How are you feeling going into the new year?! Are you feeling all of the shiny, new year, new me vibes? ✨ Have big plans to digitally declutter?
Or are you feeling a little all over the place…wondering where the heck the past year has gone?!
Totally cool if you fall into the latter category, friend. We’re right there with ya. 😅
Which is exactly why we wanted to bring a blog post all about helping you get organized so you can head into the new year feeling like you’ve got your ish together!
Specifically, we want to talk about cleaning up your digital life.
If you’ve got files all over the place, just looking at your Google calendar is stressing you the heck out, and you keep getting that annoying alert telling you you’re out of storage…
This blog post was written for you, sis.
Keep reading to get our best tips to help you digitally declutter for the new year. 👇🏽
1. Organize Your Desktop
Have you ever heard the saying, “clear space, clear mind”?
It’s true!
And let’s be real, with all of us online business owners spending a ton of time on our computer, a messy digital space can def have an effect on how we feel about our business.
Business is already chaotic enough! The least you can do is a little desktop cleanup to clear your mind.
One of our fave hacks is downloading a cute Canva background with different boxes of your folders within them.
With these backgrounds, you can easily section out your desktop by category – such as personal items, important documents, to-do’s, in progress, etc.
There are endless options to help you get organized and look cute while you’re at it. 😍
2. Clean Up Your Inbox
If you have 5000 unread emails clogging up your inbox, we’re looking at you! 👀
Let’s be real, not everyone can (or has the desire to!) be an inbox-zero kind of person.
But you can still take steps to tame your inbox.
You can use Gmail features like:
- Labels/Folders
- Automatically categorizing certain emails
- Tabs like promo & social to keep things separated
There are so many different tools to keep things under control, especially if you’ve upgraded to Gmail’s business email provider, under Google Workspace.
The key to keeping your email manageable is to not let it go too long without cleaning it up. Try to set a reminder to organize your inbox every week or month so it doesn’t get too crazy!
3. Get Your Google Drive Sorted
If you’re going to digitally declutter, you have to be honest. Is your Google drive a mishmash of every file and folder you’ve ever downloaded – no organization insight?
It’s time to clean it up! You’ll thank yourself for doing so.
A good way to organize your Gdrive is by each business department.
Assign each business department a folder. For example:
- Marketing
- Operations/Admin
- Program/Services Delivery
- Legal
- Finance
Here at Coaches & Co, you know we’ve gotta drill down the importance of that legal folder in particular. 😉
In your Legal folder, you should include: tax information, Corporation or LLC formation documents, all your legal contract templates for your website, for every offer you provide, for your team members (employees + contractors!).
There’s nothing worse than spending 10 minutes just looking for a set of brand photos or one of your contracts, so this little bit of organization will save you tons of time in the long run!
4. Revisit Your Calendar
It’s time to streamline your calendar, friends.
Without clear processes in place for managing your schedule, you’ll find yourself wasting so much time.
- You’ll find yourself letting anyone and anyone get on your calendar (and we know you don’t have time for that 🙅🏽)
- You’ll spend ages going back and forth with team members, clients, and collaborators trying to find a time that works for everyone (and trying to keep track of timezones!)
- And pretty soon you’ll probably find your mental energy zapped because you’re spending hours and hours on Zoom meetings 😴
If you find yourself constantly flying by the seat of your pants when it comes to handling meetings and your calendar, here are a few ways to avoid that:
- Set up any recurring meetings. Maybe you meet with your assistant weekly or your content manager/strategist monthly. Whatever those recurring meetings are, pick a day and have it repeat rather than repeatedly scheduling each month.
- Batch your meeting days. Maybe you meet with clients one day, team members one day, and leave 2 days free for focused work.
- Use a booking tool like Calendly/Acuity. This will eliminate any back and forth and avoid you having timezone mishaps!
Getting a handle will help you feel so much more in control of your time, your business, and your life! ✨
BONUS: Refresh Your Contracts
Written contracts. You might not think of them when it’s time to digitally declutter, but here’s why we bring them up…
Do you have a dozen contracts you’ve Frankenstein’d together? Know your legal documents are a total mess? The beginning of the year is the perfect time to get your legal house in order.
How good would it feel to start new business relationships off on the right foot with contracts you felt 100% confident sending out?
Imagine how peaceful and at ease you’d feel (and not to mention, a little badass too!)
If you’re ready to commit to getting legal organized in the new year, Coaches & Co. can help!
Ready to stay organized this year? Check out our ready-to-use, lawyer-approved, plug-and-play legal contract templates, so you can create your client contract while staying Profitable & Protected™✨
*The information presented in this blog post is for educational & informational purposes only. This should not be a substitute for customized legal advice from a licensed professional in a private setting. If you need legal advice, please consult with an attorney. This is not a law firm.
