Six months ago, I wrote this blog post about organizing your workspace. At the time, remote work still felt new to many of us. The traditional understanding of a workspace as a desk held steady. In the months since then, however, that view has shifted. As remote work remains the reality, our workspaces have become increasingly digital. So has our clutter. It’s time to start learning how to organize your digital workspace better.
Why Digital Clutter Hurts Your Productivity
This study found that digital hoarding occurs in both our personal and professional lives. Unfortunately, it’s not without its consequences. For instance, a disorganized digital workspace damages productivity. One study participant noted that digital clutter “makes it difficult to be efficient.” In fact, that’s not all that surprising. Physical disorganization has a similar effect.
Seeing the effects of disorganization, plenty of professionals have learned the importance of keeping their physical space tidy. Articles like this one provide a wealth of tips for cleaning up your physical space. In a time of increasing digitization, though, those tips must also extend to our digital spaces. That’s why Dmitry Sytnik, a CTO, wrote this Forbes article about organizing our digital lives.
In his article, Sytnik makes the claim that our tech is only as valuable as we make it. I couldn’t agree more. The study I cited above clearly demonstrates that digital clutter hurts more than our productivity. It increases our stress and anxiety and compromises our digital security. Moreover, as I noted in this blog post about streamlining communication, the way we use technology today drains our time. Want to take your productivity to the next level? Revamp your digital workspace.
Why Change Now?
COVID-19 has become an impetus for change, certainly in both productive and painful ways. Of all the new normals, digital transformation has emerged as a strong positive. This article from Forbes documents the role the pandemic has played in “fast tracking” digital change. Moreover, this article predicts that the emphasis on remote work will extend well into 2021. As long as work remains centered in a digital workspace, organizing it remains key.
That doesn’t need to place the burden solely on you, though. This article by a member of the Forbes Young Entrepreneur Council advocates for companies adopting “new or developing technology” to support the digital transformation we need. Companies can offer their employees new tools to boost productivity and streamline virtual work. COVID-19 has forced us all to embrace change flexibly. Extending that to revamping the digital workspace only promises to help.
Steps to a Streamlined Digital Workspace
Whatever your company does at large, you can always start on your own digital workspace. When you do, you’ll need some practical steps to guide you. Fortunately, this article from Forbes provides just that. Written by Jane Stoller, founder and CEO of her own organizing company, this article is bursting with actionable ideas. In general, Stoller advises making digital decluttering part of your routine. Just ten minutes per day makes a difference. Stoller recommends deleting any unneeded files regularly. For the files you do keep, set up an organized system of folders and subfolders. Make your digital documents easy to find and easy to access. On that note, digitize paper documents by scanning right away. When everything has its place, clutter disappears.
Hari Ravichandran, CEO of a company focused on digital security, has his own suggestions for cleaning out digital clutter. He shares them in this article. For instance, he recommends deleting unused apps to both clear space and protect your data. He also notes the importance of taking time to “trash the trash.” Making sure unneeded files and apps are permanently deleted frees up more space for you to do the work that really matters.
Finally, as this article suggests, don’t kid yourself about email. Email cannot replace to-do lists. In her article, Stoller recommends spending minimal time organizing email and unsubscribing from unwanted lists. Unfortunately, email just doesn’t organize our tasks in a useful way. Instead, you’ll want a dedicated app like Pyrus to prioritize and organize your to-dos. More on that later.
Digital Transformation for Companies
As I mentioned above, individual change in the digital workspace won’t solve all the problems. Companies at large also have the opportunity to embrace digital transformation by putting new tools in the hands of their employees. This article about the pillar of digital transformation lists experience and innovation as critical components. What does that mean for tech in the workplace? Well, it means that colleagues need a way to exchange ideas freely, collaborate efficiently, and communicate clearly. This article hammers in the point. Companies need to act fast to boost their efficiency and revolutionize their employees’ experience.
So what should companies introduce? Pyrus.
This Forbes article lists the key functions of workplace technology as prioritizing tasks and facilitating communication between colleagues. That’s exactly what Pyrus does. Sweeping change in the digital workspace comes from introducing new technology that cleans up the mess inherently. This one-minute video explains the difference Pyrus can make for a team. It facilitates communication, streamlines document sharing, and simplifies task management. As this page explains, Pyrus promotes “distraction-free communication” by linking messaging to tasks. That means your Pyrus inbox is action-oriented. It also means that all the relevant documents can be linked right there, in the task. Employees who use Pyrus don’t need all the other open tabs. They don’t need the digital clutter on their desktop or in their files. They certainly don’t need the overflowing email inbox. Getting Pyrus means your new, organized digital workspace will come right to you.
Intrigued? Check it out. And excuse me while I get to the next task in my Pyrus inbox.
