Clutter sucks! How to get on top of your content clutter
Clutter, it has an effect on all of us even if we aren’t consciously aware of it. I am sure you are aware that you can have physical clutter, but did you ever consider you may also be affected by content clutter? Let me explain.
If you would rather listen than read then push play below to hear How to get on top of your content clutter
In our physical world, I believe we can all relate to clutter. In fact last year one of my goals was to reduce the amount of clutter in my home and live a more minimalist life.
Even if you are not a minimalist and love having things around you, I believe we all have a trigger point that says
Too Much Clutter.
Because I am interested in ways to declutter my life I took the opportunity recently to listen to a great interview with Rebekah Holmes from the Ship Shape Shoppe. She is the Queen of physical decluttering.
She spoke about things like the Cupboard of Doom. The place where you put all of the things you aren’t quite sure what to do with. They enter the cupboard and it becomes a pile of stuff you dread dealing with.
Eventually, you want to find something, you know it’s in there but you spend more time than you would like looking, get frustrated, become distracted, use up way too much energy trying to find something.
This recently became more apparent to me as I was running out of storage for my Google Photos. I am currently decluttering my photos and videos to make sure I have enough space.
As Beks spoke, it hit me! This relates very much to the content we create for our online presence.
To understand further what am I getting at, let's start with taking a look at the definition of clutter.
Definition of Clutter
Noun - a collection of things lying about in an untidy state.
Verb - cover or fill ( something) with an untidy collection of things
If we change the word things in the above definition to content, then we can start to see the same patterns arising.
If we keep coming up with ideas, creating piles and piles of content, without a place for it all to go, it eventually becomes anxiety-producing.
All these ideas get shoved into the “Cupboard of Doom”! Which is somewhere in the back of your brain or on a pile on your desk.
You know they’re in there but you can’t retrieve them because they’re hidden by all the other things on your mind that you have to remember. Without a system to keep them safe to get them out when you need them, you can feel your anxiety levels rising.
NOW you have Content Clutter!
Content Clutter creates ALL THE same health and wellbeing issues that physical clutter cause in our lives.
I realised when listening to Beks that when we keep creating content without a system for organising it,
we end up with Content Clutter, which causes all the same issues that come along with physical clutter.
A good content declutter is as beneficial to our health and wellbeing as a physical declutter.
The process of physical decluttering goes way beyond improving the aesthetics of our home or workspace. It's essential to your physical and mental wellbeing
Whether it’s your laundry on the couch waiting to be put away or stacks of paper on your desk. Clutter creates adverse effects on your mental health
As more things occupy your physical space, their presence seeps into your subconscious, slowly raising your levels of stress and anxiety.
You are not even aware of it.
However, when you start clearing the excess clutter, you will start to notice the positive effects on your own mental state and overall wellness.
Scientific studies have proven that this process of decluttering physical items improves many areas of your life including productivity by increasing your ability to focus, it promotes relaxation and sparks your creativity.
I would like to you take this idea and think about it in relation to your online content.
All of those wonderful ideas that you have over the course of your day, inspirations from clients, comments from a podcast you’re listening to, a blog you read or simply one that pops into your head while walking the dog.
You may write them down quickly on a scrap of paper and put them on your desk. to deal with later.
Or you may just tell yourself it’s such a great idea I will remember that. These have now entered your Content “Cupboard of Doom.”
We want to get rid of that feeling that comes with THAT WAS SUCH A GREAT IDEA AND NOW IT'S GONE!!
There is no doubt about the psychological power of clearing out your space in different areas of your life, and I would like to show you why it’s just as important to declutter your content as it is to declutter your physical things.
Why declutter your content?
The concept of decluttering your content occurred to me for the same reasons you need to declutter your physical items. It provides you with the same mental and physical benefits.
#1 Decrease stress and anxiety levels
The more stuff you keep in your brain, the more those great content ideas have to compete for space at the front of your mind. With all of your day-to-day life and business things you need to remember, you may forget that one brilliant idea you know you had, creating more overall stress and anxiety in your day.
#2 Productivity improves
This was something Beks mentioned early on in her interview and it has studies to back it up.
Fewer distractions occur when things are in their proper place and you can access them more easily
A clear and organised content system now that it is productive.
#3 Promotes relaxation, stimulates creativity, sharpens your mind.
Decluttering gives you space and allows you to focus and relax.
The decluttering process improves productivity by increasing your ability to focus.
#4 Saves you time
When you need to find something, and you know where TO LOOK when you want to use that piece of content then you don't have to spend hours searching or worse having to redo it simply because you can’t put your hands on it quickly
Learning to keep the essentials
Like your physical things every piece of content you create, that you want to share with your audience, needs to have its own place. Somewhere it can “rest “ until it is needed.
A really good declutter first takes everything out where you can see it.
Then you find it a place to stay.
If you have a system to do that then you will avoid having to move it from place to place.
Enabling you to use your content when you need, it maybe even multiple times!
This is the beginning of your Online Content Library
The easy way to keep your essentials is to follow the process below:
#1 Discard
Discard any ideas that no longer serve you or your audience. Those pieces of content that are no longer useful, are outdated, not relevant to your current business or will never be published.
#2 Intention
Be intentional and make sure your content resonates with your current message to your audience.
#3 Keep
Only keep the content that really adds to you and your business and is most valuable to your clients.
I’ll admit it does sound daunting but you can do this!
Start with the easy stuff, gather up all those bits of paper, notebooks with ideas you have written down and put them in a safe place, you could use a box, a desk drawer. These are physical items so the process is very similar to a physical declutter.
Next is getting access to all those ideas that are still in your head. One of the best ways to do this with your content is to have a brainstorming session. Set aside an hour to do this.
You can use my Brainstorming guide to walk you through the process.
I like to do this process with a pen and paper. You could do it on your digital device of choice, whichever works best for you.
Once you have all of your content, ideas, drafts and scheduled and published items together you next need to decide on the best resting place for your content.
If you think about your content in 3 parts it’s easier to keep it organised.
Create a place either physical or digital to:
#1 Collect and store your IDEAS
#2 Keep created DRAFTS
#3 Record and keep SCHEDULED and PUBLISHED items that you want to use again.
For example for content ideas for my blog, I use Evernote. If I write my idea down on a piece of paper then it gets transferred to an Evernote note at end of the day, called Blog ideas. When I need an idea I can go straight to Evernote and find it!
Think about this too, if you just keep creating and don't have a way of organising it, how and when will you ever get to find it and use it? ( think of it like a closet without shelves, how will you find your clothes if they are in one big pile? )
With too much Content Clutter you:
🔸 waste time trying to find things
🔸waste energy thinking about where it might be,
🔸get frustrated because you need to redo something you have already done
🔸it’s more difficult to keep track of it all
Content Decluttering
🔸promotes relaxation.
🔸you have more energy because things are organised and take less energy to manage
🔸It helps you help your audience as you have the right answers for them at your fingertips.
🔸It stimulates your creativity, you have more space in your brain for new thoughts
🔸 sharpens your mind, you have more presence and less distraction
🔸helps you focus and means less decision fatigue about what content to share
🔸create more money by being clear with content and message which leads to attracting more clients
If you even just spent 5 min a day decluttering your content, imagine how much better you would feel?
Remember decluttering your content is more than tossing out a few old ideas.
It's about creating a system that gives you more time, space, energy and clarity to build the business and lifestyle that you want!
If this has resonated with you and you would like some help to declutter your content then jump on a call with me.
Let’s get you organised!
Photo by Darwin Vegher on Unsplash
