Springing into a new season

With the arrival of daylight savings time last weekend, longer, brighter days are finally here. As the temperatures rise, flowers bloom, and moods generally improve, now might be a great time for you to clean up your personal and professional areas – and your digital space. 

Spring is a great time for any sort of digital cleanup. With all of the data and learnings from Q1, as well as the many spring and summer marketing campaigns on the horizon, it’s easier to know what areas to focus on and where your business might need some extra love. If you’re not sure where to start, I’ve got you. We’ll go over the basics of cleaning up your digital workspace, how to get your brand ready for any upcoming seasonal campaigns, and ways you can stay organized through the rest of the year. Let’s dive in. 

Cleaning up your digital workspace: the basics 

If your desktop screen is cluttered with icons, random folders, various downloads, and miscellaneous invoices and receipts, the odds that you will feel organized, efficient, and motivated aren’t very high. The same goes for your email inbox – thousands of unreads, hundreds of flagged messages, and many drafts can contribute to your stress and anxiety. After a busy holiday season and overwhelming start to the year, it can definitely be easy to say, “I’ll deal with it later,” giving up on any New Year's resolutions to be more organized and just start dumping things into a pile on your computer screen. 

If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Q1 can be a stressful time for many businesses as new goals are set, strategies implemented, and results start to come in for the first few months of the year. But an organized mind starts with an organized space. With how much time we spend on our laptops, phones, and iPads, if your digital space is a mess, it can make you less efficient, less focused, and ultimately, less successful. 

In any sort of cleanup situation, the key is to start small so you don’t get too overwhelmed. Maybe your January invoice folder needs some TLC. Start there. Maybe your design files are all sorted in different naming conventions. Another great place to start. Maybe you sort all client emails into one folder. Great! Or maybe your meeting notes are scattered and not really that helpful. Delete! While it can be useful to archive documents or screenshots you might need down the line, don’t be afraid to get rid of stuff, either. If it’s clogging up your desktop space, or if you haven’t opened it in a few months, maybe it’s time to trash the file.

Once you get going on a small corner of your digital space, it’ll become easier to organize everything else. Set aside a few minutes every day for one week just to label and sublabel all of your items. You’ll be surprised just how much better you’ll feel at the end of the week. 

Spring and summer campaigns: getting your brand ready 

Now that you have a clean, organized digital space to start from, it’s time to gear up your brand for any upcoming seasonal campaigns! Spring and summer are great times to engage with your consumers, build your digital community, and grow your brand. Planning out the details of your campaigns won’t just help you get ahead of the logistics and set you up for success – it can also inspire you to explore new creative avenues, try different variations, or go completely out of the box with your next strategic approach. 

Here are a few things you may want to consider as you get your brand ready for warmer, brighter days: Are your social media profiles and websites up to date with the latest information? Do you have any lingering 2024 or New Year’s campaigns you need to remove? Does your brand’s design and recent grid reflect a transition to the new, brighter seasons? Have you imported any new email marketing lists, making sure to overwrite older, stale subscriber data? Are your tracking tools from Q1 working and set up correctly to analyze data for the rest of the year? 

This may sound like a lot, but take it step by step! Going through each area of your business and seeing where you can use a more organized approach can save you a lot of time and energy down the road. 

Getting AND staying organized

While the phrase “spring cleaning” is a solid reminder of how an organized space can improve our productivity, focus, and happiness, it’s important to build habits that can help you maintain this organization throughout the year. Once you’ve gone through the initial bulk digital cleanup, the rest gets easier – but only if you stay consistent and stick with your habits. Whether it’s setting aside time every week or month just for organizing your files and email inbox, or even a few minutes every day, keeping up with it can set you up for a clearer mind and more efficient, productive workflow. 

Conclusion 

Spring is only a few weeks away, and while you may be doing a spring cleaning of your closet, it may also be time to take a look at your digital workplace and do some organizing there. Whether it’s labeling your emails, deleting unused files, or just sorting your invoices, start small and set aside time regularly to maintain a clean digital space. Doing so can help boost productivity, improve mood, and set you up for greater success in any upcoming spring or summer campaigns for your brand. Let’s get after it and reach some goals in Q2! It’s never too late to get started.