Hello and welcome to another episode of the Working Conversations podcast where we talk all things leadership, business, communication and trends in organizational life. I'm your host, Dr Janel Anderson.

Have you ever spent more time than you'd care to admit searching for a document only to find multiple versions scattered across your hard drive or cloud storage, or maybe not find the document at all? Or you open your inbox only to be paralyzed by 1000s of unread emails staring back at you? Well, welcome to the world of digital clutter, a problem that sneaks up on us as we juggle apps, files, emails and endless notifications.

In today's episode, we're diving deep into the digital mess that's weighing us down and, more importantly, giving you actionable tips to reclaim your digital space. It's time to stop letting digital clutter hijack your productivity and your sanity.

Okay, so this is embarrassing, but in full disclosure, this is a very relevant and personal episode. For the past couple of months, I've been battling disk space on my computer and working memory on my computer. I'm likely to have a dozen or more browser windows open, each with anywhere from 10 to 50 tabs open all at the same time. And I am not even exaggerating here. I wish I were.

I have a high capacity computer with an incredibly fast processor so it can handle all of that until it can't, and then everything's come, and then everything's and then everything comes crashing to a halt. Some of what's open on my desktop is in use. Some is aspirational, like I hope to get back to that task today. Some of it is a form of memory. Don't forget to read that article, so I leave it open, but I don't schedule time for myself to read it. And on it goes.

And with my hard drive, I have a lot of big files as a keynote speaker. I have tons of booty as a keynote speaker. I have tons of video footage to review from past speaking engagements, maybe to include with an upcoming promotional reel or on social media. And I've got audio files I record myself speaking so that I can review my presentations and improve both my content and my delivery. And then, of course, there's the podcast. So files are recorded locally on my hard drive, audio for the podcast platform, syndication and video for YouTube. And then there's every other document, article, video, podcast episode, or anything else I am the consumer of, things I mean to read, watch or listen to, or documents that I'm working on, things that I want to consume, even when I don't always have time to my heart's in the right place, and my brain's appetite for new information is bigger than the open space on my calendar.

And don't even get me started on what a hot mess my inbox is. Inbox zero is a pipe dream for me probably never going to happen in my lifetime. So yes, this is a personal issue for me. In my quest to solve it, I started researching it to see if I'm alone in this and to see what strategies are out there. And it turns out, I am not alone in this at all. And as I was researching what to do about it, I thought that you would want to know what I found out, either because you can use it yourself, because you are a victim of your own digital clutter, as I am, or perhaps you know someone else who is, and you can pass this episode along to them. So let's get into it.

Here is the deal as we look to the future of work, the problem of digital clutter is only set to grow with the rise of remote work, a paperless office, artificial intelligence and increasing reliance on digital tools, the sheer volume of information that we need to manage will continue to explode as businesses embrace new technologies and data driven processes, the digital landscape will become even more and more complex than we find it today.

Without intentional strategies to declutter and organize, workers like me and you risk being buried under the weight of emails, files, apps and notifications in the future of work, the ability to manage digital clutter won't just be a nice to have. It will be a critical skill for maintaining productivity, focus and mental well being in an ever expanding digital world.

So again, my friends, this is only going to get worse as the landscape continues to shift and change, and digital clutter is one of those invisible, yet very pervasive issues that can really creep up on us in a world where we're constantly bombarded with emails and notifications and files and apps, it is so easy to overlook how much digital stuff is accumulating in our lives, and this clutter doesn't just take up space on our devices. It also impacts our mental bandwidth, our productivity and our sense of control of our lives.

So for this episode, I want to start by discussing the problem itself and then shift into some practical solutions. So let's look first at the rise of digital clutter. This has become a massive problem for both individuals and businesses alike. It's not just me and you. It's the companies that we work for with the average knowledge worker dealing with over 120 emails per day, which is a statistic that comes from a recent study by Venngage. And I think this number sounds actually quite low, but 120 emails per day per professional is what they came up with in their study.

And of course, in addition to email, we have countless files and apps and digital tools that we're using and managing. The influx of information has really become a daily challenge. Research has shown that digital clutter can lead to decision fatigue, where we're having a hard time making decisions, and certainly probably not making the best decisions. It also demonstrates that a decrease in focus and even in our anxiety levels.

In fact, a study by IDC found that the average worker spends two and a half hours each day searching for information, whether it's an old email, a misplaced file, or simply navigating through a sea of apps and tools to find what we're looking for. That's nearly 30% of a typical workday wasted due to digital clutter and our own disorganization.

But I don't want you to fault yourself and feel like you are a disorganized hot mess. This is a pervasive problem that has crept up on us, and it's no wonder that digital clutter is being recognized as a serious issue that impacts both our mental well being and our productivity. I know I am not alone in searching for certain files or making sure I'm using the latest version of something, and for me, every once in a while, it comes down to paper files that I'm searching for as well.

But quite frankly, over the past few years, my ability to manage my paper files has increased tremendously, and I think a big part of that is because I have fewer and fewer paper files, and I now have a good system set up for managing those files. And then again, I did move a few years ago, and that led to a huge release of paper in that move process, keeping only what was absolutely necessary, or in the final throws of packing, throwing everything into a box. And you know, deal with it when you get there. I just have a little bit of that left to go through, but my paper filing system has again improved tremendously, but at the same time, my digital filing system has a lot of work to be done on it.

Now, in addition, the phenomenon of digital hoarding is also on the rise. So this term digital hoarding refers to the excessive accumulation and reluctance to delete or release or organize digital files, emails, apps and other data. So just like physical clutter, this accumulation can be overwhelming and contributes to our stress levels. It often stems from a fear of maybe needing the information at a later date, or an emotional attachment, or an emotional attachment to digital items, much like physical hoarding, the behavior leads to cognitive overload, decreased productivity and potential security risks as people struggle to manage their ever growing collections of digital clutter.

Now, while it may not take up physical space, the mental and practical impacts of digital hoarding are significant, again, contributing to stress and inefficiency in both personal and professional settings. In my research on this topic, I found so much information on digital hoarding that it really does deserve its own episode. It is fascinating, so you can watch for that episode coming soon. Just know that it's a thing, and the strategies that I'm going to be sharing a little bit later in this episode are going to help you from being a digital hoarder.

Now there are some costs to our digital clutter, first of all, there is the mental load. So there's cognitive overload when your brain is constantly sifting through irrelevant information or lots and lots of information to find that one document or that one file that you need. So digital clutter contributes to this by forcing you to spend extra energy managing your digital environment.

So it is additional cognitive load by having so many things to look through, time also gets wasted. So as I mentioned earlier, time spent searching for files or emails really does add up two and a half hours per day, is what the research is telling us. So when our work are scattered and disorganized, or when the information in those tools could be multiple different places, it reduces our efficiency and it creates bottlenecks in our workflows.

I mentioned decision fatigue. So what do we mean by that? Well, the more decisions we make, the more mentally drained we become. If we're making decisions about where to store something or where to put something, or when to respond to an email, or whether to respond to the email at all. All of those decisions say, even to, like, delete a file or not, it all adds up, making it harder and harder to focus on high priority tasks and to make really good decisions when we need to.

And then there are also storage costs. Now this is maybe less of a mental burden, but the financial cost of digital clutter is real. Many businesses and individuals are paying for excess storage on cloud platforms, backing up unneeded data or retaining files that they'll never use again. In addition to that, people might have multiple different cloud based storage systems they're using each with its own subscription fee. So we've got costs, we've got mental load, we've got time wasted, and we've got decision fatigue. So four issues that really, really really are the hidden costs of digital clutter.

Now I promised strategies and tactics, so let's get into some of the tactical ways to reduce your digital clutter so we know why it's such a problem. We know what it's costing us. Now let's look at some solutions. So I've got, I mean, there's a host, a host of solutions that I came up with in my research, but I am just limiting it to three, because I don't want to further overwhelm you. Digital clutter is already overwhelming. If I gave you 10 strategies to tackle it, I would be contributing to the problem of digital clutter. So I'm only going to give you three in this episode, and these are tactical strategies that you can implement to start clearing your digital space and clearing up that digital clutter. I recommend just selecting one of these three strategies to implement. Get one of them turned into a habit, and then come back and listen to this episode again, and then choose a second one and a third one. That's what I'm going to do myself.

So let's first look at your inbox and my inbox too. For that matter, one of the quickest ways to reduce digital clutter is by using an inbox triage system, and it's often referred to as the two minute rule. So by managing your inbox more effectively, you can start to reduce digital clutter today, like as soon as you're done listening to this podcast. So when you start with the two minute rule, it's going to work like this. If an email can be responded to or dealt with in less than two minutes, you're going to be immediately.

Now what this means, and if you've been to the podcast for a while, you've heard me talk about email management in the past. What this means is you. I'm going to back up and start this whole segment on digital file organization again. All right now we're going to go on to the organization of your files, your documents, Word documents, PowerPoint documents, Excel spreadsheets, all of those kinds of files. So a common problem is that people have documents scattered across multiple cloud storage services and multiple places on their desktop computer or in organizations, you probably have multiple shared drives that other people can get to as well, and you might even have external drives connected to your laptop or desk computer, and there's just a host of places for your files to hide out if you don't have a really carefully planned strategy for how you have your file system set up.

So one of the best strategies is to implement something called the one home rule, so you're going to designate one primary location for all of your important files that might be on your hard drive, provided you back it up regularly to the cloud or to an external hard drive. It might be to a shared drive, if you're in an organization that uses something like SharePoint or some other shared drives, where you can easily put things that then get again, systematically backed up, or it could be in various cloud storage services like Dropbox or box.com or Google Drive. There's lots more to those. Are just a few that come to mind.

But the idea here, behind a one home rule is that you commit to storing all of your new files in the one spot that you've chosen, and you systematically migrate older files there as you use them. So from there you're going to organize your files into a relatively simple folder structure, and less is more in this case, so you want to create broad categories, such as projects, clients, administrative, personal, and then within those broad categories, like if I have clients, and in fact, this is how my speaking clients are organized on my hard drive I have speaking and those are my speaking clients, and then there's a file folder inside that major speaking folder for each one of my clients, I do subdivide inside of the client folder if and when I do projects for them over multiple years.

So if a client hired me in 2020 and they're again in 2024 I'll take everything from 2020 create a folder inside that client folder called 2020 and move all those files from into there, and then I'll start a folder called 2024 and I will put any new contracts, documents, PowerPoints, anything that goes with the project that I'm doing for them in 2024 in that folder, because sometimes I'm making a, you know, presentation file or an introduction that somebody's going to read when they introduce me to kick off a conference. And it's different from, you know, four years ago than it is this year.

So I want to make sure that I don't have to rely on looking at the file dates and things like that. So I will make a subfolder for that. But the fewer folders you have, the easier it is to find things. So I really want you to avoid the temptation to create overly detailed subfolders. The simpler your system is, the easier it is to maintain it. Now my business is set up a little bit differently. I do use several cloud storage services for different things, with different employees, different clients and different vendors, and I'm not going to overhaul all my systems or insist that my clients or my vendors use the same systems that I do, just to have everything in one place.

I think it would be a little bit unreasonable, and I wouldn't be very easy to work with, either for the vendors whom I am a client, or for the clients that I serve. So what makes it work for me is that I consistently use things the exact same way. It's not like willy nilly. I use Dropbox for certain things, I use Google Drive for other things, and so on and again. Sometimes when I'm working with a client, I'm using whatever system the client uses, and that's just the way it needs to be in order for me to be easy to work with.

But by and large, the systems that I have set up are unchanging. So if it's Dropbox, it's always Dropbox, if it's Google Drive, it's always Google Drive. And I just know where those things are, and I am increasingly adding standard operating procedures that document where things are, so that if I was passing off a task to somebody else and delegating, they would know exactly where to put the files or where to find the files. Now, where I can improve in this area, however, is on my local hard drive, so my file systems are rock solid for my client files for keynote speaking and training, for my podcast files, and for my finances, something else, like new business idea or a product offering that I might want to entertain adding to what I do in the future.

Well, it might be filed under, and I literally looked at my file structure as I was preparing my notes for this episode to let you know what it might be filed under. Might be filed under, a file called goals, or one called Business Development, or one called ideas, or one called incubation, or maybe somewhere else entirely, these are all literally file folder names on my computer, so important to not have as many of those as I do. In fact, I should probably just lump them all together and put everything from all four of those into one category, because, again, this is why we spend time searching for files all right.

Now, my third strategy for you is desktop decluttering, and this is just a five minute daily ritual that I want to encourage you to use. And in fact, this is where I'm going to start. So a cluttered desktop, and that could be actual files on your desktop of your computer, can also be files on your desktop of your actual desk, or multiple browser tabs open. These things are all a major source of distraction.

So what I want you to start doing is set aside five minutes at the end of each workday to clear off your desktop, that would be your computer desktop, to close tabs on your browser, close the files on Word or Excel or PowerPoint or whatever other apps you're using, even if that's the first thing you plan on working on the next day, close that file. Files into their designated folders or delete them if they're no longer needed, if it's browser tabs, bookmark them into a meaningful file structure, so that you can confidently close the tab and know that you'll be able to find that web page again when you need it, even if it's first thing the next morning. And it may go without saying, but I'm going to say it anyway. Do this on your actual physical desk to put things away. And I'm talking to myself here, people, I do need to do this as well, taking my own medicine.

Here a little game that I like to play with myself, because, you know, I like to gamify everything is I call it the 10 things game, where I'm just going to put 10 things away, and I will count them out as I'm putting them away. Sometimes, if I have multiple sets of 10 to put away, I will put on some music, and I will literally be decluttering my physical space by putting files away. Or if I just have, like pens and highlighters and things like that, I don't need more than one pen on my desk at any given time. In fact, I can put them all away for the night. I just play 10 things away, and once 10 things are put away, I put away another 10 things and another 10 things. And again, it just makes it a little bit more easy and fun.

A clean desktop, whether that is the desktop on your computer, your browser, or your physical desk, provides a mental reset, and it helps start the next day with clarity. So those are my three strategies for you. First, inbox triage, with that two minute rule, and then everything else delete archive or file the next thing the digital file organization. Make sure you're putting things in one place, or if it is multiple places that it's a totally consistent and easy to follow system. And then third desktop decluttering, whether that's your desktop, your browser, or files that got left open or that you might be inclined to leave open overnight.

Now the long term benefits of decluttering are tremendous. Once you start implementing these strategies, you're going to see the benefits almost immediately. A decluttered digital life leads to increased focus, improved productivity, sense of control over your work environment. In the long run, these habits can lead to better decision making, a calmer mental state and a more in the long run, these habits can lead to better decision making, a calmer mental state, and more time to focus on what truly matters,.

In a world where digital noise is growing by the day, tackling digital clutter is an act of self care and professional and professional efficiency. Start small, perhaps by taking just one of these tips, like I'm going to do, and apply it for a week. Then come back and listen to this episode again and select a second strategy that's how the best, most lasting changes occur, small steps over time, after a few short weeks, the accumulation of these steps and these habits will lead to big changes.

Digital clutter may feel overwhelming, but as with any type of mess, the solution starts with small, manageable steps, whether it's triaging your inbox with the two minute rule, organizing your files in one central home, or simply decluttering your desktop at the end of each day, these habits will help you clear the mental and digital noise that's been holding you back.

By tackling your digital clutter head on, you'll not only improve your productivity, but you'll also regain a sense of control in your work life and your personal life. So choose one strategy and start today. You'll be amazed at the clarity and focus that follows.

Remember, the future of work is not only about technology. It's about the values we uphold, the communities we build, and the sustainable growth that we all strive for. We need to keep exploring, keep innovating and keep envisioning the remarkable possibilities that lie ahead. As always, stay curious, stay informed and stay ahead of the curve.

Tune in next week for another insightful exploration of the trends shaping our professional world. Now you learned something in this episode, or you simply enjoy the content. Please subscribe to my channel on YouTube, subscribe to the podcast on your podcast platform of choice, and follow me on social media. These are all excellent, no cost ways for you to support me in my work over on YouTube. Make sure you hit the subscribe button and knock that little bell so that you get notified every time there's a new episode out, you'll find me on YouTube @youtube.com/Janel AndersonPhD, wherever you're listening or watching, please leave me a review or a comment. It helps other listeners find me, and it lets me know that you're along for the ride. Until next time my friends, be well.