132: Boost Your Focus with a Digital Declutter

Boost Your Focus with a Digital Declutter

I love a good spring clean! I know it’s not spring in the northern hemisphere right now, but we can all probably use a good declutter before the biggest holiday season of the year.

As a bit of a perfectionist, clutter around my house drives me bonkers. It’s so hard for me to concentrate and get anything done when I have piles of clothes that need to be washed, stacks of Allison's drawings falling off the counter, and dishes piled up in the sink. All that clutter is really distracting for my brain.

Digital clutter works much in the same way. Except it’s harder to address the problem because we don’t immediately see it around us. You might have the most spotless kitchen and the most organized garage, but when was the last time you decluttered your phone? Your emails? Your computer?

So how is digital clutter any different?

Maybe you’re at the point where you have a million file folders on your computer just to stay on top of all the projects and clients you’re working with, and you can’t even see your desktop wallpaper.
Or you might have 3 thousand unread emails from all kinds of different subscriptions.
Or you’re finding that you need to upgrade your storage on your phone because you keep getting notifications that you can’t keep backing things up into the cloud without more storage space.

Today we’ll talk about how digital clutter adds stress and overwhelm, without you even noticing. I’ll tell you all about how clutter pulls and drains your brain’s resources, and what this looks like for your overall productivity and wellbeing.

Then I’ll share a step-by-step action plan to declutter like a pro, from physical clutter all the way to digital clutter. So you can not only have a clean and organized office that boosts your energy and productivity, or a home that you can relax in straight away after a long, stressful day at work.

The bonus part? You’ll also have digital space that’s primed and ready for all the important tasks you do online– a phone and computer that doesn’t stress you out with a million distractions.

Why I’ve blocked time to do a digital declutter

This fall, I’ve made it one of my biggest goals to block a day off in my schedule to declutter my virtual space.

As you may or may not know, I own a private practice with a ton of files I need to keep in order– both paper and digital files. My paper files are organized into big filing folders and cabinets (think big locking cabinets– the ones you can’t just find at any furniture store), while I use Dropbox for digital copies. I also have my online business, where digital files, emails, and client work are all stored securely in my drive.

And I’m actually pretty good at keeping clutter under control at home. Between a kindergartener, a husband, and two cats– I’ve learned a thing or two about clutter, and more importantly, how to manage clutter.

Allison has a ton of toys we’ve accumulated over the years, and she loves to take different ones out around the house every morning. I’ve been working on this system where I try to pick up the toys she hasn’t touched in a while and put them back where they belong.

I wouldn’t say I’m a minimalist by any means, but I’m pretty quick to donate anything we haven’t used in a while. So if we’re not using it and it’s just sitting there taking up room, I’ll take it in somewhere.

My closet is a great example– I’ll go through it every so often and see which clothes I’m definitely not going to wear again. Although sometimes that’s too bad– the other day I was wishing I hadn’t gotten rid of this poncho I bought when I was pregnant and nothing fit me, because it would have been great on cold days at the lake.

But I realized that it was time to declutter my digital space the same way I declutter my physical space. So here I am, planning time to clean up my emails (inbox and junk or spam folders included), delete old files, and make sure that systems are in place in my computer to keep everything organized and easy for me to access.

Because clutter likes to pile up– and I’m no stranger to getting distracted by all the digital coupons I keep getting from a bunch of places, or the files I decided to keep that I don’t even need anymore. These things just take up more space– in my hard drive and in my brain.

Now I know this probably isn’t the most sexy of topics- how exciting is it really to plan a whole day for a digital declutter? But it’s important for our brains!

Decluttering reduces stress and boosts your productivity. The same way you’d breathe a sigh of relief after a weekend deep clean, taking care of the digital clutter improves your mood, stress levels, and motivates you to stay productive. Let me explain.

Why digital clutter makes your brain less efficient

Our brains have to constantly filter an infinite amount of information from around us.

Think of all the senses your brain is controlling right now– from the light in your office, to the smells in the room, the things your coworkers are chatting about, and even all the internal processes in your body.

On top of that, you’ve gotta concentrate pretty hard on whatever task it is you’re doing for work. Your brain needs to prioritize what to pay attention to.

But we live in a super distracting world! There’s external distractions, like colleagues chatting down the hall from you, or your phone buzzing with social media notifications. Then there’s internal distractions– mental multitasking and the drive for perfectionism, for example. There’s a ton of stuff everyday that distracts your brain from focusing on the tasks that will move the needle the most on your goals.

And clutter is one of them! It pulls your attention away from the task at hand. Your brain has a limited amount of resources to stay focused before getting distracted and losing energy, motivation, and productivity. The exact same thing goes for virtual clutter.

Not too long ago, I actually took a course on scaling an online business. A part of the course was about organizing virtual assets. This was when I really started using Google Drive, Google Calendar, and a project management software called Asana. I’m not even kidding or exaggerating when I tell you that these tools have been life-changing for me. If you’re ever looking for some great online resources to help you manage your time and schedules more efficiently, I highly recommend these apps.

And it all comes down to preserving your brain’s limited resources for focus, attention, and concentration. Your brain has to think every time you have to search for a file or email. And this pulls on its resources, draining the battery much faster.

It’s as if there’s a pile of files sitting on your desk– overflowing down to the floor. Now this is something I’ve actually seen in real life- I had a supervisor once who’s office looked like this: the room was packed with a mess of files, every inch of the desk and chairs were covered in articles and journals, and you couldn’t even find a place to sit anymore. It’s no surprise that I felt stressed every time I went in there. Imagine losing your keys in that room– it would be a nightmare.

So if you opened up your computer and see 400 files on your home screen just staring back at you, it’s the same problem for your brain. Your brain has to search for the information that you need, which takes time and energy, the same way as manually sorting through a pile of boxes.

Remember, your brain only has so many resources, and this can drain you fast. By the time you finally find exactly what you need, your brain has already spent a lot of energy combing through your 400 files, and it’s ready to take a break to recharge– so you might not even get started on your task and an hour has already passed.

And when you’re already busy and feeling stretched thin trying to squeeze it all in, it’s easy to put this stuff off. You might tell yourself “well, it’s not that urgent” and that may be true. But one key to burnout prevention for high achievers is setting ourselves up for success. It’s taking a proactive approach to our time, energy, and focus, so we can take care of our brains and bodies without burning out.

A digital declutter is a type of self-care for your brain

So I’ve kept putting this off until I finally decided to commit a day and get the decluttering done. I used a holiday – we had two long weekends back to back in October this year, and I used one of the days to do this. It’s not the most ideal to use a holiday, but as you might remember back in Episode 110, self-care is more than just taking bubble baths or getting a pedicure. Self-care is anything that refuels your mind, body, and soul. It’s an essential part of our productivity, as high achieving, recovering perfectionists!

Self-care not only refreshes your energy, resources, and motivation, but it also gets you back on your priority list. When we’re busy, stressed, and overwhelmed, we sometimes forget to prioritize our own health and wellbeing. Your choices of self-care are endless- whether it’s taking a 10 minute break from work to give your brain some rest, or spending time with your family on your weekend. Anything that gets you back to feeling good, rested, and happy is self-care, and it’ll magnify your productivity.

And as if we haven’t heard enough about the great benefits of self-care, this next one’s super important: self-care prevents burnout. And decluttering, whether it’s your home or your virtual space, is a great self-care strategy.

How to quickly declutter and boost your productivity

I can almost hear you asking, “so how do I start decluttering like a pro, Nicole?!”

Do this: Think about where you have clutter that’s stressing you out. Is there a pile of papers collecting dust on your kitchen counter, your kid’s closet giving you grief, or maybe a messy assortment of files and emails like mine?

Schedule time in your day, or block out time in your schedule to tackle this declutter. It’ll probably seem overwhelming, and there’s going to be some resistance– your brain doesn’t like to do things that seem hard because it likes to keep you comfortable.

So create a plan. I blocked time off in my schedule and made a list of what I needed to tackle. You want to break this list down into small, bite-sized steps. This way, it becomes easier and more manageable to tackle the clutter that’s stressing you out.

For me, I listed each email address I needed to purge, along with all the different file folders I needed to go through. You want to have a step-by-step plan, or your brain will push back at you. And it feels fun and rewarding to check things off your list! So instead of writing down “clear email” on your to-dos, break it down into steps like I did: I’ve got “clear my clinical email” then my “business email”, then my “personal email”, for example.

After you’ve done all the hard work, plan a reward for yourself. Clearing clutter can be fun and it can also make you feel good, but it can also be annoying, frustrating, or boring. I get that it’s not the most exciting way to spend your time. So plan something fun to do afterwards as a reward for your brain.

Bonus episode resources

This episode is brought to you by my free workbook - Your Insider’s Guide to Stop Procrastinating. In this workbook I share 5 questions and 4 simple strategies you can start using today to get out of that cycle of waiting for the “perfect” time to start, and hesitating to take action towards your goal. Head to www.drnicolebyers.com/stopprocrastinating to get your copy!

Key takeaways

Okay, let’s wrap-up. In this episode, we talked about all kinds of clutter and how this pulls on our brains’ much-needed resources to focus, concentrate, and get stuff done. From physical clutter, like post-it notes scattered all over your desk, to digital clutter, like junk emails and files you no longer need taking up extra space. Clutter is super distracting, and it drains your brain’s limited energy, and ability to focus and pay attention to your most important tasks. Making you way less productive.

Then we talked about the step-by-step strategy to decluttering your space with confidence. So whether you’re looking to declutter your office, or your computer, you’re ready to stay productive and on track with your goals every single day, without wasting time and energy sorting through clutter.

Show Highlights

[03:26] - I have a lot of digital files to keep track of and they sometimes get cluttered.

[04:56] - Plan time to clean out emails and files. Clutter likes to pile up.

[05:28] - Decluttering reduces stress and boosts productivity.

[06:09] - Your brain needs to prioritize what to pay attention to.

[06:56] - There are digital tools to help you manage your time and digital clutter.

[08:02] - If you have messy files on your computer, your brain sees it as similar clutter to a messy room.

[08:40] - A digital declutter may not seem like a priority, but it sets you up for success.

[09:24] - Self care refreshes your energy and motivation.

[10:12] - Decluttering is self-care!

[11:01] - Tackle the clutter that is stressing you out with a plan.

[11:40] - Reward yourself!