Episode 79: Spring Cleaning your Organizing Business with Part 2--Priorities
Most people think spring cleaning means getting all the screens cleaned up and dusting those long neglected shelves--but really, you can apply those same principles to your professional organizing business.
On day 2 of a 5 day series, we talk about priorities--and what Jen learned from investor Warren Buffett about how priorities work in your professional organizing business.
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FULL TRANSCRIPT:
You're listening to the Pro Organizer Studio Podcast with Melissa Klug and Jen Obermeier. Thank you so much for joining in our mission is to broaden the horizons of savvy business women in the organizing industry by instilling confidence and inspiring authenticity. You'll gain new insight into strategies designed specifically for professional organizers.
So now let's get started.
Spring Clean pod buffett
Melissa Klug: [00:00:00] So I came from a corporate background. So I always think about the types of the , different apartments and a business there's there's marketing and sales, and then there's finance and accounting. There is HR. So I thought that is like, just don't call HR on yourself.
Like HR is the easiest part of our job.
Jen Obermeier: [00:00:20] Melissa, I have, I wanted to jump to the HR problem.
Melissa Klug: [00:00:23] Yes. You have an HR problem at your company.
Jen Obermeier: [00:00:27] I've got a quick story for you. So they say that the best part of being an entrepreneur is good news. You're your own boss. You don't have to deal with any bad bosses anymore.
Bad news. You're your only employee and you're your worst employee, your best employee and employee of the month and also on a performance improvement plan. Yeah, absolutely. Listen, I could, I could go on and on about the. Incredible endeavor. It is to learn how to manage yourself and your own mind. And this is true.
Whether no matter what kind of business you're in is this is not just about organizers. This is about entrepreneurship. This is about female business ownership and all the empowerment that comes along with it. It. It, there is no one out there who can say they don't have room for improvement because we get distracted by about a million things a day.
That's not an exaggeration. So I wanted to share this cause I I revisited an article that I've had saved for a while and I'm going to try to summarize it and possibly butcher it. But you'll you guys are going to get the idea. So Warren buffet, who people just universally tend to like, you know, soak up his wisdom because he is so famous for his investment strategies and how he manages his day, like his daily routines. And so someone I'm sorry, probably also famous came to Warren Buffett and said, was asking his tips about. Productivity and about career advancement and that kind of thing. And Warren buffet said, okay, I want you to make a list of 25 of your most important career goals in your lifetime.
And then this particular article also said, maybe you don't have 25 career goals for your lifetime, but like, let's say 25 of your most important things that you want to accomplish in your life this month, this year, whatever timeframe you, the point is, it doesn't matter. Pick those 25 at any given time, especially when you're an organizer and you are the solo preneur that is wearing all of those hats.
You are the HR, you're the marketing, you're the sales. You're the admin. You're also organizing for people. Yes. You're their therapist. And then you're also like trying to take care of yourself at the same time, take care of family. Like we all generally are functioning as that superhuman or at least attempting to do our best.
And and so I felt like this was a really relatable story because the guy listed out his 25 most important career goals. And Warren Buffett said, now, I want you to take that list and I want you to circle your. Top five out of all those 25 and the guy did that. And then Warren buffet said, okay. So now you have two lists.
Now you have the five and then you have the 20. He said, explain to me how you're going to prioritize. Those two lists and the guy said, well, the first five are going to be my most important priorities. And then as I find time or energy to work on the 20, or as they come up, like an opportunity comes up I will work that in where I can.
And Warren buffet said, Nope, that's not how it works. He said those 20 things are actually now the most important things in the world for you to avoid doing? Yeah, because they're not on your top five. They are not going to move the needle the most for you and your career or you guys in your business.
But those 20 things are going to distract you so much because, because you have identified that they are important to you. So it's not like something that's number a hundred on the list that you're like, yeah, I don't have time for that this year. It's going to be something that is. Kind of sorta really important to you that you really actually want to accomplish, but at all, costs, Warren buffet says you have to be so aware that those things are going to be distracting you from your top five.
He said, you don't put, you don't do anything else until you get one of those five crossed off and then you can add something else there. And I thought that that was really key because there you know, I'm used to the concept of You can have three most important tasks every day we relentlessly focus on those, but when you think about like bigger goals in your business and things that you would love to happen, like especially, people I know a lot of organizers are like, well, one day I'd love to be featured in a publication.
One day, I'd like to write a book. We all have things that we know we're a hundred percent capable of. The problem is, is we can't do all those things at the same time. And, I know just as well as anyone that. Focusing a hundred percent on your business is actually going to burn you out because there are other relationships and other key things about your health and your life that you can not actually fully ignore while you're out there, you know, beating the pavement and making all of your goals happen.
So I really believe when it comes to the topic of spring cleaning. So you really make a list of. Not only what those priorities are, but to retroactively look back and say, well, what else was going on? Or what has prevented me from working on this thing that I am saying is the number one or number five, most important things in my life.
What is distracting me from that? Because it's probably not something dumb. We call, you know, wasting time, mindlessly scrolling, social media, we all have things that we're like, yes, that's so clearly not helpful. Right. But there's other things that we kind of get like squirrel glitter. I described it because we're like, I was going to say squirrel, but there's an opportunity.
That's on my, it's on my list of 20 that wait, what if that doesn't come along again. Yeah. And so it's almost like a fear-based sort of like add, and that was the piece that I really wanted to contribute to this conversation more than anything is absolutely looking at your business processes, but also checking and really being honest with yourself about what is happening with your mind day to day.
Because like I said, you are your own boss and you're your best employee and your worst employee preventing burnout is a part of your job. And. And taking care of the person who is making all of this happen is a really, really big deal.
Melissa Klug: [00:06:35] Especially if you are in people's homes every day, because that is a hard job.
It's physically hard. It's emotionally hard. And making sure that this meets your goals is super, super important. I have a really good friend who is like absolutely 100%, one of the best. Smartest business woman I have ever worked with. And I joked with her when I started my business. I'm like, Oh, I can't believe I became a CEO before you. And and then I go, well, the bad news is I'm also the janitor. So you're everything and your business, right.
Jen Obermeier: [00:07:11] It's not actually all that glamorous, but we like playing to those parts that are a little bit, yeah. Right.
Melissa Klug: [00:07:18] But all joking aside, it is intense. To be an entrepreneur. And whether organizing is, a part-time job, your full-time job, it doesn't matter.
It is a responsibility and it is a lot on your shoulders and we're almost always. Solo, you know, or we have a small team and it's like, thinking about that is really important. And I love that story because you're right. You cannot focus on a hundred things. You cannot have a hundred top priorities.
You can't have 20 top priorities. You even five might be too much.
Jen Obermeier: [00:07:52] Yeah. For a whole, yeah. For a month or for a year. There's still a lot.
Okay. So after listening to that, Are you one of those people we all are that have 200 priorities on your list, and you're trying to figure out how to manage it all. Maybe spend a little bit of time today and think about what are your five most important things that you want from your business, from your life, whatever that is, and then try to figure out, do you have some things on your bigger lists that are getting in that way?
That's what I'm going to do with the rest of my day. And we will see you tomorrow where we're talking about one of my favorite subjects, which is your website. See you soon.
Thank you so much for listening into the pro organizer studio podcast. If you'd like to get our roadmap for success as a pro organizer, head straight to www.poroadmap.com.
If you are looking for business inspiration, we have a brand new free workshop that is called The 4-Part Plan for Landing Your Dream Clients in 2021. Jen Obermeier leads you through that workshop. Sign up for that poroadmap.com. If you are interested in our Inspired Organizer® program, you can find us at www.inspiredorganizer.com and don't forget, we have a whole library of podcasts here, our YouTube channel, and you can find us on Facebook and Instagram at Pro Organizer Studio.
Still not sure about starting your own Pro Organizing business? Cick here to read about the 5 things you need to know BEFORE starting your organizing business.
Feeling ready to start? Great! Check out this post on how to start your business stress-free!