Dump the junk

 Roy Spence is a firecracker of a person, and lit up the Conscious Capitalism conference in Austin last year. Besides being an author and corporate preacher, he's the CEO of GSD&M, a rollicking ad agency in Austin. 

During his talk, he shared one of his business habits at the ad agency: Dumping the junk in January.  On a dedicated day, all of the employees gathered up stuff they no longer used or needed.  Furniture, paperwork, swag, equipment, nothing was sacred.  In one ceremonious swoop, the company dumped its junk at the top of the year.  Some of it went to charity, some to recycling and the rest out the back. 

Roy explained that it was a great reset of the mind, too.  The junk symbolizes ideas, conventions or collections we hold dear -- year over year.  If we let our lives get too cluttered, it's easy to get stuck in a routine.  This routine always leads a great group to the muddled middle over time.  When you dump junk, you make room for more tools and toys.  At his agency (GSD&M Idea City), spurring creative thinking is "money."  For many of us, any exercise that boosts creativity is time well spent. 

So this year, I'm going to dump the junk in the week between Christmas and New Year.  I'm going to segment my junk as follows: 

* Stuff: I'm going through closets, shelves, my garage and my car.  Nothing will be sacred.  Books, clothes (editing my closet by 50%), cell phones (purged of data or sim cards), computers (ditto), old gadgets, magazines...It's out of here!  Non-tax paperwork and collateral will be scanned.  If it's not good enough to give away it gets disposed. If it's still in my place in 2010, I'm going to use it during the year! 

* Poor commitments: These are projects, to-do's or promo commitments that I made last year, but need to go away.  When I agreed to them, there was a win/win payout.  It didn't work out.  Maybe this isn't my thing, and I'm not adding value.  The only way to approach this exercise is to make a list of all the commitments you have.  Some you can't change.  Many can be cancelled immediately.  Make sure you are face to face or at least phone when you quit.  Don't hide behind your gadgets.  Be clear, and don't apologize for taking back some of your life. 

I know my suggestion goes a bit farther than Roy's original plan -- but while I'm dumping junk to make space, I should also dump bad commitments to get back some time!  

Comments

[Vickie Austin]

Great advice to clear clutter beyond the closet. I do an exercise with my clients called "Commitments and Distractions." I ask them to scan their calendars and to-do lists for standing meetings, committees, organizations they belong to and any other activities that take up time. Then I pull out my trusty flip chart and write "Commitments" on one side of the page and "Distractions" on the other, with a line down the middle. I ask them to tell me whether the activity is a commitment that they are energized and enlivened by, one that supports their mission, or a distraction that sucks their energy and pulls them away from their mission. Just discerning the difference has given them remarkable results, creating a clearing for whatever they're up to.

[Kerry Palmer]

How funny I should stumble upon this today! My son and I have a date to clean out the storage shed. Now that I've read this, we should spend the rest of the week purging the whole house. I can envision myself entering 2010 energized because I tossed the clutter!

Thanks for motivating me!

[George]

Hi Tim,

Awesome post! I agree with you. When I got rid of 80% of my stuff (including all my furniture), I felt so much better. It helped me so much because it made me realize I really don't want to buy anything...because I will probably end up giving it away!

And I think it is great to do it at an office too. It is so easy to get used to doing things the same way, to thinking about our jobs the same way. What better way to make room for new ideas than getting rid of a bunch of old stuff?

Also, getting rid of old commitments that don't work is a great idea. It's easy for us to promise to do something, but after a year or two the situation often changes. It is hard to say, "I know I agreed to do this, but I am not going to do it anymore." But sometimes everyone is better off when we do gather up our courage and say it.

Now I am finishing Likability Factor for the second time. But the Killer App is my favorite! Looking forward to next book!