Experts Say These Digital Habits Are Hurting Your Productivity

You've taken time to declutter your wardrobe, your kitchen, the bedroom, and plenty of other spaces in the home. Now, it's time to declutter your devices. Professional organizers filled us in on the digital habits to fix if you're looking to reduce distractions.

If you're tired of your lock screen being filled with a million notifications or if you get frustrated when you can't find that document or photo you want to share, it's time for a digital decluttering session. Beata Kozlowski of Tidy Step by Step and Tonia Tomlin of Sorted Out told us their best tips for decluttering your phone, computer, and other devices.

✔️ Start with one device. "Your phone is usually the best starting point, since we use it daily," says Kozlowski.

✔️ Don't try to get everything done at once. Don't spend the entire day decluttering your device — dedicate 15 minutes at a time and take small breaks in between.

✔️ Focus on one category. "Think of it like cleaning — start in one room, rather than trying to clean the whole house at once," Kozlowski says.

✔️ Prevent future clutter. "Take a few minutes every day to prevent clutter from accumulating again — clear your camera roll while waiting for your coffee to brew and delete screenshots right after using them," says Kozlowski.

✔️ Set calendar reminders for regular maintenance. Delete screenshots and downloads weekly, and clean up your photos, videos and apps every three months.

Kozlowski suggests starting with "obvious clutter," like screenshots, blurry images and unnecessary photo albums. Turns out, iPhone's photo app has built-in duplicate detection, where you quickly merge dupes.

I had nearly 20,000 photos and videos on my phone — many of which were accidental screenshots of my lock screen, duplicate images and videos I downloaded from TikTok. Within a half hour, I was able to delete 2,000 unimportant images.

"Uninstall apps you no longer use to free up space and reduce visual clutter," says Tomlin. It might be an airline you fly once every few years, a mobile game you haven't played in months or a brand you rarely shop. As for the apps you regularly use, organize them into folders — some categories I found useful: utilities, shopping, travel and games.

Alyssa Gautieri

Alyssa Gautieri

When your lock screen is overloaded with notifications, you may miss the ones that matter. "Customize your notification settings to minimize distractions," says Kozlowski. "Enable alerts only for essential apps and messages, helping you maintain focus and reduce digital noise."

From a cluttered desktop and a disorganized download folder to a nearly full Google Drive, my computer needed a serious declutter. "Go through documents, images and videos," suggests Tomlin. "Delete duplicates, outdated files and anything you don't need. Set up basic folders like "Important Documents," "Photos" and "Work Files.'"

I get hundreds of emails per day, so it's impossible to completely clear my inbox — but creating a folder system has made it easier to find important emails when I need them. "Unsubscribe from unnecessary mailing lists and regularly sort through your inbox," says Tomlin, who suggests deleting unimportant messages and archiving important emails every week to stay organized.

andresr//Getty Images

Sort through downloaded content on your phone, deleting playlists, podcasts and movies that aren't of interest anymore. These files take up a lot of space if you're not enjoying them on a regular basis.

"Review your online accounts and delete or deactivate any you no longer use," says Tomlin. For me, this was old email accounts, social media profiles and memberships with retailers I never shop. "Consider using a password manager to keep track of important logins without cluttering your memory."

Alyssa Gautieri (she/her) leads Good Housekeeping’s gift guide strategy. She writes and edits commerce content, where she analyzes lifestyle trends, shopping data, and works closely with the Good Housekeeping Institute to recommend top-tested products. Previously, she was the associate lifestyle editor for GH and wrote for publications including ELLE Decor, BobVila.com, and Unique Homes Magazine. When she’s not tracking down buzzy products, you can find her walking her dog, Skye, around Jersey City.