Working From Home – I’m not there yet
I'm Going Baaaahhhk to work
In the last 5 weeks I have had the fantastic opportunity to see what it is like to work from home.
As some of you know I was blessed with losing my job. Unfortunately, in the very near future, I will have to return to the 40/50/40 plan for a while.
(40hrs a week/50weeks a year/ for 40years) … sounds terrible ’cause it is !!!
Anyway, with this terrible event pending, and the fact that I will not be able to spend as much time working from home on my blog etc. plus the fact that I have allowed a lot of junk to accumulate on my computer, I decided to do a good thorough house cleaning.
The first thing I did was clean up my desktop.
I had free ebooks, audios, videos, and tools that I would “eventually get to”. So I deleted a whole lot of them, and the others I put in my documents.
My desk top now has two and a half columns of things I actually use, and need. WooHoo !!!
The next thing I did was tackled my documents.
This was even worse than my desktop. Not only did I have all of the above, I had all the screen shots from my blog posts, and nothing was in folders. So I deleted a bunch of junk, and put the rest in folders.
A lot of clicks later my documents is about a quarter of the size it was.
I just had a thought… the mess my desktop, and my documents is like saving newspaper articles, magazines and books you never read, for a later time.
I have a picture in my head of a house with many, many cats, and piles of unread stuff around. LOL
Now I’m on a roll… Gmail…. Ekkkkkk !!!
Every morning that I opened my gmail I had a very long list of peoples latest offerings. While some of the names that I subscribe to are pretty heavy hitters in my field, they honestly do not provide me with very much value. Just affiliate offers from them, and their friends. I think some of them forgot that you need to also provide value to your list.
Sooo…… Buh Bye my old friends.
I unsubscribed from a ton of people, and deleted a bunch of emails that were put in the “read later pile”.
Next, were the Gmail folders that I had.., and I had a lot ! I would actually just file a lot of emails into someones folder without opening it, “for future use”. Most of them I have just deleted. I figure if I didn’t even know what they were, I won’t miss them. Sooo….. kthxbye.
These gmail ones are funny, it’s like subscribing to all the morning newspapers from your city, and the surrounding areas, and then trying to read them before you start to work, or keeping them to read later.
It is a very strange feeling to open up your email and find nothing there. A bit of panic sets in, and then the “what do I do now” feeling, but that is good.
Now, I can concentrate on what I need to do first. What should my priorities be ?
What do I want to accomplish with this blog, and in IM?
I’m still working on that, and will probably write a post about it, but getting rid of some of the distractions, and the time sucking useless tasks has freed up a lot of valuable time. For now though, I’m going to tackle my Favorites, Bookmarks, and RSS feed that I have never read.
What have you done to declutter your working environment ? Are you doing things in your business that are beneficial, and are in line with the direction you want to go, or are you on the wrong side of the 80/20 rule ?
Please leave me a comment, and funny stories etc. I really want to know your experiences… I can’t be the only one that does this… can I ? LOL
Thanks,
Neil
Neil,
I don’t know whether to say congratulations for finding another job or sorry that you have to go back to work. Maybe get a job that will allow telecommuting? (best of both worlds)
Anyhow, I liked your “cleaning” efforts. I am sure it will reap many rewards in the long run.
Steve recently posted..Is “The 4-Hour Workweek” Bullst
Hey Steve,
I’m thinking of wearing a black arm band, for the loss of my freedom.
Maybe I could get that Maytag repair man’s job, and blog while working.
As for the clean up, I went so far as to putting all the url’s of the sites I visit regularly on one page in Google Docs, now one click and there they are.
Take care,
Neil
Hi Neil,
Looks like you’re off to a great start. There’s nothing like cleaning off the cob webs to see the road ahead.
I’ve actually done some of the same just this week. My desktop was so cluttered that I couldn’t see the background behind it anymore … much less be able to find the file or folder I was looking for.
Looking forward to your updates.
Have a great weekend!
Ilka
Ilka Flood recently posted..Drop That Grimy Tennis Ball and Get Rid of Your Limiting Beliefs
Haaa I knew I wasn’t the only one
It’s still a bit strange for me to see my desktop, and have far less junk emails.
Maybe we could start a support group, so we don’t let each other get in that mess again
Thanks for fessin’ up, and leaving a comment Ilka.
Hi Neil,
it’s really a liberating feeling to get rid of all the clutter, be it electronic clutter or physical clutter. I love that and do that on a regular basis (every three months) – magazines, books, “important” documents etc.
Congratulations on doing so yourself !
Have a blessed weekend and take care
Oliver
Oliver Tausend recently posted..The Anatomy Of Quitting – Can We Do Anything
You nailed the word Oliver, liberating.
It’s amazing the difference in my productivity, by just cleaning up my puter.
You have a great weekend too !
Neil
Hi Neil!
I must say, I’m so inspired by you! I really need to do this myself, and in the focus of building my business, I’ve let things pile up both on my computer and in my home. While I don’t subscribe to magazines and I don’t have cats, I do have 3 kids and clutter seems to multiply! The humbling part is that the computer clutter is all mine and I have no one to blame for it!
Look at your job as a new opportunity to meet new people, build relationships, and get an abundance of experiences to blog about! Plus, clearing out the clutter gives space for good things to come into your life, and who knows what awesome things that could be?!?!
Congratulations!
Heather
Heather C Stephens recently posted..Stage Fright! My Experience Guest Blogging on TyTribbleCom
Hey Heather,
You go girl !!! It took me a while to clean up the mess, but the time that I wasted looking for things far exceeded the time to do the clean up.
I watched your video. Good for you. Looks like you were still jazzed when you recorded it.
Take care,
Neil
Hi Neil,
Good for you on doing the house cleaning on your PC and with your newest job coming up.
Perhaps you’re about to embark a new journey, or something else may surface. You never can tell. But whatever your case, I do wish you much success.
Have a super weekend,
Jerome Ratliff
Jerome Ratliff recently posted..Tom Challan Review
Hello Jerome,
One of my favorite quotes is from Wayne Dyer… ‘In my world nothing ever goes wrong”.
You are so right my friend, a new journey. Maybe I’ll meet my next exwife, you never know.
You have a super weekend too !
Neil
Neil,
What a messy desk and a cluttered computer are not signs of success?
I have to go back and re-figure this image thing.
But congrats to the strides you made in drilling down to what you need and is useful.
Steve Shoemaker
Steve Shoemaker recently posted..Network Marketing Software- Plug Ins & Add Ons
Haa,
Messy desk I can live with.
We sure do a lot of drilling, maybe it should be called Internet Drilling….. or mining.
Thanks Steve,
Neil
Hey Neil
Here is the secret, once you clean it up, keep it that way
I have been gradually removing myself from lists in my gmail account. Now I receive a manageable number of emails a day.
You are right, sometimes I wonder about some of these gurus, no value in a long time, just promotions for their friends.
btw Congrats on the job, but lets make it a 40/50/10 plan
Peter Fuller MBA recently posted..Does Your Home Business Make You Feel Uncomfortable
Hi Peter,
It’s stayin’ clean
I recently got an email from a guy that I respect… lots of free content, genuinely helpful. I was thinking of joining his membership site. Anyway, he sent me one of those friend emails.
It may be above board, I need to google the guy, see if I can find him
Thanks for the comment,
Neil
Hey Neil,
Cleaning up is always refreshing for the soul & mind. Now, the task is to keep it that way.
Have a great weekend…
Josh
Josh Garcia recently posted..10 Reasons Why Some Blogs Become More Popular Than Others- Part II
Hi Josh,
Not only am I going to keep it that way,
I’m going to stream line what I do, to make the best use of my time. I’m on a roll
Take care,
Neil
Hi Neil,
It’s great to see a simple breakdown of how to face what can seem like a huge task. As with any goal, breaking it into manageable chunks can vastly improve the chances of making it happen.
You’ve inspired me. Tomorrow morning: the desk!
Good luck for the new work. Hope it offers you unexpected connections and networking magic!
Cheers,
Jym
Jym recently posted..Blog- Schmog Optimize YOURSELF!
Hi Jym, Welcome !
I hear you about breaking things down, a task that seems too much to handle, all of a sudden looks easier, if we break it down.
Take care,
Neil
Hi Neil,
Congratulations on your new job and on cleaning your computer!
I keep on top of things with my e-mail inbox. I don’t keep e-mails that I don’t need. It’s easier that way for me.
Thanks for sharing. Keep us posted with your new job.
All the best,
Mavis Nong
Mavis Nong recently posted..How To Avoid Getting Your WordPress Blog Hacked Into!
Hey Mavis,
I am definitely going to be following you lead, it’s a lot easier to do things without the clutter. As for the job,
I went for the interview today, and start tomorrow.
See you soon,
Neil
There’s nothing like good house-cleaning, is there? Just makes you breath easier:).
One thing you said, Neil, that struck a chord with me: all those big hitters that we all opt in to get info from hoping that they will actually teach us something… Yet, all we get day after day is a bunch of affiliate offers…
So why don’t I unsubscribe? Good question.
What’s up with going back to the job? You actually need to make a living?
By the way, my daughter was born on Friday 13.
Ana
Ana @ Targeted Website Traffic recently posted..Is Google Waving Goodbye to Tag Clouds
Hey Ana,
You ended up in my spam filter for some reason.
I started my job last week now, and I’m glad I did a bit of clean up before hand. I’m finding it a little hard to keep up, with both.
I was also born on the 13th, I’ll have to check what day though.
Take care,
Neil
I have promised myself many time already that I’ll tackle this “when I have time”. I’ve been meaning to clean up my desk (office & home-office) and my computers (computer at office and personal PC’s at home) but I keep on procrastinating. The problem really is I can get myself started at doing these stuff!
marlon @ productivity bits recently posted..5 Things You Can Do During Office Downtime
Welcome Marlon,
My mess was out of control. I had a hard time finding things on my desktop. I’m trying to keep it nice and clean now
Why don’t you schedule some time to do it, or at least start it. Once you get going it is quite exhilarating.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
LOL like you I find working from home terrible! Hopefully, I could totally change my style of not following my schedule. A month ago, I did an overall clean up of my desktop. I found lots of trash saved in my PC. I actually spent all day just to finish everything. Now, after a month, I think I’m starting pile up stuffs again just like before LOL
Mike Ramsey recently posted..Understanding Nocturnal Excessive Sweating
Like you, I used to throw any files on my desktop for easy access, yet I don’t have any opportunity to read any even if a month already passed by. I organized my desktop around September and everything looks good now. However, things started to pile up again! LOL Another scheduled cleaning I guess. I have that kind of attitude where I make sure not to place my things anywhere. I must say that the most cleanest part the house is my room! Since I make sure that I put what I grab into place. My desktop is a different thing for me!
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