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With the rapid growth of technology, more and more information is stored on digital devices. Companies tend to implement modern technology and switch to paperless electronic documentation. While this has cleared office desktops, all the documents now pile up on our hard drive and cloud storage spaces instead.
With so many work apps, documents, messages, and emails, digital clutter has become a real problem many office workers face nowadays. This is especially true for email marketers who juggle huge amounts of correspondence at once. Imagine how much time they have to spend finding the needed conversations or documents when even an average worker spends 30 hours a week checking email.
Reasons Why Email Marketers Should Do Digital Declutter
There is no doubt that digital clutter negatively impacts your work performance. Filing documents turns into a mess; it takes up disk space and can even slow down your computer. This is also true in email marketing, where you run dozens of email promotions simultaneously. So here are some of the reasons to do a digital declutter:
- Boost productivity. You will be able to do more if you can easily find the file folder or email you need without spending a lot of time searching.
- Build priorities. During decluttering, you decide what to keep and what to delete, you can make tags for important documents, and move the most used items to an easily accessible location.
- Speed up your computer. If there is not enough free space, your device will become slow. Therefore, it is always best to delete duplicates and files you no longer need and uninstall unused applications.
- Increase concentration. With many distractions around, it can be hard to focus on important tasks. To keep yourself concentrated, get rid of unuseful widgets and apps and turn off push notifications and updates about new messages.
- Reduce stress. Both physical and digital clutter impact our emotions and current mood. That is why the mess in the documents leads to frustration and irritation. With the digital declutter, your files are always properly organized, leaving you with peace of mind.
Seven Steps How Email Marketers Can Do Digital Declutter
There are several different ways to get rid of digital clutter. Your approach should be based on your current situation and work responsibilities. In general, turning the notifications off might be a good idea to boost concentration.
However, for some, it might be necessary to keep up with all the latest work updates constantly. So always make sure to adjust the digital declutter recommendations to your personal needs.
1. Unsubscribe from Unneeded Emails
Every email marketer receives dozens to hundreds of incoming emails every day. Therefore, it is crucial to properly care for the inbox and declutter it from unwanted or spammy emails. Most marketing emails include an Unsubscribe button at the end that lets you update your email preferences. Another alternative is to use third-party services that allow you to unsubscribe from multiple email lists at once.
2. Organize Your Email Inbox
An email inbox can become a total mess without proper structuring. Email marketers receive emails on various themes from many different recipients. That is why they need to organize them accordingly to avoid missing any important updates. For example, Gmail allows using tabs and labels to create filters. This way, emails will be automatically stored in specific folders.
3. Clean Up Your Hard Drive
Over time, computer disk space becomes cluttered with duplicates, old downloads, and unused applications. Without enough hard drive space, you might experience slow software response, lags, constant spinning wheels, and freezes. Perform regular computer maintenance and run Mac cleanup to ensure the device is working effectively. Alternatively, you can also move files to cloud storage or an external hard drive.
4. Structure Files and Folders
Make sure to organize files on your computer if you download and save many documents on the hard drive for offline access. With a cluttered computer, it might become challenging to find the needed data. Create folders for different file types and relocate the most important ones to the Desktop. If you are a Mac user, you can also use color tags to easily filter and search files.
5. Clean Up Desktop and Downloads
These two folders are probably the most used locations on any computer, so they clutter extremely fast. Any file you download on the Internet gets saved to the Download folder. With time, old and unneeded files pile up and take up the disk space. Download decluttering should become a regular routine in your computer maintenance.
Desktop is the most accessible location, no matter what you do on your computer. This is the first screen you see when you boot your machine or switch between apps and files.
That’s why it is important to keep your Desktop clean and neat at all times. While it is a good idea to add app icons to the Desktop for easy access, Over time, it can become cluttered with shortcuts to apps we no longer need. Declutter Desktop from unused apps and files to organize your computer space.
6. Organize Your Web Browser
Browser bookmarks and extensions are other sources of clutter on your computer that also takes up disk space. Regularly check your Bookmark Manager and delete the bookmarks you no longer need. It is also a great idea to organize bookmarks into folders that are easy to access.
Third-party extensions installed on your web browser can also accumulate over time. Some of them can even show push notifications and distract you from work. Go to the browser preferences to check the list of added extensions and uninstall the ones you no longer use.
7. Back up Your Data
Any computer is prone to crashes and system glitches. Therefore it is essential to have a backup of your files in case anything goes wrong. Use an external hard drive or cloud storage like Google Drive or Dropbox to save your data. It is important to use them regularly to keep up with the updates in the documents or create a schedule.
For example, if you use Time Machine on Mac, all the updates are saved automatically, so you always have the latest version of your files.
Ensure your backup drive doesn’t become cluttered with duplicates of the same data. Otherwise, you will soon lack free storage for new updates. The best option is to overwrite the old version of the same file with a new one instead of keeping them both.
In conclusion
It can seem challenging at first to change digital habits. But digital decluttering doesn’t just organize your work files. It also boosts your productivity and increases concentration. This road is worth taking if you want to do more in less time.
Email marketers will benefit from digital decluttering, as they won’t need to spend hours daily looking for the needed email or document. With just a few simple tricks, you can organize and declutter your email inbox, computer hard drive, and web browser. Start with small steps, and with time, it will become your regular computer maintenance routine that helps you manage your digital space.
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