Are You an Info Hoarder?
They're there.
Files upon files.
Folders upon folders.
You can't see them, but they're taking up TONS of space on your hard drive AND they're keeping you from doing what you do best! As an entrepreneur, you are geared to research, explore new ideas, read everything you can get your hands on in the hopes of finding that 'pearl' of wisdom.
With every report or article you collected, you saved it IN CASE you ever needed it.
It's one thing to create and build a valuable resource library, but have you crossed the line from researcher to hoarder? Is the information you have archived relevant or relic? Is it saved with the thought that it might be relevant 'someday'? One of the biggest challenges we can face in business is to cease and desist from searching for more and more information; to stop downloading and saving hundreds of ezines, eBooks, audio programs, white papers, blogs, articles and podcasts and take action to grow our businesses.
Clutter, in whatever form it takes, whether we can see it or not, uses energy.
Energy to find it, save it and search through it.
We can become overwhelmed with the sheer quantity of information that we have and the effort that it will take to find whatever it was that we saved that we thought was important 3 years ago! And then you find not just 4 references but 40! Now what? Three hours of reading and reviewing to find what's relevant? You're a Hoarder.
But there's hope.
Here are 5 success tactics that can move you from hoarder to focused:
Regularly update and weed out files from your database that aren't current, pertinent or relevant.
This includes your contacts, mailing lists, LinkedIn resources and Facebook friends.
Whenever you clear 'clutter', you create space to attract fresh, new and innovative ideas and people.
Files upon files.
Folders upon folders.
You can't see them, but they're taking up TONS of space on your hard drive AND they're keeping you from doing what you do best! As an entrepreneur, you are geared to research, explore new ideas, read everything you can get your hands on in the hopes of finding that 'pearl' of wisdom.
With every report or article you collected, you saved it IN CASE you ever needed it.
It's one thing to create and build a valuable resource library, but have you crossed the line from researcher to hoarder? Is the information you have archived relevant or relic? Is it saved with the thought that it might be relevant 'someday'? One of the biggest challenges we can face in business is to cease and desist from searching for more and more information; to stop downloading and saving hundreds of ezines, eBooks, audio programs, white papers, blogs, articles and podcasts and take action to grow our businesses.
Clutter, in whatever form it takes, whether we can see it or not, uses energy.
Energy to find it, save it and search through it.
We can become overwhelmed with the sheer quantity of information that we have and the effort that it will take to find whatever it was that we saved that we thought was important 3 years ago! And then you find not just 4 references but 40! Now what? Three hours of reading and reviewing to find what's relevant? You're a Hoarder.
But there's hope.
Here are 5 success tactics that can move you from hoarder to focused:
- Ancient History - all that information you've collected that is 3 years and older is probably outdated.
Unless you're archiving for posterity sake or sentimental reasons, delete it. - Market Niche - everything that does NOT apply to your market niche needs to go.
You know, the ones that COULD be used but you don't have the clients for it or the resources.
TIP: Can't let go? Give it a purpose - send that article, blog or whitepaper to a colleague whose business focus aligns with that piece and who would find value in receiving it.
Then delete it. - Unsubscribe - you won't hurt that person's feelings if you remove yourself from their mailing list.
Really.
If the content is not addressing your needs in your business RIGHT NOW then it's clutter.
Having to wade through dozens of ezines every week is counter productive.
TIP: Can't let go? Create a 'Favourite' internet folder titled 'eZines' and bookmark the URL of the ezines that are SPECIFIC to your market.
Schedule a specific day and duration of time to browse through the ezines for the month.
Much more effective! - Dating - when you save information, date it.
Name the file with the date preceding it.
Ie: Networking Tips - save it as yy/mm/dd 100918_Networking_Tips - GOOGLE - the ultimate archive.
You can find anything and everything WHEN YOU NEED IT! There's no reason to download every piece of information you come across because you 'might' need it.
Regularly update and weed out files from your database that aren't current, pertinent or relevant.
This includes your contacts, mailing lists, LinkedIn resources and Facebook friends.
Whenever you clear 'clutter', you create space to attract fresh, new and innovative ideas and people.
