For years, we've understood that more is more, and more is good: more clothes, more money, more SHOES, more house. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it's that less just might be more.

Less information = more time to digest it.

Less work = more time with family.

Less stuff = more space.

Less money = well, that's not always great. But it does make one set priorities on what is critical, and really how to do more with less.

For awhile I felt that the yearning for less might be unique to Baby Boomers, but I'm seeing more evidence of this all the time. There are so many businesses around space planning and organizing and minimalism; today we'll talk about whether less can mean more at work.

Do we need ALL that information? I'm taking my own advice here. In the next few months I'll be reviewing my own website to determine what HAS to stay and what can go. Reviewing your analytics to see the pages that people visit and how long they stay there is a good place to start. What is out of date? What topics were most popular? Which pages can be consolidated? What messages can be conveyed in fewer words? A content audit will help you determine how best to cull out the information that isn't working for you. You can do this in-house, or hire a consultant to help.

A pet peeve for many! This is another area in which the pandemic has been helpful. We've discovered that a Zoom or Microsoft Teams meeting can be more effective than bringing people together in person from a variety of locations. Of course, there are always benefits to a face-to-face meeting, but video conferences will probably be effective for 80-90% of meetings. Whether you're meeting in person or virtually, it makes sense to follow some basic rules to ensure that everyone is prepared and the meeting will run smoothly. (I found everything from these 3 steps to over 12 steps to running an effective meeting. In the spirit of this topic, I chose this reference that distills down to 3 succinct rules!)

In 2020 specifically, many have transitioned to a work-from-home environment. Granted, space may not be the only consideration here if you have a partner who's also working from home and kids who are attending school virtually: it's a lot to manage. For those for whom space IS the issue, there are several resources to help. This one provides some ideas for a more efficient small office.

So many transitioned in the past year to working from home. Whether you love or hate it may depend on whether you've got kids at home and/or a partner working from home. Either way, those working from home spent less time commuting and more time working and/or with family. WFH involves discipline and setting boundaries, but once you've mastered those, it's hard to argue that it's not time saving and typically more efficient. No one dropping by your office to chat, no 20-minute trip for coffee, no trip to another floor/building/city for meetings. Of course, if you're a person that craves other personal contact during the day, you're probably in the "hate it" category. This past year was also the time when many managers who were skeptical about their teams ability to be productive from home were likely pleasantly surprised. (Would love to hear your experience, good or bad.)

There is a lot to be said for streamlining and consolidating in many areas of our lives. Also taking my own advice for this newsletter, that will now be published quarterly rather than monthly. Wishing you the best in your own streamlining efforts!