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What’s something that can quickly overwhelm even those of us who think we have it all together?

Digital clutter.

Let’s be honest with ourselves, here. Sometimes, even when we’re trying our best to stay on top of things, our digital world becomes a chaotic, overwhelming mess. Our “Downloads” folder looks like a digital junk drawer. Random screenshots, oddly named files, memes we swore we needed at some point—all buried somewhere in there.

We’re convinced we’ll need all of these at some point…I mean, we downloaded and saved them for a reason, right? But there’s no way to figure out what each one actually is and what we wanted to use it for.

Sound familiar?

The inconvenient truth is, we can’t automate our way out of digital clutter. If we don’t address the root of the mess, even our best automations will just result in us collecting more clutter along the way. And so the cycle will continue…and continue…it’s a vicious circle.

But don’t worry. We’re going to go through some different strategies you can adapt to your own needs, so you’ll know exactly how to tackle that digital chaos and make your tech world work for you.

Let’s dive in!

Let me tell you a bit about how my desktop looked in the olden days…back when I had my very first Gateway laptop. That old laptop was nowhere near the fancy, modern laptop and organization system I have now…it was an absolute disaster of a disorganized mess back when I was in high school and college.

My “Documents” and “Pictures” folders were complete free-for-alls. Every file I saved, every picture I downloaded, every assignment I worked on was just dumped in there haphazardly. There were no folders, no naming conventions, no rhyme or reason. Google Drive wasn’t even a thing yet, so everything lived in this messy digital abyss. God forbid my computer crashed – I would lose files all over the place…versions weren’t saved the way I needed them to be…I lost tons of pictures over the years. It was a mess.

Fast forward to my first real job out of college. Suddenly, I had to manage complex projects and keep track of countless documents and emails. Everything had to be kept straight depending on what audit I was working on and what objective within that audit was the focus for that day.

That’s when I finally started using the magic of folders, labels, and naming conventions. I became a bit…well, let’s call it “nerdy” about my digital organization. It was a game-changer. It reduced so much of the overwhelm I’d been carrying and made my work life manageable.

I quickly began implementing similar systems for all of my home documents and files and pictures, too. Then when Google Drive came about, that was it. I dialed in my system, figured out where my shit would live, and created a synced, organized ecosystem to keep track of everything.

And that’s what I want for you, too.

So, let’s talk more about how to declutter your digital world and create a system that works for your chaotic brain.

We’re going to start with the basics: understanding our digital clutter.

Take a moment to think about your digital space. What areas or tools make you feel the most overwhelmed? Is it your computer? Your phone? Your email? Maybe it’s your photo gallery or the endless apps you’ve downloaded. Whatever it is, identify those hotspots of digital chaos.

Now, ask yourself – and dig deep here, we’re not looking for surface level, meh, answers – how do these areas make you feel? Are they stressing you out? Making you anxious? Maybe you feel a little embarrassed about how out of control it’s gotten? Whatever you’re feeling, name it. Allow yourself to fully understand what feelings are coming up for you. That’s the first step to finally understanding how all of your digital clutter is impacting your mental well-being.

Make a mental or physical note of the digital areas that stress you out the most. Jot down what emotions they’re bringing up and what’s contributing to those feelings. For example, does your email inbox make you anxious because it’s overflowing with unread messages, and you feel like a failure for not addressing or replying to any of them? It’s time to shine a bright light on those digital monsters so we can deal with them and break their hold over us.

Next up, we need to assess your digital spaces.

This is where we’ll do a high-level audit of your devices. Take a look at your computer, phone, tablet…whatever digital tools you use. What do you have on them? What apps, files, or pictures are taking up space?

Don’t judge yourself here; we’re just building an awareness of what we actually have. Try your best to be objective here – just identifying what you have and not assigning any thoughts or feelings or blame to those things.

Here’s your step by step:

• Note down the apps you’re using.
• Check where your files and pictures are stored.
• Identify the key, or important, items you actually need to keep versus what can go.

Think of this as being similar to sorting your closet into piles of keep, donate, trash. You’re creating your own digital “piles.” You’ll have your “necessities,” your “nice-to-haves” or “maybe I’ll still use this,” and your “why-is-this-still-here?” items.

Once you’ve got a handle on what’s there, you’ll be ready to organize.

And how will you go about organizing your digital files?

You’ve got your digital piles sorted, so how can we break things down further? Start thinking about how you want to organize everything. Do you prefer categories? Tasks? File types?

For example: Do you want all your work documents in one folder and personal documents in another?

Would it make sense to group items by project or topic?

Do you need to get super granular or super broad for your brain to be able to understand where things are?

Take a moment and ask yourself: Where does your brain naturally go when you’re looking for something? If you were starting completely from scratch, where would your brain instinctively look for certain files? Use that insight to create a system that’s intuitive for you.

And please, if there’s one thing I can’t stress enough – use consistent naming conventions.

I’m not saying we all need to use the same conventions, that there’s a template to naming your files that you absolutely have to use. I’m talking about figuring out what naming convention that makes sense to your brain that you can be consistent with throughout all of your files. Something as simple as including dates or keywords in file names can make a world of difference when you’re trying to find something later.

Now let’s tackle something that may just be a universal pain point: email overload.

Many of us have thousands of emails just sitting in our inboxes. Sound about right? It’s the epitome of overwhelming – a three or four digit number of emails just sitting there, waiting for you to do something with them. Where do you even start?

Well, we start by doing a quick audit. Who are these emails from? Friends, family, coworkers, or spammy companies?

Once you’ve identified the culprits, it’s time to declutter:

Take your list of unnecessary newsletters or company emails and unsubscribe from them. But be cautious—some spammy emails use the unsub links to install malware. If you have it, use tools like Gmail’s built-in unsubscribe feature to help keep you safe.

Then, you can set up filters. Use rules to automatically file emails into folders or apply labels that make sense to your brain so you can come back to those emails when you’re ready to actually address them.

Then, just archive or delete what you don’t need. You’ll free up space – in both your inbox and in your brain – without losing anything important.

As we start to wrap up here, let’s talk about streamlining your tech habits.

Managing digital clutter isn’t just about cleaning up the mess you already have, both in your digital world and in your mind. It’s about keeping things manageable moving forward.

So what can you do?

Try out focus tools like Llama Life, Flora, dubbii, or brain.fm to help stay on track when you’re wanting to focus on a task, on getting things saved to where they need to go, or when you just want to stop the doomscrolling (because, let’s be honest, we’ve been doing that a lot lately).

You could also try coworking or body doubling to stay focused and accountable to the things you want to get done by a certain time.

And, maybe most importantly, work on developing a more mindful approach to consuming digital content. Set limits on screen time, really think about whether you really need to download that file or app, take digital detoxes, and work on creating healthier habits around your tech use.

Remember, this is about optimizing your tech to support your life, not overwhelm it.

So, where do we go from here? We start small. Pick one area of your digital life to declutter – maybe organizing your desktop or unsubscribing from a handful of newsletters. Every small action you take is a step toward a more streamlined and focused digital world that works for you, not overwhelms you.

Remember, with a little effort and a system tailored to your brain, you can clear out the clutter and create a digital life that actually feels good.

If you found this helpful, share it with a friend who might need some digital decluttering inspiration. And if you want to dive deeper into these ideas, join us for our weekly coworking sessions on Mondays. You can find all the details in the show notes.

Until next time, my wonderfully weird friend, stay organized, stay weird, and let’s get our digital shit together.

*Some links on this page may contain affiliate links, meaning that if you purchase anything from those links, I would make a small commission. There’s no additional cost to you when you purchase, it just contributes to the building of my home library 😉

Read all of my blog posts about organizing.