How Can I Simplify my Work Life?

HABITS OF SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE – KEEPING THINGS SIMPLE FOR MORE FLEXIBILITY + CREATIVITY

Let’s dig in to the habits of successful people + how you can add simplicity to your work and life.

Start with your customers.

When you start attempting to streamline an increasingly complex business, it can be tough to find a place  to start. You might be tempted to tackle the basic, boring things first, but that’s not the best strategy. It actually makes more sense to begin at the end… with your customer. 

Your customers should be at the center of nearly every decision you make in your business. Their needs, their buying habits + how they like to communicate with you are really important to your success. The choices you make – from who is on your team to how you track sales – should make it easy for people to work with you. 

Let’s try something, okay?

Clear your mind of all the things you’re doing right now in your business and  take a few deep breaths… close your eyes if you want to.

Imagine you’re a customer who is interested in working with you – buying your product or hiring you for your services – or even just checking out your company. Take a minute to imagine a few details about them – like what kind of coffee they order or where they like to go on vacation, if that helps you imagine them a bit better.

Got the person in mind? Great! Now imagine you’re that person and try to hire your company. Walk yourself through each interaction they could potentially have with your company, from beginning to end. Pay attention to things like… 

• What part of the process makes you smile?
• Where do you feel frustration? Impatience? Confusion?
• What feels boring or unnecessary? Could anything be more efficient?
• Does it feel easy to buy or move forward?

What’s the point here? I want you to have a clear idea of the strengths and weaknesses of your process – the points where you’ve made things simple for your customer and the places where you have room to cut things out or make changes. Pretty interesting, right? 

Think about everything in terms of efficiency.

People appreciate simplicity + efficiency. Any time you can make something easier for your customers, you will create increased satisfaction and, ultimately, brand loyalty. 

So what’s next? Examine each part of your customer’s experience through the lens of efficiency. Think through the small details that make up your process and ask yourself, “Is this absolutely necessary for my customer?” If the answer is no, cut it out! 

Here are some ways to make your business efficient for your customers (and for you!):

• Streamline your website. Make sure visitors can quickly and easily find contact info, key services, and other vital information about your business.

• Make it easy to pay. Your customers want to give you money in exchange for services or products. Make it easy for them.

• Keep it short and sweet. Your customers will appreciate simple calls to action and feel more confident moving forward. So, say what you need to say without a bunch of extra words and hype.

These are a few examples, but you can probably think of many other ways to streamline your systems. Think about things like how you talk to your team, take care of your numbers + market your business. Cut out steps that don’t add value to your business. 

Cut the clutter. 

Physical and mental clutter creates a lot of stress for us as business owners, but also for our customers. A messy, cluttered store is distracting and confusing. So is a cluttered website or a messy desk. Our physical environment is important, especially if we want to keep things simple. 

Of course, this is a no-brainer for retailers who sell products in a storefront. Customers appreciate clean design, simple displays, and generally bright and organized surroundings. Your website is an online storefront, so you’ll want to keep it clean, well-designed, and working well, too. 

Meet clients at an office? Bet you can guess what I’m thinking 😉

When your business is growing, it’s easy to let things get a little out of control. Take a look around your business. You might need to simplify your environment to create more mental space for your work + a more professional first impression for your customers. 

Keep looking for new ways to simplify.

Cut clutter out of your space? Simplified your website and your office? Awesome! Created simple systems for your customers? Make it easy to work with you? That’s great, they’re all great habits of successful people! But you’ll need to do it again…

Simplifying your work life is not something that you do once and then check off your list. As your business grows, you’ll need to keep your eye out for clutter, bloated systems, and added steps. Why? Because the things that worked well in the past will change as your business grows… and you’ll need to focus on keeping things simple to stay stress-free well into the future.