In this fast-growing digital age along with the ill effects of the pandemic, human life has become a mess. Our daily lifestyle is now surrounded by mental, physical, and digital clutter due to the global pandemic. From waking up in the morning, working from home, and even after getting ready to sleep at night; a constant digital clutter is revolving around us. The untidy collection of messages in the inbox, emails from the office, numerous notifications, and the applications puts us away from our to-do list and we fall into a loop of information known as ‘Clutter Trap’.
Considering the current situation, for a healthy professional growth, de-cluttering is one of the most important aspects of the digital well-being of professionals. The clutter gets stacked by pile after pile and takes a bigger size and makes it hard to cleanse it later. So, in order to reduce stress from the very start it should be religiously done. According to the experts, these might look negligent but clutter has a deep impact on mental health as it slowly proceeds to procrastination, stress, and anxiety. Think of a clumsy workspace, how does it make you feel? Usually, these take a lot of emotional space which eventually puts an effect on the physical and mental health.
We easily get overwhelmed with things that surround us and make us feel defeated even if we are capable of doing it. Physical, mental, and digital clutter can bring down our motivation and productivity. However, there are ways to efficiently work and de-clutter by following a few practices:
1. Remove mental clutter with better focus
As soon as you sit for your work from routine or randomly open your lock screen on your phone, there are chances of getting bombarded with an array of information. This can cause a lot of distraction and eventually make you lose focus on the real task. When you are doing something time-sensitive, it is crucial to stay on track without getting drifted in other matters. Prioritize the most important task first and then set them according to their sensitivity.
- Turn off all the notifications or keep your data off to avoid distractions.
- Close unnecessary browsers and tabs.
- Set a timer for your work and set it in a way that you put less time than what you assume it would take. You will be surprised with your result efficiency
2. Make de-cluttering your daily habit
Even if you spend just a little bit of time every day de-cluttering your desk and work, it can greatly enhance your productivity. It stops you from getting overwhelmed or panicky for the extra amount of junk.
- Spend at least 10 minutes in a day to de-clutter information.
- Make it a habit and do it every day.
3. Clean your PC
A de-cluttered PC or personal computer helps to reduce stress by keeping everything organized. Whether it is your personal stuff or presentations at office, keeping everything in designated folders and deleting what is unnecessary keeps your place clean as well as puts your digital being on a better level.
- Spend some time organizing your stuff with the right folders to get everything at the right time without anxiously searching for it.
- Don’t save things that would not be used again. Delete everything that you do not require.
- You can utilize cloud storage for backup, but you don’t need a backup for everything.
- Utilize schedule and planners to plan better. Besides a de-cluttered computer shows better performance just like us. So there is no chance of lagging.
4. Images and videos
Most people would agree that losing images and clips is one of the highest points of fear. And that is why people tend to keep everything saved. However, most of them are not necessary. For work and business purposes lots of data and images get downloaded but people often forget to delete them. And later, when the time comes to de-clutter, we procrastinate with the fear of deleting something mistakenly.
- There is no point in adding new images if you are de-cluttering the old ones.
- Don’t just buy extra memory, try to adjust in smaller digital space to keep it minimal and not overlapped with a lot of stuff.
- Keep only the impactful images. The duplicate images and pictures with bad quality take a lot of space which can be gained easily.
5. Physical clutter as paper files
You might think only digital clutter is the biggest concern here but paperback and files can occupy a clumsy space on your desk too. The best way to de-clutter paper files is to get rid of them. Does that mean you will burn everything down or put it into a shredder? No, but you can digitalize it.
- Go through your files and keep only the essentials.
- You can also scan the files and digitalize them. Keeping a digital file is way more convenient and business-friendly. In today’s world, the virtual medium contains paramount importance. So converting into a completely digitalized process can help a lot.
6. Manage Inbox
Emails are the biggest elements that pile up fast with every day’s addition. There are lots of advertisements, spam, and promotional emails that stay in the inbox and clutter with other important mails. Most of the time, the mails are not even read but kept in reading just to avoid the notification. As a result, numerous read and unread emails get stuck.
- Check your email twice every day and get through each new mail.
- Delete the unnecessary emails instantly.
- Go through advertisements, spam, drafts, and promotional emails to see if anything is left behind.
Conclusion
These practices help to maintain a clutter-free minimal lifestyle that is healthy and recommended for everyone. Whether an employee is working from home or a business person maintaining a portal, these practices enhance digital well-being and a healthy lifestyle. People are still fighting with the pandemic and it is taking a toll on us. These practices can increase productivity amidst these sensitive times.
