Business Perks of Rearranging, Purging, and Letting Go July 22, 2019 13:49
I have not read Marie Kondo's book; however, my life changed for the better when I overhauled my home office.
It started at the ground level...literally. We've lived in our home for over twenty years, and the carpet in my office had lived there longer than that. It was time...overtime, really...for a change. I knew how much work it would take just to clear everything out of the room, but I couldn't stand the clutter anymore. It was truly hindering my motivation, efficiency, and business. I called Brothers Floor Covering in Indianapolis to come out and measure the space. They had installed beautiful flooring in our kitchen, living room, and upstairs rooms in the past, and they do great work. I had two weeks to prepare for this transformation, and I needed every minute.
I started with the closet, which was crammed full of photos, three-ring binders full of old lesson plans, grade books, yearbooks, self-help books on tape...cassette tapes, no less...journals, rolled-up posters, and random miscellany that was taking up valuable space.
It was overwhelming at first, but once I started to pick through the detritus of my past, things started to shift.
I recycled all of the old papers and lesson plans that I kept in the binders and donated two boxes full of books and tapes to Half Price Books.
As soon as I cleaned off the top shelf of the closet, a friend of mine called me out of the blue and offered to give me a free twenty-minute consultation to help me market my business more effectively. Suuhhhweeeettt!
When I slowly transferred all of the books that "sparked joy" into the living room and dragged the bookcases down the hall with the help of my husband and a beach towel, I received an email from an event organizer inviting me to be a vendor at an upcoming United Way event to celebrate women entrepreneurs. Yes, thank you!
When I organized boxes of photos, poems, and journals, I sold nine malas at the Summer Solstice event, Monumental Yoga, in downtown Indianapolis. Woot! Woot!
Edgar arrived from Brothers Floor Covering two weeks after my phone call and single handedly transformed my office floor in just a few hours. He rolled away the old carpet that always smelled faintly (and sometimes not so faintly) of puppy pee no matter how often I cleaned it, and replaced it with beautiful COREtec flooring.
When I rearranged the book cases and hung framed photos and prints on different hooks and walls, a client who had previously been dragging her feet, finally purchased the custom mala design she had commissioned me to make for her (and that I had completed the previous month). Halleluiah!
When I organized all of the books by topic, size, and subject matter, dusted souvenirs and knick knacks that had been hiding in the closet, placing them all with intention and care on shelves, a new client purchased two malas from the online shop. Yasss!
When I swept and mopped the new floor and replaced the bulky office chair on wheels with a smaller chair on casters specifically designed to promote active sitting (QOR 360), I discovered a free online summit specifically intended for sacred business owners and entrepreneurs in holistic wellness fields. Na.Ma.Ste!
From start to finish, this transformation took a full month to complete, but it was totally worth the effort and time. I now have a space where I can work and move about freely. I even have enough floor space that I can practice Feldenkrais lessons in my office when I need to take breaks.
Rearranging, purging, and letting go of what I no longer need has helped me create a beautiful space for what matters NOW. Business has picked up (just had a request for a custom design while I'm writing this blog post), and I look forward to working in my office.
Hmmm...I wonder what would happen if I tackled the hall closet :) ?