Take a look around your office. Chances are, it’s reasonably clean. Maybe there’s some paperwork sitting on a desk. Maybe somebody has a stack of folders that hasn’t moved in six months. But for the most part, businesses are pretty good at recognizing physical clutter. 

We know what clutter looks like. A pile of old files? Get rid of it. A cabinet full of paperwork nobody has touched since 2017? Clean it out. A storage room full of stuff nobody remembers buying? Time for a purge. 

But digital clutter is different. It doesn’t take up any physical space, so we tend to pretend it isn’t there. Your computer might have 47 files sitting on the desktop. Your inbox might have 800 unread messages. You might have three different cloud storage platforms, five different ways to communicate with coworkers, and software subscriptions that nobody remembers signing up for. 

That’s clutter, too. And just because it doesn’t require a dumpster doesn’t mean it isn’t costing your business something. 

What is Digital Clutter

First, to give you an idea of what we’re talking about, consider the following examples of digital clutter: 

  • Unused or redundant software  
  • Old user accounts and permissions  
  • Excessive email and inbox clutter  
  • Duplicate or outdated documents  
  • Old devices and computers  
  • Forgotten subscriptions and licenses  
  • Multiple systems doing the same job  
  • Excessive notifications and communication channels  
  • Outdated processes and workarounds 

We could add item after item to the list, but you get the idea.  It may not be immediately visible (although that excessively busy desktop screen stares you in the face everyday….), but it can still have plenty of consequences. 

Digital Clutter Wastes Time

Think about how often someone in your business has to stop and figure out: 

  • “Where did I save that?” 
  • “Which version is the current one?” 
  • “Which system are we using for this?” 
  • “Who has access to that?” 
  • “Do we still use this software?” 
  • “Is this account still active?” 

None of those questions sounds particularly expensive. But multiply five minutes here and ten minutes there across several employees, every week, all year long, and you’ve created a pretty significant productivity problem. 

Digital clutter creates friction, and that friction slows things down. 

Digital Clutter Creates Mental Clutter

But the bigger problem can be the mental energy required to constantly sort through everything. 

Every unnecessary notification is a tiny interruption. Every redundant application creates another decision. Every folder full of files you don’t recognize creates another question. Every inbox containing thousands of messages creates another layer of noise. 

We’re pretty good at recognizing that a cluttered desk can make it harder to concentrate. The same thing happens digitally, but we just don’t see it as easily. 

Digital Clutter Can Become a Security Problem

Here’s where digital clutter gets particularly interesting.  This isn’t an immediately obvious consequence, but digital clutter creates hidden risks. 

  • That old user account nobody uses anymore? That’s digital clutter. 
  • The software subscription someone signed up for two years ago and nobody remembers? Digital clutter. 
  • The shared spreadsheet containing sensitive information that lives in an old cloud account? Digital clutter. 
  • The former employee who still has access to an application because nobody remembered to remove them? Digital clutter. 

But unlike the pile of old magazines in the corner of the office, some digital clutter can become a security vulnerability. The things nobody is using are often the things nobody is monitoring. 

Digital Clutter Makes Change Harder

Digital clutter also creates a problem when your business tries to move forward. 

Maybe you want to replace an old application, change your accounting system, or standardize how employees work.  Suddenly, you discover that your business has accumulated years of applications, accounts, files, workarounds, exceptions, and processes. 

We see this happen a good bit – that moment of change suddenly becomes much more difficult because digital clutter has accumulated at various chokepoints in the business. 

And It Usually Isn’t Anyone’s Fault

Digital clutter usually doesn’t happen because your employees are careless. It happens because nobody is responsible for cleaning it up. Software gets added, but rarely retired. Accounts get created, but rarely reviewed. Files get saved, but rarely archived. Processes get created, but rarely eliminated. 

A business can accumulate digital junk for years without anybody making a conscious decision to accumulate it. 

So What Should You Do About It?

You don’t need to become a digital minimalist. Your business doesn’t need to have three applications instead of thirty just for the sake of simplicity. Rather, the goal is to be intentional about what you keep. 

Do a digital audit: every so often, take a look at the digital stuff your business has accumulated and ask some basic questions: Do we still use this? Do we still need it? Who owns it? Who has access to it? Is this still the best way to do this? What happens if we get rid of it? 

Identify redundancies:  in your audit, don’t just look at the obvious things like files and folders. Look at your software subscriptions, user accounts, cloud storage, shared mailboxes, Microsoft 365 licenses, old devices, access permissions, and all those other digital pieces that tend to accumulate over time. 

Audit as you go: Most importantly, don’t treat this as a one-time spring cleaning project. That’s way too much work, and digital clutter comes back. New applications get added. New employees get accounts. New files get created. New processes get layered on top of old ones. 

The answer is to build some digital housekeeping into the way your business operates. Review what you’re paying for. Remove access that is no longer needed. Retire software when you replace it. Archive information that doesn’t need to be immediately available. Enact clear policies and practices for file and data management.   

Your business doesn’t have to be digitally spotless, but it should be digitally intentional. Because digital clutter is still clutter and eventually, clutter costs you.