I’m a pretty neat person. Not obsessively neat, but I like things a certain way. I never lose my keys at home, because I always put them in the same place. I never have to search for a left shoe, because all my shoes go back in the box as soon as I take them off. I never have to pick up clothes off the floor, because I just don’t put them on the floor.
Although I don’t like to clean, at times, I’m pretty much a robot when it comes to keeping my living and working space neat and tidy. There are times, though, when I let it get out of hand. Surprisingly enough, the cleanliness of my home is usually a direct reflection of what’s going on in my life.
When I’m feeling great about life and everything is somewhat in order, my space is clean and neat. When I feel like my life is out of order, you guessed it —I allow my space to get out of order and messy.
I only noticed this pattern a few years ago. I noticed that when I was going through a tough time, I felt uninspired to clean, and when my living and working space wasn’t clean, I just felt uninspired.
Once I was aware of this pattern, I made a conscious effort to schedule time to clean and reorganize every week. The thing about cleaning — which is similar to most things in life — is that, if you don’t let it get too out of hand in the first place, it’s a lot less work.
5 Ways Keeping a Clean Space Can Make You a Better Entrepreneur
Having a clean space can actually make you a better entrepreneur. Here’s how:
You’ll be more productive.
When your space is clean, you’re more efficient. You don’t have to search for the notepad you jotted your To-Do list down on, or spend hours looking for a flash drive. When you’re neat and organized, you know where things are and you can get shit done without unnecessary distractions.
You’ll be more inspired.
With a clean, uninhibited space, your creative juices can flow freely. You feel good and you think more positive thoughts. Because you think more positive thoughts, your confidence in your own ability allows you to be more creative.
You’ll be in control.
Being in control means that external factors don’t completely drive and dictate your actions. With organization and tidiness, you have everything you need and you create your environment — your environment doesn’t create you.
You’ll have clarity and direction.
With less distractions and more inspiration, you’ll get more and more clear about your purpose and the direction in which you’d like to go. Clarity and direction are important to your success because they are the keys to your entrepreneurial vision.
You’ll take action.
When you’re disciplined enough to stay on top of keeping a clean and organized space, you’re less likely to procrastinate in other important areas of your life. If you’d like to make taking action in your business a priority, then you should avoid procrastinating in other aspects of life too. The practice of doing things that need to be done when they need to be done will carry over from keeping a clean space to taking action for your business.