2x2: The $20 / 20 min rule

Hello! Shawn here. And welcome to this week’s edition of the 2x2 Newsletter. Your premier Friday email for creative professionals like you who are doing the important work that matters while also protecting your free time to enjoy life! I’m glad you’re here.x Check this out 1: [Maker Stations]( These are some sweet setups. 2: [The Simplicity Audit]( Sahil Bloom on how (and why) to declutter the different elements of your life and business: "Complexity is a silent killer of focus, clarity, and performance. This is true for businesses, but even more so for your work and life." Something to think about 1: Three Steps to Being More Productive (1) Identify what you want to do; (2) Plan a time you will do it; (3) Celebrate that you followed through. And then, repeat. (Bonus: Here’s a [free, PDF cheatsheet]( to help you with it.) 2: The $20/20 rule for getting rid of your stuff Speaking of simplifying… when my wife and I moved into our current house about 8 years ago, I converted the storage into my office. And thus… well, let’s just say we don’t have much space for storage. But that’s fine because it forces us to only keep the things we love and/or use regularly. A guideline that I picked up several years ago (that you’ve probably heard me talk about before) is the idea of [this rule $20 and 20 minutes](. If you own something, and you’re holding on to "just in case" you might need it someday... When you’ve got something that you are wondering "Do we even use this anymore? Will we need this again at some point?" If you’re not sure consider if it is something you could replace for less than $20 and in less than 20 minutes. If it’s easily replaced, just get rid of it now because for all you know, you will never need it again anyway. * * * Until next week, — Shawn P.S. Next week, would you like to set aside an hour to do some housekeeping and upgrades to your email? As part of my monthly, members-only training, I’ll be leading a private, "Calm Inbox" workshop. I’ll be sharing the basics of how to set up what I call your Calm Inbox. We’ll also set aside some dedicated time to create some basic email rules that will save you tons of time in the future. And I’ll share ideas for how to better manage email in general. Plus, plenty of time for Q&A. If you want to join us (plus get all the other benefits of a Club Membership) start by [signing up here](.  Course of the Month: Calm Inbox 📬 Organize your email (and get back hours of your life each week) Today you can get our popular email management masterclass, [Calm Inbox, for just $49](. (Good news for you! Because normally we sell this course for $197. But my team and I decided to run an extreme sale this month to see what happens.) After going through the Calm Inbox course, these will be the results: - Get back hours of your life. Every single week and potentially hours per day! - Have more focus in your day and save time on the work you’re doing. - Get your work done faster because you’ve got less distractions coming your way. - Less stress and anxiety because you won’t be thinking about email and social media all the time, and you won’t be constantly managing the crazy. - Show your email who’s the boss. You’ll get organized and in control of your email. Focused people have a system for managing all the incoming "stuff" that comes their way. [Calm Inbox shows you how.]( But this low price is only available for a short window. Get your copy of the Calm Inbox email masterclass [here](.  👋 Whenever you’re ready, here are 4 ways I can help you: 1: [Start with the]([free Focus Assessment]( to get your personalized roadmap to eliminate busywork, procrastination, and burnout. 2: Join 3,500 creative professionals who have declared their goals and reset their schedule to do more of the important work that matters. Get instant access to the [Focus Course](. 3: [Join our growing Membership community]( and get your all-access pass to our entire course library along with weekly accountability and ongoing workshops. (Recommended.) 4: Business Owners: Interested in working with me to run your full-time business on part-time hours? Hit reply and let’s chat. My next group program kicks off in May.  [In-Depth App Training for Power Users]( To unsubscribe, click [here](. Blanc Media, 714 Main St., Grandview, MO 64030, United States