You may be familiar with the concept of decluttering?  Many of us only get round to it when we are moving home – where you need to thin out your possessions so that the property looks better for viewings – and there is also less stuff to move – it’s even more important if you are down-sizing!  And as we review all our “stuff” we realise that we no longer have a need for many things.  Of course – we all have “that box” that moves with us every time!

However, many people declutter regularly even without the threat of a house move.  They understand the value of sorting through stuff that no longer serves any purpose and getting their possessions in some kind of order.  You have probably cleared out cupboards or “that drawer” fairly recently – and have felt the benefit of it!

There are people out there who will help you to do it (if you find it had to let go!  They are less emotionally invested in your belongings.)

So – what do I mean by a “digital declutter”?

It’s much the same process, but for your digital files and records!

The Problem

Let’s consider the why – why should you consider doing this?

  1. Files out of order. Just like junk in your home, digital files have a habit of proliferating.  Even the best of us have folders with word docs or old excel spreadsheets that we just don’t need any more!
  2. Your digital desktop – are you one of those who has 175 icons on your computer desktop? There are lots of good reasons why this is a bad idea – but actually having “proper” locations for those documents makes much more sense.
  3. Versions – if you are a bit undisciplined about where you put things then you might find various different copies of the same file in different locations – how do you know which is the correct version?
  4. Data all over the place – customer records, data and information in lots of different systems – again how do you know which is the most up to date record for a customer?
  5. Data protection and GDPR – if someone comes to you with a Subject Access Request* – can you be sure of where the information is, can you produce it quickly and is it accurate? You have a duty to keep up-to-date records for this and of course for accounting / HMRC purposes.  And I will talk about security at the end.
  6. Devices – are all the systems on computers and phones in sync?
  7. If you have others on your team then this problem gets worse!

And just having everything “in order” brings you calm and peace – and increases productivity.  Let’s bring some order to all of this!

How to do this

There are two main things to address:

  • Systems – have as few different systems as possible so that you can have one version of a customer record (for example) – so that any changes only have to be made in one place (or link systems together using integrators). Synchronise devices where possible or use the app that links to the main data sources.
    Use Office365 or Google apps and make sure you are working on the same versions of files
  • Put in place a policy (even if it’s just you!) for where files are to be stored – and set yourself up a filing system of folders so that you can easily find things.
    If you have documents, PDFs, downloads, ebooks etc that you routinely send to prospects then keep them all in one place so you can find them quickly.
    Microsoft Onedrive/sharepoint or shared Google Drive will make all this easy

If you are not confident about doing this yourself then you can get help from IT specialists – to help set up sharepoint for you across all your devices.  They will help set up security and access too – for staff members or third parties – on that note…
… hire a VA to get all your files and folders sorted out – and / or set up systems and get data de-duplicated.

Security (I did say I would come back to it) is paramount – it is so much easier to control everything if you have thinned it out and it is all in properly organised folders or good software systems and password protected.

If you have a team then make sure they are fully trained in how to use the systems and your data retention policies.  As ever, humans are the weakest link so make sure this isn’t the failure point.  Make sure they know what to do in the event of a possible data breach too.

And then – just like when you have cleared out that cupboard – just think how lovely it will feel when it’s all ordered and how much faster it will be to find things you need.  Take half a day to save 10 minutes a day – and you will save a WEEK!

Get in touch if you would like to discuss further. 

* if you don’t know what a Subject Access Request is then check the ICO site (UK) – there will be a version of this in your own jurisdiction.