Put Away Your Laundry First
I know, I know - Laundry eww. I know.
I learned many, many years ago that I am one of those weirdos who LOVES to do laundry. There is something about the process that I love. Maybe it’s the smell of detergent (I am a Gainiac for those of you who’ve seen the commercials). Or it could be that anytime I want to wear a certain item, it’s just so nice to pull it out fresh from the closet and put it on without any extra work. Perhaps it’s the mindless, almost therapeutic satisfaction of folding clothes and having them all nice and neat - and bonus I can fold while I catch up on a favorite show. I actually sleep better when my laundry is handled.
See, I told you I’m a weirdo.
There are times however when things have gotten more hectic and I’ve noticed a creature growing on a chair in my office. A creature I call the laundry monster - just a pile of my clothes that are clean, but ones I haven’t yet put away. It’s a shame too because I did all the work to get them washed, spot cleaned, hung up to dry, ironed, and some even dry cleaned. And I just didn’t take the time to make them a priority over the other laundry. My clothes are the only clothes that turn into the monster slowly drooping its way to the floor.
Why do I do this? The longer the monster sits, the more I stress about it too. I make sure everyone else's laundry is neatly tucked away, why not mine?
Contemplating while cleaning up my mess, hanger-by-hanger I started to think, that I do this in business too. I don’t know about you, but I tend to take care of the items of my business last, just like I tend to put away my clothes last. I take care of the needs of my clients, the needs of those calling me, and even the needs of spam email BEFORE I dig into my financials, make a call to a mentor or do some research on an inspired idea for my business.
It’s one of the bad habits that many solopreneurs and business owners tend to do - We opt to spend a lot of time working IN our business rather than working ON our business. I find that I wait until the right time to dig into these items, but really it’s just about making the time.
So, I’m now living my motto of putting away my laundry first in my personal and business life. What I’ve done is dedicated one day a week to working on my business and I’ve made sure that I don’t take calls, schedule appointments, or open my email first thing or - I daresay at all - on that day. This allows me to make sure that I stay in the zone and work on what needs attention in my business too. So that there aren’t any scary monsters (laundry or otherwise) growing in the shadows.
Here are some things I do to help me stick to it:
Muted Mondays - Monday is the day that I’ve chosen and this means that my email inbox is muted. I may answer emails, but they aren’t open all day and there are no pings, dings, or “you’ve got mail” notifications sounding in the background
I make appointments, on my calendar, that is not penciled in with my financials, projects, research, etc. just like I make them with my clients.
Sometimes I make a date with something I really hate to do. I make sure “we” meet in a place a love (a local coffee shop or brewery), “we” listen to great music, and “we” have a great time. “We” being me and my accounting program or me and my research project.
I aspire to be like one of my fellow business friends and dedicate one week a month to just working on my business - no appointments, no phone calls, no deadlines, etc. I’m not there yet but hope to be soon.
Also if you know someone who would be interested in doing a working day - just the two of you working together, like study hall in school, you can keep each other accountable just by being with each other or by a Zoom call.
If you’re worried that your clients won’t understand, I have to say I’ve got nothing but positive feedback about doing this. Some of my clients have adopted the same practices.
If you’re finding the same thing is happening in your business, I encourage you to put away your laundry first too. Don’t let the monsters grow and stress you out because you will inevitably HAVE to tackle them.
#LettingYouShine