Increase productivity by decreasing desktop clutter

Here at EB Solution, we believe that increasing productivity in your business is not only about upgrading your equipment and hiring more employees. Having a clean work environment is also important.

Clutter-free workplaces are a great boost to employee’s productivity. Having too much stationery on your desk can cause you to waste time searching for a critical document. Not only it slows down your work but also affects you and your colleagues in many indirect ways. It can dramatically reduce your cognitive abilities, impairing your decision-making as well as relationships with your team. In addition, it can have an adverse effect on your anxiety, focus, sleep, and even eating choices. All of these can reduce your workplace performance.

The clutter problem won’t just affect your desk or office, but more importantly, it will affect your mindset.

Your computer desktop can also be cluttered. Disorganized folders and a lackluster display impact your productivity as much as physical clutter.

This article will share six tips EB Solution team uses to declutter their computers.

THE 6 PRODUCTIVITY TIPS

TIP #1 – DEVELOP A FOLDER SYSTEM

The most important step to prevent cluttering is to set up an intuitive folder system. You can separate files by different categories, such as file type, file name or any other distinctive characteristic depending on what suits your workflow best.

You can place these folders in your file share tools (e.g., Google Drive and Dropbox), hard drive, or desktop if you back them up regularly.

With a fully functional structure, you can bypass your desktop by simply downloading new documents to designated folders. Afterward, you can rapidly locate them with the search command on your computer. Type in the name of your folder, and you’ll reach the desired file within seconds.

And regardless of your approach, be sure to choose easily understandable names that let you quickly navigate through your documents. Trust me, you’ll thank yourself later for calling your next report “Performance Review December 2021“ instead of “1234.xls“.

TIP #2 – MAKE YOUR DESKTOP ATTRACTIVE TO YOU

Besides making your desktop fully functional, try making it more appealing. If your desktop is enjoyable to look at, you may want to keep it tidy.  So, select a meaningful or beautiful background.

Another great idea is to use a motivational background. Images with powerful messages can encourage you to work harder and remain focused.

TIP #3 – CONSOLIDATE YOUR MOST USED APPS/SOFTWARE

Having quick access to your most used programs or software is a must.

To consolidate efficiently, you should first determine which apps you use the most. It can be two or three apps that you use on a daily basis or an entire suite of programs that are running non-stop on your computer, doesn’t matter.

Once you’ve assembled your list, you can put them all in one place to streamline your productivity.  The taskbar is a perfect fit for such programs.

As program icons are often responsible for the bulk of your clutter, keeping the essential ones in the taskbar not only makes them quickly accessible but also creates some space on you desktop.

TIP #4 – DELETE UNUSED FILES

 
After dealing with vital programs, you also need to address unused programs. Here’s a tip: if you can’t recall last time you used a certain software, chances are that you don’t really need it.

Since this may be a hard decision, you may want to create a folder for these rarely used programs and files instead. Just put them away until you figure out if they are useful to you or not.

For this “wait-and-see” approach, you can use of several folders, such as “miscellaneous” or “to be archived” or any other name you deem fit. In doing so, you won’t accidentally uninstall a crucial program and at the same time they won’t be an eyesore on your new beautiful desktop.

Now, if you take this approach, make sure to check the “Clutter“ folders regularly. Check if any of these files and apps are no longer needed in your business and delete them completely. Even “Clutter” folders need some decluttering from time to time.

TIP #5 – CATEGORIZE NEW CONTENT

Saving new files and icons on your desktop may be tempting if you’re in a hurry. However, saving couple seconds now will cost you and your team minutes or even hours sorting through all this mess.

Spend some time to organize all of your new apps and files appropriately, it doesn’t take long, yet it can significantly reduce clutter on your computer.

TIP #6 – EMPLOY FENCES

Digital fences can group files and apps in specific regions of your desktop to make them more visually accessible. For some, this method works much better than burying all your files in multiple layers of folders. Plus, many people consider it more user-friendly than strict gridded backgrounds.

For example, the Stacks feature automatically categorizes content by type or any other specific feature. It’s available for free on Macs with Mojave.

PC users have a similar feature called Fences. It let’s you to designate and move around fences on your the desktop grouping up files and icons in any way you’d like. The only downside to this app is that it’s not free.

DON’T LET CLUTTER GET OUT OF HAND

Decluttering your computer desktop is one of the simplest yet effective ways to advance your productivity.

Once you’ve created a consistent and intuitive system, you’ll be able to find the necessary files and programs with little effort.

It might take some time to optimize your desktop, but it’ll be well worth it.

And if you don’t have enough time to constantly clean your computer clutter just assign this job to your IT provider. However, there is a chance that they don’t understand your needs or how exactly your business works, and their services might be insufficient or even harmful.

In that case, let’s have a quick 10-15-minute chat and see if we can resolve your problem. Give us a call and we’ll do all we can to help you increase office productivity.

Schedule an online meeting to learn more.