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My Organized Biz

Monday Roundup - How’d you do on your spring cleaning?

by Jennifer Hofmann on April 28th, 2008

http://www.sxc.hu/pic/m/f/fa/fabcabrera/802125_rodeo.jpg(www.myorganizedbiz.com) - This month I issued a challenge to readers (you) to create a spring cleaning goal for the month of April. Specifically:

1. Pick one thing you want to clean up this month.
2. Post what you’re going to do - here or on your own blog.
3. Then check in at the end of April and share how you did.

Here are some of the people who took the challenge:

Alyson at Art Biz Coach had a decluttering goal…
Kristen of BizChicksRule had an affectionately-named Box of Doom
Barbara had 3 closets to do (after completing her kitchen)
April was actually going to get rid of her desk!
Ann started out with the intention of doing her sock drawer and then got courageous and aimed for the toiletries cabinets (wait til you see her photos!)

I took my own challenge, so here is my update:

My goal was to enter all of my receipts and get my finances back into order. Right now, the receipts are still on my desk, only slightly neater. This is hard to admit since I’m writing an organizing blog, but honesty and transparency are important to me.

I am so behind in entering receipts and income that I have checks to deposit that I’m not sure how to enter. Sounds crazy, but it’s true. If I were being my perfectionistic self, I’d give myself 30 lashes with my “get organized” noodle and a major guilt trip.

But even though there are no visual changes in my office and things are slightly worse than they were, I’ve gained a number of valuable insights about my internal process.

  • I need a bookkeeper - someone to come in monthly and get this stuff arranged.
  • I’ve been taking on too much lately, saying “yes” when a “no” is more appropriate.
  • I’m taking steps to lighten my load so that I can attend to the maintenance operations of my business, not just the creative stuff.

I feel good about these discoveries and my next step is to solicit bookkeeper recommendations from my local business buddies. I’m also not going to beat myself up about still having the receipts (this is definitely progress). By the beginning of June, my goal is to have a new system in place and a firm grasp on my financial records.

How about you? Did you meet your spring cleaning goal? Exceed it? Let’s hear all about it!

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POSTED IN: Declutter and downsize, Finances organized, Monday roundup

8 opinions for Monday Roundup - How’d you do on your spring cleaning?

  • Jessica Reagan Salzman
    Apr 28, 2008 at 1:09 pm

    Hi Jen! I’d be more than happy to provide you with a free consultation to evaluate your needs and the possibility of Behind the Scenes assisting you as your virtual bookkeeping service! I’d love to find out what’s been happening with this side of your business since we last connected via phone. Let me know if that’s of any interest to you. :)

  • Barbara
    Apr 28, 2008 at 1:43 pm

    I finished my kitchen, and 1 of the closets. Hubby is going to put shelving in the other two for me, so I’m kind of waiting for that. I did go through them, but they aren’t “done” yet.

  • April
    Apr 28, 2008 at 2:32 pm

    Well, I can happily say I got rid of the desk.
    Now I just have to get rid of the notebooks that sat on top of it for years. A pile a foot tall, at least. Oh boy. I actually got lazy about my spring cleaning, SO, I am giving myself 2 more weeks to get anything else I want to get done done. And then that’s it.
    Why does spring cleaning always seems to last me all year? I need help ;)

  • Ann
    Apr 28, 2008 at 2:36 pm

    I did the sock/underwear drawer AND the linen/toiletries closet - yay! and both are still tidy, which is even more impressive!

    Thanks for the link Jen!
    ae

  • Kristen King
    Apr 28, 2008 at 8:17 pm

    Welllllll, I did move the items in my box to a different area and created some systems for keeping a NEW box from cropping up, PLUS I got rid of a ton of stuff (which I’ll be discussing on http://www.bizchicksrule.com probably next week) while I was procrastinating to avoid dealing with THE BOX, so I’m pretty satisfied with this months’ spring cleaning efforts! :) Thanks for the kick in the pants. I SO needed it. And I cannot even begin to tell you how much better I feel! It’s like this giant weight off my shoulders.

  • Tammy Vitale
    Apr 30, 2008 at 7:24 am

    I feel pretty darn good that I have a way to track receipts into a monthly folder instead of sorting them out in August…I still do my spreads by hand because it gives me a better “feel” (literally) for my finances…not that I don’t have a running tally in my head most of the time. But the receipts into the monthly file is new this year and so far so good. So I’m happy with that…oh, and my beads and jewelry are probably the most organized thing I’ve ever done (taking photos for web site right now - better than nothing, but so far not the best - each necklace/earring/bracelet has it’s own number! woohoo!).

  • Alyson B. Stanfield
    Apr 30, 2008 at 11:01 am

    Jennifer, you helped me SO much during our Office Spa Day. Everything has been organized since then! And my inbox is just about zero. How cool is that? BUT, I didn’t get the downstairs files cleaned out? How about making that a May goal?

  • Jennie Rosenbaum
    Apr 30, 2008 at 9:58 pm

    I managed to clean the fridge and pantry! I made a good start on the kitchen but haven’t made it to my monstrous sewing pile yet :/

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