Out with the Old, in with the New, Repurpose and Rediscover
…lessons from a messy kid.

I was a creative child.  My room was always a jumble of toys, stuffed animals, clothes, and games strewn about in whatever haphazard position I had left them.  On many evenings, my mother would ask me to “clear a path” from my door to my bed just in case there was an emergency in the middle of the night so I wouldn’t have to awkwardly hurdle the cluttered heap to get to safety.  There were those times, however, that she would require me to clean my room completely; meaning I was not allowed to stuff everything under the bed and in the closet.  Little did I know the seeds of insight this would bury in my budding creative consulting mind.  Here are five tips from this, now highly-organized, messy kid:

1.  Discover overlooked treasure

Nine times out of ten, while cleaning the chaos of my room, I would discover a treasured item that I had completely forgotten about or a missing piece to a toy that would now become usable or more fun once reunited with its original content.

Chances are you have marketing tools or hard items you are not using to their fullest capacity.  Take a look at your hard items: pamphlets, promo materials, work stationary…stuff.  Are these items collecting dust because they are stored in a box somewhere without a set purpose?  Pull them out and assign them a time and a purpose.  For example, look into placing a banner stand or promotional pamphlets at an event you attend.  Purpose to attend a certain number of networking events, hand out a certain number of cards and go old-school by following up with a letter on that business letterhead.  If you have an item in your office or storage area, know what it is for and when you will use it or get rid of it.

Facebook, Linkedin, Blog Sites and Twitter are all free ways to get your message out to your customer base and partners.  Are you using these tools to their full effectiveness? Blended marketing: using several of these tools together to reiterate a slightly different version of the same message, can bolster brand loyalty and serve as a nonintrusive reminder to your clients of who you are, what you have to say, and how your company or product can benefit them.

2.  Let your brother clean your room

My brother and I, to combat the agony of childhood labor, would often “switch” cleaning rooms.  It was more fun to put away someone else’s stuff and a nice surprise to find your own room clean and items placed in a way you might not have thought of.

Give a trusted friend or colleague that is not a part of your day-to-day business activity, access to how you operate, organize, market, etc. Similarly, organize targeted discussions with those whom you value within your organization to generate and explore fresh perspectives.  Marketing plans get stale, logos and images can become outdated, and procedures can become inefficient over time.  Sometimes a fresh perspective, a new approach, or simply a “you’re doing this right,” can encourage and foster restructuring that can benefit your company exponentially.

3.  Appreciate the trash and the recycle bins

I might have been messy, but I was no junior hoarder.  The trash was my friend.  Throwing away broken toys and re-gifting items I didn’t need made room for the new and created shelving space for what I already had.

Consider “gifting” a non-productive employee back to the business community.  Evaluate current positions for effective use of time and resources.  Consider redefining positions or defining more clearly the scope of work expected within said position.

Clean out shelves, drawers, offices and storage spaces.  Organize everything into usable categories.  Get in touch with your shredder and make some space.  Eliminate multiple records, taking the time to ensure proper digital and hard copy backups.  Donate usable, but-not-by-you-anymore items.  Teachers love extra scrap paper for the classroom; centers and non-profits often welcome books or office supplies.

4.  Divide, Conquer, Reward, Repeat

When you’re seven years old and you find yourself standing in a foot-high sea of toys that all need “homes” somewhere in your room, you are forced to strategize.  I was very creative with this.  At times I would race the clock to see how fast I could clean certain sections, at times I would clean by category:  stuffed animals, then records, then games, and at other times I would simply start at one corner and work toward another.  Once I accomplished a set “chunk”, I’d take a break, get a snack, etc.  This was surprisingly successful and rewarding.

Make a list of spring-cleaning projects and divide them into chunks with assigned timelines.  For example: Week one might be to reorganize the storage area and research two new marketing strategies.  Week two might be to re-evaluate the web site or clean out old mail files.  These tasks can be addressed in as little as five minutes each day if need be.  Adjust the schedule as necessary and reward yourself with little items; new file folders when cleaning out the supply closet or your desk, for example.

5.  Evaluate and Restructure

My bedroom was eventually exchanged for an apartment, an apartment was eventually exchanged for a house, and a messy kid eventually grew into an organized adult.  Each Spring and every so often, I list, tackle, and attempt to improve the sectors of my world.

As you make your list of items to address or “clean” this spring, make sure to assess the effectiveness of current personal strategies as well as company strategies. Look for applications that can assist.  Project management tools, such as Wunderlist, are free and easy to navigate.  Marketing bundling sites, such as Hootesuite, can combine your twitter, facebook, and other social pages into one accessible page.  How you organize yourself:  your office space, your to-do lists, all play a role in your company’s and your personal success.

Make a list and methodically consider the effectiveness of your work habits, your mission statement, your business plan, your staff, plans/programs/services that you pay for, your use of technology, your web presence, your printed materials, your management and your connections.