Two very easy words, but they are packed with power and meaning: DELETE and NO.

If you don't learn these two words well, your time will be mortgaged to the hilt,  and your efforts will face possible extinction. That's right. GONE. Wiped out.  I'm not being dramatic, I'm being realistic. You have to guard your mental space just like you protect your physical space.

Of necessity, because of the business we are in, we all have multiple email addresses. It's supposed to be a tool to keep us organized. But not when the spammers drop in for tea. Not when every marketer debuting his product is in your inbox. Not when friends send hundreds of forwards just to let you know they love you. With the exception of the spammers, these are all well intentioned. It's still pollution. It's still counter-productive, and will erode everything you need to grow a business, such as time and your psyche.

I know we are all marketers and should be patient with email marketing. Can't be a hypocrite. How else do you get your message out there? There is no fault with the marketer. It is my/your responsibility to quickly assess what you need to read, and what you can comfortably discard. You can't possibly read every program, every forward that's sent to you. I made myself crazy with this. Honestly, I WANT to read everything. I don't want to miss any opportunity. It would take up the entire day and then some, to read everything. Evenings should be spent in the WA forum, or any good forum, or reading a tutorial at WA or elsewhere. I found myself saving email from months back, thinking I would find time to read all of it. Never happens. After 2 days, I totally forget about it. What this does accomplish is it clutters my psyche. I feel frustrated and guilty and defeated because I haven't read those emails. They have a way of haunting you.

So, here's what you do: delete, delete, delete. I did that this morning and man I feel great. I even discovered some gems that were buried under the debris. Makes you more productive to get rid of clutter. Clean it all out, then you can work in a fresh environment. If you have to unsubscibe, then do it.

Now to my next favorite word...NO. How many times have you needed to say no, and haven't? Also, how many times have you said no, and then felt so guilty about it later, that it would have been much easier just to say yes, and get it over with? You have to come to grips with the fact that what you are doing is important, worthy of your full attention with no interruptions. If you don't place that kind of value on your work, then you can't fault others for barging in on your work time. The only exception I make is an emergency. People respect you more when you set parameters.

And "no" carries over to buying stuff, like new software and programs. If you are absolutely sure it is going to make a difference in your business, then buy it.  If you just throw it in a pile, and forget about it, then it's wasted. Believe me when I tell you I am the biggest offender of this crime ever. I used to buy like crazy, and used a fraction of the stuff.  Now, I've gotten very Spartan about spending.

Simplification in everything is key. You arrive at abstraction. To get to the essence is to remove everything that is not essential.