Day 8 - Physical Environment
Good morning beautiful,
how are you today?
Today is all about “choosing & designing” our Environment which in turn affects every part of our lives.
We will focus today on the one environment which will have the greatest impact to get us started.
Living in the present moment
“If you worry about what might be, and wonder what might have been, you will ignore what is.” – Unknown
The other day I had a business meeting with a future client, and at the end of our discussion, we shared stories about all the adventures we did in the past. I showed him a few pictures from my all-around-the-world trip ten years ago, when I did sky-jumping in Auckland, parachuting in Christchurch, and many other crazy and sometimes even slightly dangerous activities. I had all the photos and videos that proved that I was at those places, and had an exciting life, but sadly, as I was not living in the present moment at that time, all those feelings somehow disappeared. So what exactly does it mean to live fully in the present moment? It means that your awareness is completely centered on the here and now. You are not worrying about the future or thinking about the past. When you live in the present, you are living where life is happening. Thanks to my busy mind that just never seemed to shut up, I usually completely missed out on the now. While I was listening to it, I was not in touch with reality. I constantly worried about things that had yet to come, or beat myself up for mistakes that I made in the past, no matter how much time had flown by. How about you, do you live in the present moment?
The other interesting thing I wanted to talk about today is how easily the weather can affect our mood.
Weather is a constant determinant for life; it affects everyone individually on a daily basis. Many of us are eager for the sun. It seems to lift our spirits, give us energy, and make us feel more like getting out and doing things. Rainy, dark days on the other hand, seem depressing. We feel like staying in, some of us feel like eating foods with higher carbohydrate content, and others sleep more.
I understand that sometimes gloomy weather can ruin even the cheeriest moods. But we can change that. If you think about it, rainy days are the only free days you get in your life, when you can actually stay at home, and do all the fun things that you have always wanted to do, such as having an indoor treasure hunt, making a bubbly bath for yourself, playing board games with your friends, baking your favourite cake, or organising a movie marathon with your loved ones.
On the other hand, if you still feel like, you just can’t stay among the four walls, and you desperately want to get out, then go bowling or visit some museums. What other ideas could you think of that would lift up our mood even on a windy and rainy day?
The other thing I would like to talk about today is the importance of a clean house and tidy working environment. Cleaning the house and getting rid of old clothes are like a shower for our mind.
Getting rid of old clothes? I hear you loud and clear. Who likes to do that, right? What if I get rid of something that I might want to wear the next day. Well, it will not happen. I remember when my stylist visited me the first time. She opened my wardrobe and she was shocked. How an Earth can you see what dresses you have in this chaos. – she asked. After a few hours of work, we got rid of at least 75% of my old clothes. I’ve never felt that devastated in my whole life. But she explained to me that if I had not been wearing a blouse, a dress or any other items for a year, then the chance of me wearing them later in the future is highly unlikely. The other important lesson I learned that day was that any time when I decided to go shopping and buy a new dress, when I got home, I needed to get rid of one of my old ones. Ever since she cleaned and reorganised my wardrobe, I feel much better. I know exactly what dresses I have, so it doesn’t happen any more that I stand in front of a big pile of clothes and I feel that I really have nothing to wear!
It frees up energy for us to concentrate on more important
things in our lives. I also learned a long time ago that cleaning helps me work on mindfulness! I can focus on the task at hand, breathe, and clear out my mind of all the self-talk that happens all the time. I found the best way to make cleaning more enjoyable and entertaining was to play my favourite music while tidying. Try this mind-cleansing technique, and you’ll be surprised with the result. You’ll kill two birds with one stone.
Take a look around your office and ask yourself, when was the last time it was thoroughly cleaned? You might have a lot of things on your plate right now. However, it is imperative to make sure that you are not neglecting the importance of a clean office.
The office is the main headquarters of your business, where you and your employees spend at least 8 hours of their day and where all of the hard work and innovation happens. It is also the environment in which you meet with business associates and clients, whom you want to make a good impression on. If this space is dirty, messy and unorganized it will have numerous negative effects on the success of your business.
There are many benefits of cleaning a clean office. Let’s start with the obvious one: Reducing Sickness
If your office space is dusty and unclean, it is much more likely to foster the spread of the flu and other diseases between your employees such as allergies to suffer from sneezing, sore throat, runny nose and itchy eyes.
Your employees will feel tired and irritated all day long and they will not be very productive if the office is dirty. What’s more, in worse cases, they will need to take time off work to recover. Employees who are healthy and happy are more productive and perform better work.
You also need to think about your Personal and Professional Image
When clients and business associates walk into your office space, what is their first impression? A messy office can make them think that you are unprofessional and disorganized. They will assume that if you can’t be bothered to clean your own office, how much effort will you put into doing good work for them?
This negative first impression could cause you to lose clients and could lose you a lot of respect in the professional world. A clean and tidy office will impress any guests, because it shows that you pay attention to the details.
Last but not least we should not forget about the fact that a clean working environment can massively Increase Productivity and can also Boost Motivation.
Thoroughly cleaning the office means not only removing the dust and dirt but organizing files and work stations so that they are more efficient.
This will help your employees to skyrocket their productivity because they will not have to waste so much time looking for things. Disorganized offices cause a huge amount of stress because folders, files and memos are always going missing under huge piles of paper. Your desk should be organized and clear rather than so cluttered that you can’t see the surface!
It’s just so much easier to concentrate in a clean office!
CALL TO ACTION:
GET RID OF 5 CLUTTERS EVERY MONTH (ALTERNATE BETWEEN YOUR OFFICE AND YOUR HOME)