I’ve worked on a couple of digital organizing projects recentl
y that showed clearly the benefits of cleaning up.
40K+ Unread Emails in Her Inbox
This client came to me because her email service provider was sending threatening messages about how much space her emails were taking up and how high the risk was for crashing her entire Outlook software.
First we archived several years of messages by year. She can get to them if needed but they are out of sight and they are taking a lot less space on her hard drive.
Then we started setting Rules to do some automatic clean up.
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Her employer sends a weekly email with sometimes important info; sometimes not so important. We set a rule to move the emails into a specific reading folder then after 14 days delete the messages.
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She gets inquiries on her AirBNB properties. We set a rule to store them in a specific folder. She can respond when she has time. She can delete if the inquiry dies or when the rental is over.
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Having designated folders means you can group your work (all employer emails, all AirBNB emails, all daughter’s weddings emails, … Working a group of emails together helps you focus and be more accurate. It saves your energy and bandwidth.
“I can’t find my files!”
The second client was downloading the same piece of software 5-10 times a week because he could never figure out where he saved it! I helped him create a folder structure that fits his business and the way he works.
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Clients
Client a
Client b
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Vendors
Vendor a
Vendor b
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Family
Photos
Trip plans
This structure is the same for his OneDrive (personal files) and for his SharePoint (business files). So it’s clear and consistent regardless of what he’s working on or if he’s on his desktop, laptop or phone.