EP108: The Priority Show
Today I am going to share what I have been doing to achieve focus and clarity in my online business and life.
Lyrics Trivia
“Take what you need and leave the rest”
Questions: What is song these lyrics are in? Who wrote the song? What band played the original version?
Answers: The name of the song was The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down The songwriter was Robbie Robertson. The band called The Band It was written in 1969.
It has been covered by many different artists including Joan Baez, Johnny Cash & my favorite version, The Jerry Garcia Band.
Dixie was the nickname for the Confederate States in case you didn’t know.
Episode 108: The Priority Show
Clarity is the state of being clear.
Today’s podcast is about having clarity on your goals and priorities.
One method to achieve clarity is by simplifying and removing distractions and external factors that cause overwhelm and stress for most.
I will share the initial steps I have taken to simplify my business and life by doing a self-audit and and cleaning up my home and work environment.
Goal for today: To inspire and motivate you to take a step back and look at the big picture of everything you are doing (your job, business, podcast, social media channels, branding, etc) and determine whether or not you are clear on what your priorities are and if you are dedicating the appropriate amount of time to what is most important.
Story: Hurricane Irma (content generation machine):
When I evacuated, I packed 4 bags of essentials and valuables and accepted that everything I left behind may be destroyed; including my place of residence.
Packing List: Good podcasting and audio gear Camera equipment (DSLR, Lenses,GoPros) Chargers and batteries, Laptop, iPad Some clothes
My old-faithfuls: My Shure SM58 My Martin acoustic D16 guitar.
*I took what I needed and left the rest. *
Post-Irma:
My self-audit of my business and personal goals and well-being:
Are my priorities in order? Do I know what they are? Am I working on the most important things as I build my personal brand and online business?
The truth: My wheels have been spinning for months. I needed to pause and make several adjustments and recalibrate my bearings or I would be working in circles instead of moving forward.
What Did I Do? What Can You Do?
Clean House: (literally and figuratively)
I started with my evacuation bags and made two piles: 1) Keep 2) Sell
Then, I went room by room. Keep (I use it regularly and need it) Toss (not thrift store worthy and who would buy) Sell (I can make money off things I no longer use or need)
I use Facebook Marketplace to sell things locally. I have had good luck. Plenty of spam and annoying inquiries just wasting time, but I have sold several items with minimal effort.
Simple Is Good
I like simple. I feel good with no clutter. The less I have and the cleaner my space is around me, the more productive and motivated I am and I welcome that feeling anytime.
Purging Technique
(for those that have trouble letting go of things) which fyi, I do not get emotionally attached to things.
Take entire drawers or shelves of clothes and dump them all out and only put back what you just can’t part with.
Be ruthless I say. You will forget about things you get rid of almost immediately.
Get rid of little things, too. Cleaning supplies, hotel toiletries, kitchen gadgets, tupperware, plastic grocery bags, tote bags, old magazines, paperwork, orphaned cables and cords Reduce silverware if you have too much, and dishes. Spices, tea boxes, coffee mugs, doozies, pantry items, trinkets, doodads, artwork, etc….
Start with the easy stuff: Dump out desk and junk drawers. If you have 1,000 paperclips toss 975 and you will be good for years.
Don’t save things just in case.
You will never wear that old suit your mother bought you in college.
Thrift stores are tax deductible and love your old stuff!
Clean
It also helps and fuels the positive energy to actually clean.
Open the windows for fresh air and let the natural light in, dust off your equipment and clean the surface of your desk, sweep and mop the floors, wipe down the countertops, clean the coffee pot and microwave and get rid of that yellow mustard and everything else that has been in your fridge forever!
Mindset.
The secret and key to prioritizing and simplifying your business and life and the things around you is not getting rid of junk or having a cleaner house.
It’s about developing the habit of being keen and aware of the things that really matter and having no room for things that do not.
This process of de-cluttering and simplifying is fun and highly addicting and you will save and make money. You realize you don’t need anything else, so you get out of a buying mindset. Much healthier and you save money. You make money because now you want to sell off everything you’ve been hanging onto for that rainy day.
Snowball Effect
Making your bed is a good habit when you wake up because it makes you feel good at the start of the day and your room looks clean. You pick up the clothes and then the towel and then you notice everything out of place because you are on a roll.
This chain reaction of positive habits is what happens when you prioritize and keep things simple and clear. You notice everything that is out of balance and who wants that.
I am not a minimalist or clean freak. I do not like clutter and feel better when my environment and mind is free and clean. The process of getting rid of things is more of a metaphor than the actual physical thing, but it all works the same way. The less you have, the less you need and the more cognizant and aware of your priorities and the things that mean the most to you become.
It’s a bit of a life and mind hack, but simple is as simple does.
Try taking small steps of cleaning your space and let me know how it feels. It feels awesome to me, so I wanted to share it with you.
Priority
Priority is a thing that is regarded as more important than another.
Are you spending more time on the things that are most important or are you spending more time on the other (responding to emails and direct messages, browsing Facebook and Instagram).
Having less stuff to manage or clean just makes it all that much easier to maintain the habit and this applies to all parts of your business and life. This is a good start and next week I’ll take it another step and share some ways to reduce your digital clutter and simplify business processes and workflow.
Cheers, Mike
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mike@mikemurphy.co
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