Lately, I’ve been talking a lot about stress management for gym owners, and recently Justin and I did a Fireside Chat about digitizing your gym and getting rid of paper. I wanted to give a few practical tips on how you can minimize chaos during your busiest times of the year with a few simple organizational tips. I’ve owned a gym for 13 years, and over the years I’ve converted from a desk full of notebooks, highlighters and folders to a single notebook and my favorite gel pen (yes, I’m a pen snob).

Not only has this cleaned up my desk, but it allows me to quickly and easily find things to streamline my daily tasks as a gym owner. Below, I have the best tips for getting yourself organized that I’ve learned over the years: 

  • Scan and digitally save anything that is really important. I really wish I could go back and tell “2012 Danielle” this. Did you know that if you lost your EIN letter from the IRS (you know, the one you downloaded or received in the mail when you first opened your gym), the only way to get it is to call the IRS? I do now. One day, I spent hours on the phone with the IRS tracking down my EIN letter, expecting that they’d email it to me or tell me how I’d clearly missed it on their website. Nope! The only way to get it is to have it mailed to me—through the post office! It took two weeks and what felt like years off my life. If it’s important, scan it and upload it to Google Drive. If it has personally identifiable information like Social Security numbers, scan it to an external hard drive and lock it up, but do not rely on your paper filing system if you’re hoping to be efficient at finding important documents.
  • Get rid of paper as much as possible. The last thing you want to do is dig through a binder to ensure you have waivers. That’s what we did in 2013, and you shouldn’t have to do it in 2024. The best class management software out there, such as iClass and Jackrabbit, offer online waiver options for your members. Additionally, you can add digital forms with signatures to your website, or you can even use programs like WaiverForever or Signnow. Filing papers costs time and money—two things gym owners don’t have enough of—so eliminate paper whenever possible.
  • Regularly clean off your desktop. Yes, I mean dust. But more importantly, if you’re someone running 37 tabs and your desktop looks like a checkerboard of files, clean it off every few days. About a year ago, I changed my Mac so that any downloaded files went to my desktop. The problem was, when they went to a Downloads folder, it was out of sight, out of mind. So when my computer started running slowly, I’d spend hours going through files to decide what I needed to delete and what I needed to keep. Now, everything goes to my desktop, and I clear it every few days. Important documents still go in a folder, usually on Google Drive, and trash goes in the trash much sooner. No more spending hours trying to remember if that MP3 was the most recent version of our cheer music.
  • Close tabs and turn off your computer volume while working on a project. I recently realized I had lost focus on tasks. I was starting 10 projects and ending the day with nine still on my to-do lists. I had worked a little on the remaining nine, but I didn’t finish any of them. I had to really think about why this was happening. The answer? I was leaving Facebook and Slack tabs open. Every ding from a staff member made me pause and review the message to see how I could help. Our website’s live chat feature was also distracting me. I wasn’t the primary person designated to answer it, but I wanted to help when possible. Instead of trusting that person to ask for their help when needed, I kept a tab open on my screen throughout the day and became distracted every time a chat came in.
  • Give yourself 30 minutes a week to straighten up. While I’m living in the 21st century, there are still some things that I have to keep on paper. Last October, my daughter went back to public school after four years of homeschool. In Missouri, we’re required to keep paper copies of their schoolwork. Those paper copies then got mixed in with school registration forms, paper sports physicals, my foreign exchange students’ transcripts, my Costco “reward gift certificate” and dozens of other papers I shoved in a cabinet. I am sure there are important ones in there, and I refuse to wait until I need one in the future to frantically spend an hour flipping through papers. So I’ve started my Mondays with a small stack of about 30 papers. It takes me 20-30 minutes while I drink my coffee and go through them. Eventually, the stack will be eliminated, and I will be back to a paper-free organized life. At least, that’s the plan. In the past, I’ve done this with desk drawers, totes in my garage and the kitchen junk drawer (I hear that’s a Midwest thing 🤷‍♀️). Thirty minutes a week is likely to save you an hour of stress trying to desperately find a document later on.

So if you feel disheveled and disorganized, mentally and physically, try the tips above. A few minutes of organization each week leads to a clearer mind and stronger focus. If it causes you to get 3 hours of work done in 2 ½ , that’s 30 extra minutes to spend taking the dog for a walk or just enjoying the sunshine. Those of us in Missouri know that in about two months we won’t want to step outside for anything. So if you live by me, enjoy it now. 😉

Key Takeaways:

  1. Digital transformation. Moving from paper to digital systems can save time, reduce stress and improve efficiency in your gym operations.
  2. Declutter regularly. Consistently cleaning up your physical and digital workspace can boost focus and prevent you from feeling overwhelmed.

Focus on one task at a time. Eliminating distractions like extra tabs and notifications can help you complete projects more efficiently.