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Picture this: thousands of screenshots, unopened texts and emails, and a looming notification that your phone’s storage is almost full. For many, this is the new reality of the digital age.

But if your device is filled with too much digital clutter, it could affect your mental health and productivity, experts say.

“It’s something that triggers a lot of stress and anxiety, collecting emails, photos, open tabs – an overwhelming number of digital items that trigger overload,” said Dr. Susan Albers, a clinical psychologist at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.

“What’s interesting is that this isn’t the kind of problem our ancestors had to deal with, but if we fast forward to today, our daily lives are definitely rife with a lot of clutter digital,” she added.

Anyone with a digital device will likely encounter such clutter at some point. But sometimes this common behavior can tip into a disorder that more and more researchers are trying to understand: digital hoarding.

Worried you’ve saved too much on your appliances? Here’s how to reduce digital clutter and know when you might be showing signs of a disorder, according to experts.

If you have to sift through thousands of photos or files to find what you need or if you feel less focus and mental energy than usual, it may be a sign that you have too much digital clutter, said Alberts.

“Digital clutter is just as stressful as real clutter in our physical world,” she said. “Our brains are really predisposed to favor clarity and simplicity over chaos, and that’s what it can feel like to have a million tabs open.”

Digital clutter can also feel like a constant stream of notifications, which can distract from your focus and slow your concentration, she added.

Maybe you want to preserve memories through pictures or keep unnecessary documents and files from college classes or old jobs, just in case. But sometimes when behavior shifts to storing large amounts of information, it can be considered hoarding, said Dr. Emanuel Maidenberg, a clinical professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at the David Geffen School of Medicine. UCLA.

“It becomes a habit driven by anxiety, and that’s when it becomes a challenge and a difficulty. It has to do with the fear of needing this information at some point in the future and yet not having access to it and not knowing where to find it,” said Maidenberg, who is also clinic director of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy at UCLA.

A digital hoarding disorder will be fueled by a persistent need to save digital information, rather than a “preference” for more flexible storage, he added.

About 3 to 5 percent of the world’s population — about 8 to 12 million people in the United States — are estimated to have hoarding disorders, said Dr. Sanjaya Saxena, a psychiatrist and director of clinical and research affairs at Boston Hospital. International OCD Foundation.

Palisade is considered to be linked to obsessive-compulsive disorder, and a 2019 study which surveyed hundreds of adults in the UK, found that this behavior was common in the workplace. A 2020 follow-up study discovered four distinct types of digital hoarding: those who are organized, those who are disorganized, those who hold digital information on behalf of their business, and those who hold it outside of strong emotional ties and often fear losing it.

Whether digital clutter turns into disorder depends on the individual, but a key factor is when it causes significant distress or impairment in daily functioning, Saxena added.

How do you know if you are experiencing digital hoarding? If clutter is taking up so much space on your devices that you can’t store other things you need, or if wading through clutter “takes time away from other necessary activities or social activities, or interferes with (your ) life. in any other way,” this may be a sign of excessive acquisition of digital material, Saxena said.

“Decluttering is like a magic wand to your mental health,” Albers said. For those who struggle to declutter, she recommends spending a few minutes each morning doing a digital audit, deleting unnecessary emails and other notifications. If you spend a few minutes decluttering before you start working, “it will pave the way for the rest of your day to be much more productive.”

Here are some other tips for reducing digital clutter and how it affects your day, according to Albers:

1. Turn off non-essential notifications and unsubscribe from any ads that clog your emails. “It’s almost like mental mosquitoes. They’re still buzzing,” Albers said. By limiting the number of notifications, you limit their ability to distract your attention when you need it.

2. Set limits: Reduce the time you spend checking email and social media notifications and use your device’s mute and do-not-disturb features at other times. Additionally, limiting the number of accounts you follow on social media can reduce the clutter on your feed and the time spent mindlessly scrolling, she added.

3. Take a digital detox day, or at least a time of day when you’re not connected to your digital world, which can help you feel less overwhelmed by clutter and constant notifications, she says. she declared. Having a plan on how to combat digital clutter and committing to decluttering a little each day, or not storing more than is necessary, can help those who might be suffering from digital hoarding, said Maidenberg.

If you feel affected at school or work (for example, turning in homework late), have trouble sleeping at night because you are overwhelmed, or feel disconnected from your relationships, this may be a sign of significant distress, and it may be time to see a mental health professional, Albers said.

“We all deal with digital clutter more than we realize,” she added, “and I think (decluttering) is a simple way, if we spend a little time, that pays off a lot in terms of terms of our productivity and just our general happiness.