Starting off the new year

If you’re like me, you may have been spending the past week still on a holiday break, knowing full well that work was just around the corner.  So, now it’s time to really take stock of what is ahead, or perhaps outstanding, to get the year started off right.  Here are a few hints and tips on things that VAs, clients and other business owners can do, to start the new year off right.

Your Outlook file. How big is it? Mine was nearly 2.5gb in size – too big!  At the beginning of each year, I usually rename outlook.pst to outlook20xx.pst for the previous year and then re-open Outlook. When it can’t find the old pst file it automatically creates a new one.  Then I go about importing my contact folders, drafts folder, and any other folders that are important to me. For my inbox, I elect to import everything for the past week (or month, whatever suits you) into the same folders as the previous file, so my preferred structure is reset up and I’m operating again.  After that I reset up my rules wizard as often that’s gotten into a mess too. Don’t forget your appointments too – make sure anything you’ve entered over the past month for the future is included too. My Outlook program is now ready for the new year.

What other things can you do?

Check all the folders on your computer.  Are there folders no longer relevant?  Perhaps for clients you no longer service, or groups you no longer participate in?  Archive, file or delete what is no longer required.

Does your computer need an overhaul? It’s gotten slow, or has software on it no longer relevant? If you don’t have the ability to do this yourself, book it in for a service with a reliable service provider.

Check the (c) notices on your websites and blogs to make sure they reflect the new year.

Basically, you want to clear out the clutter you have on your computer (and your desk) so you can start afresh for the New Year and be ready to jump to action without being held up by old messes and old things.