September Focus - Digital Clutter

September Monthly Focus Post

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

When your digital world flows freely, your creative- and leadership-energy can soar; no more wasted minutes lost in the maze of digital clutter.

In today’s fast-paced digital lives, we store so much of ourselves in bits and bytes: photos, files, docs, apps, notes, and endless digital subscriptions. Yet, unlike physical clutter, digital clutter often hides quietly in the background, silently draining our time, money, and focus without us even realizing it. The paradox? The tools designed to simplify our lives can, over time, become the very things that complicate it.

This month, we dive deep into the often-overlooked dimension of clutter; the digital kind. Because in a world where meetings, deadlines, reminders, and ideas all live online, a messy digital space can hold us back from the clarity, creativity, and calm we crave, and even need in order to succeed.

Why This Month’s Focus on Digital Clutter Matters

Digital clutter is sneaky. Unlike a pile of clothes on the closet floor or an overflowing kitchen drawer, it doesn’t hit you immediately in the face. Instead, it’s hard to find. It creeps in through forgotten folders, duplicate photos, and apps you forgot you downloaded years ago. For entrepreneurs and leaders, the cost is even higher; wasting minutes, sometimes hours, hunting for that one file or photo can pull you out of flow and steal precious energy from your bigger vision.

Most of us have digital spaces that look a little like this:

• Photo libraries bursting with duplicates, blurry shots, and screenshots saved “just in case.”

• Apps crowding our phones, many of which we no longer use but forget to delete, slowing us down every time we try to find the one we need, not to mention how the sheer number slows down the entire system.

• Documents saved in folders with names like “miscellaneous” or “stuff” — black holes where things go to disappear. Untold numbers of Google Docs you forgot to name at all when you created them.

• Paid digital storage plans overflowing with files we don’t need that could be organized and downsized, or even deleted.

All of this digital weight piles on top of an already full mental load, making it harder to feel grounded or creative.

If you’re an entrepreneur especially, I want you to reflect on this: what adds the MOST time to your to-do list when searching for a file, photo, or note in the moment? How many precious minutes are lost daily? Weekly? Think how much that adds up! It’s time we reclaim that time.

This Month’s Focus: Digital Clutter

This September (or whenever you’re choosing to deep dive in this department), we’re going to lean into digital decluttering with intention. It’s not just about deleting files; it’s about creating systems that serve you in the future, freeing your mind and time to focus on what truly matters.

We’ll explore everything from sorting your photo library to rethinking your digital storage, from curating your apps to streamlining your documents and notes. Whether you’re managing a business, a family, or just your own life, these shifts can create space for more clarity, calm, and flow.

Digital clutter management is not a one-and-done task. Just like each area we cover in The Simplified Year, it’s a new rhythm. A cycle of tending your digital life regularly so it becomes a tool for empowerment rather than a source of overwhelm.