Remember the time you spent hours trawling through your desktop looking for that one file? Or missed out on securing that perfect client because your email inbox was too cluttered to see their message? Running a small business is hard, being disorganised makes it 10x harder. Consider this your annual reminder to conduct a spring clean for your business. With clutter gone from your physical and/or digital workspace, you will be more productive and more motivated. Plus your creativity will finally have more space to flourish! Ready to organise your workspace and set your business on track to success? Let's get cleaning!

Declutter your office

Whether you work in an office, a studio or from home—as so many of us do post-pandemic—your workplace deserves a little respect. Conduct a deep clean from the skirting boards to your desktop and maybe even rearrange the furniture to bring in some new energy to the space. Not only will your workspace look professional and inviting, but you'll also likely feel refreshed and energised on the inside too. Remember a little decluttering goes a long way. Now is the perfect time to work through old paperwork, stock, samples, and equipment to decide whether it is ever going to be useful to you and your business—if the answer is no, it can go. Stop hoarding things you do not need anymore.

Inspect your email inbox

If you have 1490 unread notifications in your email inbox, this one is for you. Delete all the old emails laying dormant in your inbox and treat the problem immediately by unsubscribing to newsletters and mailing lists that no longer benefit you and your business. You should also consider using labels in your inbox to keep things neat and easily searchable for when you inevitably need to check back on a business expense or client enquiry. Take the opportunity to work through your contact list too and update all contacts with their proper information.

Update your socials

Is your Insta feed looking a little... chaotic? Your social media is your shop front, it needs to accurately and consistently convey your brand personality and messaging across all platforms. If there are posts on your social accounts that no longer align with your brand, time to delete them (or at least archive them!) You should also pay some attention to your captions and make any edits needed to align them with your up-to-date brand messaging. See what is going on in your drafts as well—if you haven't used that content yet, it can probably be removed. Instead, queue up a few new posts that more accurately represent your brand. Ensure that your bio and contact information is up-to-date and consistent across all your social media channels—remember this is how you acquire the majority of your leads!

Organise your photo library

As creatives, visuals are our go-to source of inspiration. In fact, we often collect so many that it is hard to keep track of when, where and why we saved them in the first place. Firstly, free up some storage space by deleting any images that confuse your aesthetic. It is okay for your tastes and the direction of your brand to change over time. Once you start scrolling you'll likely find plenty of duplicates—they can go too. Note: there are a number of handy apps that can do this for you! You should consider organising your inspiration into designated folders for easier navigation and to ensure you are always stumbling across fresh, relevant inspiration. Consider using a tool such as Visualist.