Now that Spring is here – it’s time for some good ol’ spring cleaning.
I’m not talking about cleaning out your closet – I’m talking cleaning out your business.
As you may know from reading my blog, I’m slightly obsessed with finding out how to make everything in life more simple, especially in my business.
When you have clutter in your business it’s so much more difficult to focus and get stuff done. You get distracted and a distracted mind gets you into trouble.
YOUR SPRING CLEANING CHECKLIST
Here are some things to help you clean up your business, simplify and get laser-focused..
- Guru Cleanse: Unsubscribe from any “marketing” email list that does not provide value. If they only “pitch” and try to sell to you – get off the list immediately. And don’t say “I use it for swipe copy”. Bullshit. It only distracts you from your goals.
- Donate Books: I LOVE reading business and marketing books. But once I go through them and put the highlights into a notebook, I’m done. There’s no need to have them all over my office. The size of your library doesn’t impress me, it’s the action you take on what you learn that gets you results. Donate them to your local library.
- Clean Your Inbox: Try to get it down to zero. Setup folders and delete old emails. You’ll be amazed how much better you feel.
- Clean Your Desktop: Get all the old files off your desktop. Put them into a 5 or 6 main folders and, then subfolders from there. Buy an external hard drive and get those files off your computer hard drive.
- Clean Your Desk: Only keep what you need every day on your desk. For me, it’s my laptop, a composition notebook (my to-do list), and my cell phone. That’s it.
- Clear Your Mind: Focus on just ONE THING. I don’t care what it is or what market you are in. It could be a membership site for fitness. Or a workshop for dating. Just do that one thing and don’t get distracted with other “ideas”.
- Get Your Ass in Shape: OK, this isn’t really “spring cleaning”, but you’ll never reach your highest level of success until you get into top physical condition. Make better eating choices and break a sweat every day. It’s not always easy, but it’s pretty simple.
There you go.
Some practical strategies to get clarity and simplify your business.
Rock ‘on!
Ryan
QUESTIONS? COMMENTS?
SHARE YOUR SPRING CLEANING TIPS BELOW?
P.S. Make sure to “like” this below!
P.P.S. This is the most simple, straightforward way I know to make 6-figures a year.. with just one product.
Great blog (your wife must love you, having your office all organized and clean!). I especially like your last comment….about being physically active…I used to love your old stuff when you were still heavily involved in fitness and egging everyone on to build their bodies and their fitness business…glad to see you’re still training! thanks Ryan!
Hey Karen,
Thanks!
And yes, being physically in top shape is SO important – but almost no one in the “internet marketing” world talks about it.
Keep on rockin’
Ryan
Ryan ~ as always great post and full of easy ACTION orientated steps.
Guru cleanse was a great one and I did it when I first heard you speak of it during Ryan Lee Method (Awesome program!).
The one I’ll have to work on is getting rid of the books. Jim Rohn said something to the liking of, “Poor people have a big TV, and rich people have a big library,” I guess you have a big library of notebooks full of bullet points from the books. Maybe it’s just me but I love being surrounded by the wisdom in the books – I am hoping to soak it in through osmosis.
Keep bringing it!
Derek
Derek,
I do love that quote by Jim Rohn.. BUT, to me, it’s about reading the books and taking action on them. Not having them clutter up my office :)
Ryan
Thanks for the very timely advice, Ryan!
I remember you advised us to unsubscribe from marketing emails sometime back as well, and trust me, that is one of the best things I have ever done! I can now spend so much extra time on my blog – something I just wasted on reading marketing messages earlier.
Guys, all the things Ryan has said here are important, but if you want to do just one, I would say it would be unsubscribing from all mailing lists – except for Ryan’s, of course :-)
Yes – I like to remind everyone just how important it is to get off those distracting lists.
Many of the marketers are masters at persuasion – and getting you to buy what you don’t need!
Ryan
The other day I cleaned up all the newsletters I had been subscribed too. I got off more email lists than I knew I was on. Now instead of my inbox getting filled with things I don’t read, I have cut my messages by 75% and am getting only what I want to get. It feels great! Oh and of course I kept you on my list :) loving the 1kperday too. Can’t wait for today’s module
Hey Dennis,
I’m glad I made the cut :)
It’s such a freeing feeling to clean out the clutter.
Keep rockin’
Ryan
Great advice, Ryan. Tips 1, 3, 4 5 & 6 sound like every freaking Monday for me.
Thanks Ben- glad we are on the same page :)
Ryan
Brilliant as usual my friend.
I appreciate it Charles!
Ryan
Ryan,
Great tips as usual.
I frequently find my physical desktop along with my computer desktop getting really cluttered.
I recently created using main folders and “shortcuts” on my PC desktop to keep it clean, and have to say something small like that can really improve your productivity and reduce the feeling of disorganization and overwhelm.
Brian
Hey Brian,
It really is amazing how these “little” things add up to being super-productive.
Keep on rockin’, my friend!
Ryan
Great list Ryan, needed this today!
I’m glad it helped you Nick!
Ryan
Awesome checklist and I look forward to seeing you at Clickbank Exchange 2012 in NYC………..
Rock on!
I’ll see you in NYC….
Ryan
Ryan,
As usual your timing for this post is uncanny. Declutter!
Interesting too as I just got off about three lists yesterday. Too much sell, sell, sell and “by the way my friend has a “product” etc in almost every single e-mail!
FYI, I like how prograde educates its customers with its information.
Warmest Regards
Mike
Hey Mike,
I’m still amazed people stay on any of these list with the constant sell, sell, sell.
No value – just “hey, buy my shit” or “hey, buy my friend’s shit”.
Awful!
Ryan
Glad to know about such checklist for spring cleaning, I do it in my work regularly on each month.
Mrinal
Thanks good to hear.
Keep at it and never stop the “cleaning”!
Ryan
Great post Ryan! Especially about getting in shape- great encouragement for me!
BB
You are welcome Beverly.
And yes, you gotta stay fit. It’s vital to reaching the highest level of success!
Ryan
Hey Ryan,
You forgot “Clean Your Relationships”.
Get rid or minimise contact with people (or for that matter, influences) that is counterproductive to what you want to achieve.
Great point Andy.
The negative people are like poison – and minimize contact as much as possible.
Ryan
Another thing I want to say… It’s amazing how fast people respond to your blog posts. Boggles my mind.
Good tips here, and you also need to have some planned tasks for the day. Without a task list for the day/week, at least I end up accomplishing much lesser.
Absolutely Suresh.
You MUST have a plan for the day (I plan it the night before!)
Ryan
LOL: Guru Cleanse: Unsubscribe from any “marketing” email list that does not provide value. If they only “pitch” and try to sell to you – get off the list immediately. And don’t say “I use it for swipe copy”. Bullshit. It only distracts you from your goals.
THAT is exactly what I am going to DO!
I just love to read your rants.
Thank you Pasi.
And I truly mean every word of it.
RUN away from those lists right away.
Ryan
This is my favorite post. It is the most simple and direct plan that anyone can do and yet it will clearly give anyone in this business the biggest productive boost. Thanks Ryan!
Thank you for the comments – I’m glad this is valuable for you!
Help spread the word..
Ryan
Hey Ryan!
One of my favorite tips I’ve EVER learned from you (from CK2, if I remember correctly) was the 4 – 6 folder tip for your desktop. I LOVE that, but I do have 1 exception to your rule. I have a “Ryan Lee” folder for some of my favorite notes, tips, etc. Ha Ha!!! Wasn’t sure where to put it and refer to it often:)
Just love ya!!
Have a fantastic rest of your day!!!
Connie
Hi Connie,
Yes, I love the 4 folder system. I’ll go over it again in a future post.
Ryan
Ryan, great advice as always, thank you! Ironically, we’ve been doing this over the past week, so it’s good to know we’re in line with one of the best. :-)
~Kate
Hey Kate,
I do this all the time (almost weekly).
Keep on the path, my friend!
Ryan
Thanks again Ryan, you’re a source of great information!
You are most welcome John.
Thanks for the feedback!
Ryan
Hey Ryan,
Quick question…
Is the video for the LaunchYourList.com opt-in page anywhere else in a non-flash format? Or is there a problem with it?
Can’t seem to get it to run on my iPad or iPhone….
Appreciate the reply.
Tara
Hey Tara,
You should be able to see that on the iPad.. I’ll ask my programmer what the issue is.
Ryan
Awesome timing with this one Ryan!
thanks mate
you’re a real champion!
Thank you Bryan.
I appreciate your support!
Ryan
Ryan, these are great tips for digital spring cleaning. I’m going to share them liberally. As an organizer, this is one area people tend to avoid organizing. It’s simple, clear and straight forward.
This would be great as a monthly maintenance after spring cleaning.
Thanks so much!
Christiana