from having the first project up and running sooner.

4 – You will also learn from any mistakes if they projects are similar, and be able to apply your knowledge sooner.

Unfinished projects weigh on your mind and clutter up your work stations.

If you have some waiting for you, get tough and decide.

Stay or go.

Then take action.

FILE SYSTEM GOT ONE?

One of the problems with a cluttered workspace is that we have no place to put things. So it gets piled until we figure something out. Why not take a minute to create a file system.

I divide my folders by active files which include my tickle files and ‘to file’ folder and non active files such as storage files. I have another small file station for projects files and binders.

I also use binders to store things that I will need access to for a year or less, they go in a few milk carton crates in my office closet (which by the way make great storage shelf units stacked on their side for easy access) and plastic totes for long term storage.

These are better than cardboard because they can’t get wet. I used to store tax records in fold out office cardboard boxes. They got wet when our pump backed up in the basement. Good thing the bottom boxes were quite a few years old and won’t likely be needed.

COMPUTER OVERLOAD

It’s easy to let our computers get out of hand, it is almost like a continual stream of things coming in and so easy to file away for later out of sight out of mind.

The problem is that all this stuff makes it harder to find things when we need them, slows down our operating system and also clutters our brains. Even though we don’t even know what it is we KNOW that there are things we should be paying attention to in there.

Email is another topic on it’s own.

A good rule. Be very careful about what you allow onto your computer.

This includes downloads, subscriptions, products and software.

Commit today to reversing the flow.

Delete, unsubscribe and clean up anything you don’t use.

Be sure to have an updated antivirus program and back up your computer.

This will also take a load off of your mind.

FEELING FRESH?

Taking care of all of these things will give you a much fresher outlook and a cleaner base to work from.

There is one more thing that will really help you to have a clean start every morning.

It’s you.

Starting your day out right with exercise, water, a healthy breakfast and some ‘you time’ will give you a clean start from the inside out. I wake up early and read a book that I can learn from first thing for 30 minutes every morning with my morning coffee and a glass of lemon water. Then I go on to the other things that I include in my morning routine.

I can’t tell you how much better I feel going into the day.

CLEAR MIND

One last thing.

You can start with this one right away. It is the easiest to work on, hardest to do and will give you the best results.

Clear you mind by thinking for yourself. Your morning routine will help you with this.

If you’ve been working online for any amount of time now you will probably find that you have gone in many directions with a lot of noise going on in your head.

You may have even lost your direction while working hard to find it.

Turns out it was something that you already had inside of you.

Shut off the noise and listen to yourself for awhile.

What do you want to do?

What feels right to you?

One of the reasons that unloading the burdens in your environment is so effective is that it makes it that much easier to hear your own voice, and to notice when you are tuning it out.

Find the station called ‘My Own Voice’ and listen to it regularly.

You will amaze yourself with your own ideas and your new found sense of clarity and vision.

WOW, ALL OF THESE THINGS SEEM LIKE ANOTHER BURDEN!

You won’t be able to do all of these things over night.

Schedule a time every day to take a bite out of them, one at a time.

Don’t get frustrated, you won’t feel much difference over night, but it will happen faster than you think.

Just keep on and in no time you will find a large part of your overwhelm slipping away into creative productivity.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

What’s your biggest challenge when dealing with overwhelm?

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