We have started the process of “spring cleaning” in my home! There are several plastic bags filled with clothes, shoes and just plain stuff that we don’t need anymore, that are piling up in a closet waiting for us (me) to take it somewhere. Once I remove it from our house we’ll all feel better (especially my wife) because we could sure use the storage room for other things. While I don’t like the process of spring cleaning, I do like the results!
The same thing is true in your office!
Have you ever considered just how much stuff accumulates at work? Some of the stuff is physical-like office supplies; those promotional trinkets vendors leave behind; items you picked up at a trade show or conference; snacks from the Holiday season that got pushed to the back of the break room; sticky notes that surround your computer monitor that you don’t remember what they’re for now…you get the picture!
Sometimes it’s a guest card folder overflowing with prospects that you’ve not followed up with in ages, or guest cards you haven’t filed away in forever. Is there a pile of maintenance requests that should have been filed that are just sitting in an inbox? How about a report that you keep meaning to look at, but never do?
Here’s another scary one…what about your EMAIL??? Augh! How many emails do you have sitting in your inbox? How many have you saved as “unread” that are still unread? Do you have emails in your draft folder that were never sent? (I deal with this one a lot! I’m not sure why!)
What can you do?
With the physical things, go through your desk (office, cubicle, department etc.) and if you find stuff that haven’t used it in the past year, you probably don’t need it today. Toss it, shred it, get rid of it.
If your guest card folder (if you still have a physical folder) is out of control, this will take a little more time. But I encourage you to carve out the time you need to clean it up. (If you need to start a new folder so that your prospect information from today and moving forward is cleaned up, then do so; but make sure that you don’t allow your new folder to become like your old folder. File paperwork as you handle them-don’t just stick them in the folder for later!)
Go through your cards, and arrange the cards by move-in dates. If people are moving within the next 30-60 days…CONTACT THEM! If your prospect’s move-in dates have passed, set aside time to re-connect with a simple, “Hi, I’m just checking in with you to see if you did find an apartment. If not, are you still in the market?”
Email problems? Quite frankly delete the ones you don’t need. Read the ones that are still marked as “unread” and then delete them (unless you absolutely have to keep it!)
What else is cluttering up your environment?
This is a great time to take inventory of what else is cluttering up your workspace; what piles of paper need attending to; what is getting in the way of your being able to perform at a high-level. Then, make a decision to do something about it…NOW!
Happy Spring Cleaning!!
