sjsmith.com.au - blog

Clearing the Decks (or desks)

Archive Old Stuff

Last week I talked about creating good habits to get rid of bad ones. This week I have a similar theme on my mind but from a slightly different angle. We've just seen the end of the financial year and it's about this time I start getting ready to archive last years documents.  Some are boxed up ready for the accountant to do his thing and some are boxed up ready for storage. Since we employ staff we have to keep a reasonable amount of old stuff and having had a tax audit I can tell you I was glad to have been well organised.  Auditing old documents is more than just about boxing them up. It's a great time to take a look back at what you've achieved over the last twelve months. Did you complete any tenders for work? Were you successful? What was your percentage success rate? Did you hire or lose staff? Has your turnover grown or shrunk?  The great thing is once you've taken a look at this snapshot of your business you can now bundle it all up and pack it away!  

This clearing of the decks (or the desks as may be the case), can be really cathartic. A clean slate to start over.  You already know what you need to focus on because you've archived all the old stuff.  You should not only have clear space all around, you should also have a clearer vision about what needs to be done to move you forward. Do you need to make adjustments to budgets due to growing or shrinking revenue? Do you need to start planning a recruitment for new staff or looking at training for existing staff? What projects or plans need to be locked in and included in your calendar?  

While we're on about archiving don't forget your electronic archiving of old emails, apps, subscriptions and old contacts. Clean up your mobile devices during July to allow space for your new contacts.

Till next time,

Sarah-Jane X